Greetings from Alaska

[paul h]

I came across this forum a week or so ago.

I'll try to give a brief background, though I always have a tough time being brief. I'm in my early 40's, have been working as an engineer for the past 20 years and due to a combination of reasons have started to consider early retirement. So in the process of figuring out how to become FI, I came across this website.

My goals are in the next 7-10 years to transition to my own consulting firm, and having a small resort in the Caribean that will be a winter get away that will be able to pay for itself. I'm just trying to figure out how exactly to fund that between 401k, IRA, other investments and how much it will cost to pull it off. Our kids will be all in college in the next 5 years and my wife and I would like to travel and just have a lower stress life sooner than reaching the traditional retirement age. I don't see myself every being fully retired, but being able to get by on 20hrs a week, or being able to take off a month or several months at a time is very appealing.

I guess the long and the short of it is I'm trying to figure out how to figure out how to change from working for money to making money work for me so I don't have to work, or work so hard.

 

[braumeister]

Gee, someone in Alaska who wants to retire in the Caribbean. Who woulda thunk it?

Here's a thought. Search Amazon for books about becoming a consultant. There are tons of them. Start talking to your contacts about what they would like to see in a consultancy, and take their answers very seriously.

 

[paul h]

I don't want to retire in the Caribean, just get a break during winter. Honestly I enjoy winter, but my wife definately needs an extended sunny break each year.

I'm looking at providing most of the engineering survices I provide now via my employer, but working for myself. It's common in our industry to hire contractors, the real key for me is lining up work before taking the jump. It would also give the option of looking into international work and not being tied strictly in working in AK.

 

[MooreBonds]

Welcome to the forum!

While it might sound like a great idea to own a place on a sunny, tropical island, you might want to really crunch the numbers and think about it. There will be a variety of expenses to deal with as an owner (either taking on a mortgage or sinking all that money into a break-even asset, taxes, insurance, monthly condo dues, furnishing the place, etc.), and then having to trust someone to rent it out - and trusting that what few renters are looking to rent in the summer months will treat it as nicely as you want them to take care of it - might not be as good of an alternative as simply renting a place for a few months each time you want to go down there.

If you're afraid of renting a place and finding out it's not as nice as the pictures on the internet, you could always ask to commit to a week rental, with an option to extend it to several months, presuming it's a nice as they claim it is.

 

[traineeinvestor]

Sounds a bit like a second home?

Each time I look at a second home, I come with the conclusion that I am better off investing the money elsewhere and spending some of the ROI on renting serviced apartments for the holiday's that I want to take - with the added benefits of flexibility in chosing destinations and eliminating a certain amount of time and stress spent in looking after the property.

 

[Danmar]

Second/third/fourth homes are a lifestyle decision that is virtually impossible to justify financially. That does not mean it is a bad idea. Depends on your priorities and spending utility function, as well obviously as available funds.

 

[friar1610]

Welcome. My wife and I just got back from a SE Alaska cruise about a month ago. Loved it! Met some really interesting people who have ended up in Alaska because they visited there, got hooked on it and are now living there. In some respects, not unlike Vermont where I live.

 

[obgyn65]

I agree with this statement.

Each time I look at a second home, I come with the conclusion that I am better off investing the money elsewhere and spending some of the ROI on renting serviced apartments for the holiday's that I want to take - with the added benefits of flexibility in chosing destinations and eliminating a certain amount of time and stress spent in looking after the property.