Heading to the Islands

[RockLife]

Hi Everybody,

I just found this forum and yay, ER is my favorite subject!

I've already pulled the rip cord, told my boss I'm out of here this year. The only question is whether I can get a layoff package deal or if I have to work a few extra months. Laid-off is the new retired you know! Seriously, I can't figure out how taking "retirement" is better than getting 3 months of pay to leave the building. There is nothing I can see that benefits me and my wife, in the retirement package, no gold watch, over-priced health insurance, oh, I would gain the ability to buy corporate stuff at the employee discount! Yay...

About us: we're 56/52 and we decided that we'd rather live like locals (i.e. frugally) in the Tropics than continue to work and live like North American consumers for the next 10 years. Having grown up in Florida, I'm also not embarrassed to admit I'm really tired of living in cold country.

I have some small inheritances (~$100K), about $1.3M in my portfolio, and am planning to spend south of 3 grand a month for the next several years. We're going to the islands of Puerto Rico to start, then some months at a time here and there in places like Dominican Rep, Guadeloupe, Grenada, and some other South and Central American islands. It's a huge adventure, but it can be done on not much money. To quote some genius on the Internet: sell the house, keep the dog, live on an island!

I plan to wait till 70 to take SS, which if it doesn't get screwed up by the government, will be fairly substantial. And if I play my cards right, I'll still have my full portfolio at that point and I could return to the US and spend like "normal". I'm still confused over the best approach to Medicare but I still a have few years to figure that out.

So, a bit unorthodox but aren't all Early Retirees? Thoughts? Comments? Scolds?

Cheers to you all, you are an inspiration!

 

[euro]

Hi Everybody,

I just found this forum and yay, ER is my favorite subject!

I've already pulled the rip cord, told my boss I'm out of here this year. The only question is whether I can get a layoff package deal or if I have to work a few extra months. Laid-off is the new retired you know! Seriously, I can't figure out how taking "retirement" is better than getting 3 months of pay to leave the building. There is nothing I can see that benefits me and my wife, in the retirement package, no gold watch, over-priced health insurance, oh, I would gain the ability to buy corporate stuff at the employee discount! Yay...

About us: we're 56/52 and we decided that we'd rather live like locals (i.e. frugally) in the Tropics than continue to work and live like North American consumers for the next 10 years. Having grown up in Florida, I'm also not embarrassed to admit I'm really tired of living in cold country.

I have some small inheritances (~$100K), about $1.3M in my portfolio, and am planning to spend south of 3 grand a month for the next several years. We're going to the islands of Puerto Rico to start, then some months at a time here and there in places like Dominican Rep, Guadeloupe, Grenada, and some other South and Central American islands. It's a huge adventure, but it can be done on not much money. To quote some genius on the Internet: sell the house, keep the dog, live on an island!

I plan to wait till 70 to take SS, which if it doesn't get screwed up by the government, will be fairly substantial. And if I play my cards right, I'll still have my full portfolio at that point and I could return to the US and spend like "normal". I'm still confused over the best approach to Medicare but I still a have few years to figure that out.

So, a bit unorthodox but aren't all Early Retirees? Thoughts? Comments? Scolds?

Cheers to you all, you are an inspiration!

Very cool - it sounds like you have it figured out. Congratulations and keep us up to date on your adventures!

 

[VFK57]

Congratulation on your early retirement plan. DW and I are going to Caribbean almost every April. We love it there, especially St John and St Lucia. Yet elderly parents and a grandson do not let us keep stay there longer than 2 weeks. St John is also pricey to rent at.

 

[brewer12345]

Many fond memories of PR and Vieques. I am sure you will have fun. The nice thing is that of you get tired of island living you can always come back to the US mainland.

 

[Nemo2]

The nice thing is that of you get tired of island living you can always come back to the US mainland.

Recall, on the Ile de La Réunion, in the mid 1980s, talking to a bartender who was originally from Martinique..........we mentioned that we might like to live on an island....."Not me" he said "I want to live in a country where you don't just go in a circle and end up where you started".

 

[Bir48die]

Love going to the Caribbean. Will plan a four week trip for winter of 2018. Just did four weeks in Mexico. Exchange rate was so favorable that we felt guilty. Once you budget for vacation then you come back to very low overhead. We are committed to long winter trips and if it wasn't for family we'd stay longer.

 

[marko]

Laid-off is the new retired you know! Seriously, I can't figure out how taking "retirement" is better than getting 3 months of pay to leave the building. There is nothing I can see that benefits me and my wife, in the retirement package, no gold watch, over-priced health insurance, oh, I would gain the ability to buy corporate stuff at the employee discount! Yay...!

Getting laid off might also qualify you for several months of unemployment benefits.

 

[Nodak]

Welcome aboard.

 

[Bamaman]

Congratulations on your plan. It's still going to be awhile until you can get into those IRA's and 401K's without big penalties/taxes.

I agree about starting in Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgins, as it's easy for a Mainlander to live there. The weather's about the best in the world, too. You might want to take a used car with you, as sales taxes on new vehicles is unbelievably expensive.

Hope it all works out well for you.

 

[RockLife]

Thanks for all the good words! I'm going to be spending my taxable accounts and part of the proceeds from my house (which has been paid off for many years) so I won't need my IRA/401K money for a while.

One thing I've thought of recently is the idea of re-characterizing some Traditional IRA $s. My income will only be the gains in my taxable accounts, so it will be very low. This should be a great time to move Traditional $s to Roth, and take the tax hit. With the personal exemption and standard deductions, that will be 0 tax for many thousands of $s. If I can do that for 10 years, I'll have converted a considerable amount of $s into basically tax-free money. Am I missing something, or does this sound right?

Thanks, and Cheers!

 

[Montecfo]

I think your plan is interesting. So "Islands of Puerto Rico" = Vieques? Culebra?
I think you can probably live somewhat cheaper there depending on what cost of living you are used to. Island climes tend to be more expensive as was noted because there are imports but not exports. So it arrives on a boat (more costly than a truck), and the boat deadheads back.

Then again I suspect you have researched this pretty well.

What is your plan for health insurance?

 

[tn3sport]

Explore the National Forest on the east side of the island of PR. I haven't been myself, but have seen numerous videos and it looks like a very diverse tropical forest.

Like you, I see no reason to formally retire when you can volunteer for a lay-off. File for unemployment the day you leave on your lay-off. Its a few hundred dollars a week (state dependent) for 6 or so months, with very little required paperwork. Of course, every employer is different on retirement and exit plans. Talk to someone that's been laid off in your company and get the pros/cons. Sometimes they offer generous other benefits in a layoff, like retraining dollars, etc., that they don't offer to retirees. The company I'm in offers like $10k for retraining that I can spend at any college or tech school. Of course, again, the government taxes those dollars pretty liberally. Many of my peers chose not to use the retraining money for that reason alone. But, hey, in retirement, you could take University courses on photography, language, cultural studies, etc that might benefit your retirement. But do try to find someone that's done the layoff trick and evaluate their opinion.

Good luck and enjoy PR. I plan to get there myself one day.

 

[RockLife]

I think your plan is interesting. So "Islands of Puerto Rico" = Vieques? Culebra?
I think you can probably live somewhat cheaper there depending on what cost of living you are used to. Island climes tend to be more expensive as was noted because there are imports but not exports. So it arrives on a boat (more costly than a truck), and the boat deadheads back.

Then again I suspect you have researched this pretty well.

What is your plan for health insurance?

Exactly right, Vieques & Culebra. Small town living. The cost has been researched to some extent, but we won't know for sure 'till we get there. One COL bailout is moving to Panama, and the SHTF bailout is maybe Ecuador. Always our plan has been that "if we don't like it, we move on"....

As for health insurance, there are actually many options once you break the bonds of Obamacare, but this will be one of our largest expenses at around $4-6K per year. AXA has a plan that covers us there, and then emergency services only for when we visit the USA. Deductibles will be high as we expect to go to relatively cheap local docs for when we get Zika, Chikungunyu, and Dengue. But other than that, our health is pretty good so I don't have huge concerns.

 

[LOL!]

Here's your music:

 

[RockLife]

Here's your music:

Excellent, thanks!

 

[Montecfo]

well I think you definitely have the right attitude of flexibility! You cn always day trip to mainland PR if you need a break from island living. Do keep us posted on your progress.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Congrats and welcome to the forum!

One of the things on my bucket list is "island living". Perhaps not for a very long time, but at least 3-6 months. We often go to Isla Mujeres and love, Love, LOVE it there and have had many discussions with the ex-pats that call it home. One issue that I would have is that since they started the once an hour ferry to Cancun, it can get pretty busy which I *do not* like. We have been there once during high season and it wasn't as pleasant as the low season. Nonetheless, I do know there are many islands like it and the idea of living on one for a while is quite appealing. BUT...I have my Dad and a DW that insists on w*rking and that keeps me on the mainland for now.

 

[RockLife]

I hope to not have too many rules in my life going forward, but one of our guidelines is to live on islands that you can only get to from another island. That cuts down on much of what you're talking about. It's not a panacea* but it helps.

* I saw an online post from Culebra showing a cruise ship (big, but not huge) anchored off the coast, with their own tenders, own food, own lodging of course, own entertainment. The locals were unhappy because they get extra people, extra trash, but not much other benefit, not even a docking fee for the tax base. I don't know if it's a big problem but you can see every plan has to have flexibility.

 

[brewer12345]

When I last visited Vieques maybe 7 years ago it was very different from the first time I went there in 2000. I imagine that it has continued to change. After the Navy left, the island kind of got discovered and the developers and the wealthy started to move in. Things got seriously sidelined by the crash, but I imagine they have picked up again big time. Costs of living is probably a good bit higher too.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I hope to not have too many rules in my life going forward, but one of our guidelines is to live on islands that you can only get to from another island. That cuts down on much of what you're talking about. It's not a panacea* but it helps.

That isn't a bad idea, but I do have *slight* concerns about medical care, although being as young as I am, maybe this shouldn't be such a concern. But, it sure would keep much of the "day tourists" away! Have you lived on such an island, if so, any you would recommend? I would *prefer* to be able to get back to the east coast within 24 hours, so somewhere near the Caribbean would be best.

 

[RockLife]

I haven't lived on any island for long, hence our upcoming big adventure (starts this summer). I have lived on the coasts of Florida for many years and spent time on many Florida barrier islands, the Keys, the Caymans, the Bahamas, and even some Canadian islands in the Great Lakes!

But from anywhere in the Caribbean you can get to Miami, or anywhere on the East Coast in a day or less. From Culebra, it's a puddle jumper to San Juan and then 3 hours to Miami. From Panama's islands it is a similar puddle jump, and there are many directs right into Houston and other airports.

The challenges I've seen are getting TO the Caribbean islands from anywhere NOT on the East Coast. The flights from west (I live in Colorado) don't get to the East Coast in time for the departing flights to the islands. So you either do a red-eye, or an overnight stay on the East Coast. Both suck.

As for medical care, I believe San Juan PR has good care, and Panama is noted for good doctors and hospitals. I'm sure there are others with decent care (Florida isn't exactly noted as having world class health care BTW). A big part of our "plan" is that we live there in our 50s and 60s, but then back in the states around 70 and beyond when our needs are greater. Plan is in quotes because it isn't really a plan...

 

[Koolau]

Just a few things to consider, based on the islands you mention:

1. Will there be any significant language issues for you?
2. How will you deal with non-USA address for most/all of your portfolio (I'm assuming this is not an issue for PR or USVI but I don't know for certain.)?
3. Rock fever?
4. Family/friends?
5. Currency fluctuations OUS (except Panama IIRC)?

Sounds like a lot of fun and a great adventure. We chose US Islands (HI) because of the advantages of still being in the US. I'm assuming the islands you mention will be much more affordable, but I have no experience other than a cruise to the Caribbean many years back.

Best of luck and do keep us up to date on your adventure. We old ERs live vicariously through such stories.