2014 interview with the Terhorsts

[kramer]

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli published an updated interview with Paul and Vicki Terhorst on their web site:

Paul Vicki Terhorst Interview Update

As a touchstone for those who may not have heard of them, Paul and Vicki early retired about 30 years ago and have been an inspiration for many living-abroad early retirees before that lifestyle was as popular or accepted.

Paul also wrote the successful book entitled: "Cashing in on the American Dream: How to retire at 35"

Small part of the interview here:

REL: We asked you before for your advice for someone considering your type of lifestyle. Is there anything you would like to add given the economics and the world changes that have transpired?

P&V: We figure the world has pretty much moved our way over the past thirty years. Airfares have come way down, countries like China and Vietnam have opened up, ATMs make accessing cash easier, AirBNB gives us more housing options, and as our friends get older they have more time to play. Email, online banking, and Expedia have dramatically improved life on the road. We're frankly puzzled why so many people over fifty, with plenty of money, continue to work for their assets, and stay put, and otherwise stick to traditional ways, when the world around us has changed so much.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Thanks for sharing. Interesting to see that their investment allocations haven't changed over time. I'm delighted to see these two still "out there" enjoying their lives.

 

[MBAustin]

Thanks for sharing. Interesting to see that their investment allocations haven't changed over time. I'm delighted to see these two still "out there" enjoying their lives.

+1

Not my style, but good for them! I'm certain they are never bored. Wonder how they will adapt when health requires them to stay put.

 

[Moemg]

It was interesting to see how they have aged . I always picture them as they looked on their book cover .I admire their life style but it would never be mine . I'd miss my family too much .

 

[haha]

They seem like a very nice couple. But I would never take investment advice from them. When his book came out in the 80s, he warned against stocks. Only CDs for them. Then came the astounding 90s. Now he is 100% stocks, when stocks are very much more highly valued than they were then.
For myself only, traipsing around SE Asia in search of cheap living would very quickly get old.

Ha

 

[kramer]

I lived like that for 5 years, the first 5 years of my retirement. I have been retired about 7.5 years now. I really enjoyed my itinerant existence and have no regrets, but I would not go back to living like that.

I love my rented apartment in the Philippines and I want a residence to go back to where everything is set up the way I like it and I have a nice circle of close friends. And a place where I am a permanent resident and I don't already need to buy a ticket out of the country before I enter or make special visa arrangements (which is the setup I have in the Philippines).

So my compromise is to have an inexpensive home base in SE Asia. Although it really is not that much cheaper to live where I am than a cheap part of the USA, the set and forget part when I leave (rent, base utilities) is indeed much cheaper. Even if I were to set off and travel for, say, 8 months most years, I would still probably keep my place.

 

[Rob]

I'm envious and miss the itinerant lifestyle. I started living overseas in 1970, and really just returned to settle in the States last October (2013) at the age of 67. If a teaching job opened up in Liberia, I took it. It was that way for 11 other countries.

I have a new 1450 sq foot house in Washington in a very small town 20 miles from Vancouver, Canada. I'm now struggling a little with how I'm going to regain my itinerant lifestyle. It's very difficult to rent a house in a small town, and I'm not sure if I want to. I bought the house almost outright (very small mortgage).

As some of you mentioned, it's nice to come back to your own home and say this is a permanent home for me. As Kramer said, visa arrangements are not necessary, and you slowly make a circle of friends. I'm not sure if I would feel that way if I had a rented place, however.

I'm hoping to travel three months or more per year. My first experience will be to winter in Arizona (with my Labrador). I'm not sure where, but hopefully where there is plenty of off leash trails.

 

[kevink]

Thanks for posting this Kramer. The Terhorsts along with the Kaderlis who conducted the interview have been and are inspirations for many of us. One certainly doesn't have to be a Perpetual Traveler (PT) in order to benefit from their advice on (and demonstration of) simplicity, joyous frugality and choosing to live iight and free with options open and of course LBYM.

I would've liked to have heard more about their investment approach. Years ago I think Paul said they were very heavily invested in commodities and pretty much all foreign stocks. 100% equities at age 65 sounds plenty daring to me, but more power to 'em if they have the stomach for it (and a big enough nest egg to handle a 30-50% drop).

We spent over 3 years living as expats in México but have recently returned to the U.S. as home base. ACA/Obamacare, flawed as it is, had a lot to do with making it possible. We chose a particularly low-cost option that I think will work really well for us: a late-model mobile home that's comfortable, well-insulated and walking and bicycling distance to stores, tennis courts, downtown, etc. in a small city we love in South Central Colorado. We have 16K tied up in the mobile, our space rent is $245 a month, and gas and electric together will rarely exceed $100. Overall it's considerably lower overhead, even with needing to have a car, than we had in Mexico, and we can (and will) "lock it and leave" for extended snowbirding each winter.

One thing I really liked about the Terhorst interview is how at home they are in the world as a whole from their decades of adventurous living and travel. They know they can have a good life anywhere. I'm also 100% in their camp when it comes to health care and last act considerations, after experiencing what Mexico and Thailand have to offer, and if either of us ever needed assisted living or other such care we'd move back to Lake Chapala in a heartbeat.

 

[jon-nyc]

I keep glancing at this thread title and seeing it as 'interview with the terrorists'. Time to get my eyes checked!

 

[kcowan]

I still don't know how people who write books and blogs for a living can claim they are retired. Maybe they left punching the clock behind but they all seem to be looking for easy ways to make money.

And I agree with Kramer that a home base is a valuable asset. There must be a good reason why rich people choose multiple homes as a place to tie up their assets.

We have 2 homes, one south and the other north but we love to travel to places outside North America every year for at least a month. We are gradually working our way around the world. Our last trip was Croatia, Turkey and Switzerland. We wanted to return and do a Black Sea cruise this year but decided to take a pass.

We are confident that our money will outlast us and that is a shame!

 

[BTravlin]

I don't think the itinerant lifestyle is a good fit for DW and I but the interview has started us thinking about some extended trips. Maybe 2-3 months on the road in a certain region of the world. I like the fact that you get more value out of your airfare that way. Will have to investigate further.

 

[fidler4]

I keep glancing at this thread title and seeing it as 'interview with the terrorists'. Time to get my eyes checked!

LOL This is what I thought at first also.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[Lsbcal]

I don't think the itinerant lifestyle is a good fit for DW and I but the interview has started us thinking about some extended trips. Maybe 2-3 months on the road in a certain region of the world. I like the fact that you get more value out of your airfare that way. Will have to investigate further.

Seems to echo my thoughts.

Most of our trips are 1 to 4 weeks. They usually are pretty packed with transportation, planning, museums, hikes, etc. The daily costs range from $200 to $350 a day with the lower rates for car trips.

Maybe we should find someplace where we would do an extended stay in an apartment rather then hotel.

Things I enjoy at our home like running in the state park, gardening, going out to familiar places ... I don't think these should be undervalued. It is a fine line to walk between sharing a different living style and implying others have the wrong living style.

 

[Lsbcal]

I still don't know how people who write books and blogs for a living can claim they are retired. Maybe they left punching the clock behind but they all seem to be looking for easy ways to make money. ...

Yep, seems there sometimes are hidden agendas. It would be best if those people are very up front in disclosures. I never know how much of this to ascribe to the profit motive.

 

[BTravlin]

Seems to echo my thoughts.

Most of our trips are 1 to 4 weeks. They usually are pretty packed with transportation, planning, museums, hikes, etc. The daily costs range from $200 to $350 a day with the lower rates for car trips.

Maybe we should find someplace where we would do an extended stay in an apartment rather then hotel.

Things I enjoy at our home like running in the state park, gardening, going out to familiar places ... I don't think these should be undervalued. It is a fine line to walk between sharing a different living style and implying others have the wrong living style.

We just completed our longest vacation to date in June. We were gone for only three weeks. It was an excellent trip but also pretty active start to finish and we were glad to get home. I think with the longer trips we'll be able to slow the pace down and enjoy it more without getting so worn out.

 

[Lsbcal]

We just completed our longest vacation to date in June. We were gone for only three weeks. It was an excellent trip but also pretty active start to finish and we were glad to get home. I think with the longer trips we'll be able to slow the pace down and enjoy it more without getting so worn out.

For us the problem sometimes is: What do you do when you want to slow down?

If one is in a modest hotel, it may not be such a great place to spend a relaxing afternoon. I guess one could check into a nicer place for a rest stay. Or perhaps a nice apartment is useful. So often for 2 people the apartments seem to be more expensive then a decent hotel.

One thing we have done is to bring along sketching material to do watercolor sketches during the day. Forces you to sit in one spot and concentrate on the subject. Also it is very rewarding. Most couples don't both enjoy art, so another thought would be reading for several hours in a park if the weather is nice.

 

[Lancelot]

I still don't know how people who write books and blogs for a living can claim they are retired. Maybe they left punching the clock behind but they all seem to be looking for easy ways to make money.

Why is it OK to trade stocks in retirement- but writing a blog is considered employment?

 

[Sarah in SC]

Why is it OK to trade stocks in retirement- but writing a blog is considered employment?

Interesting, isn't it?
Maybe we should go back to Potter Stewart for an answer to how to define retirement, eh?

 

[kcowan]

Trading stocks is like playing poker. You enjoy the game and hopefully make some money.

Writing a blog might be for enjoyment. It depends on whether there are ads on the site. The Calderlies and Terhorsts both write for money, and they do travel a lot. I think it would be more forthright if they say they began independent living at 35.

It is simply a matter of degree.

 

[onebigdummy]

^agreed

 

[Lancelot]

I disagree. If trading stocks is fun, why can't writing be enjoyable as well?

Many 'retirees' trade stocks frequently and they do it for money.

 

[Lsbcal]

I disagree. If trading stocks is fun, why can't writing be enjoyable as well?

Many 'retirees' trade stocks frequently and they do it for money.

Most here are not saying that writing a blog or a book about "retiring" to far away places is not fun or is not appropriate. I think the point is that if one is getting a substantial part of one's income from the writing activity, they should mention it in their blog. After all, they are modeling how people might retire outside of the US and have a wonderful, carefree life.

But we will not all be able to write blogs and get money to fund that sort of life. So people who think they want to follow such advice should be able to remove that income stream from their planning process. For example, if I'm writing about the unique benefits of an overseas lifestyle and also getting 50% of my living expenses from such writing activities then I think that to be ethically and factually correct I should disclose that fact.

If I were "retired" but making big money as a trader AND I was writing a blog about my carefree lifestyle, shouldn't I mention about my special income source?

P.S. I do a bit of trading but have no plans to write a book about my carefree lifestyle. On second thought, perhaps people here would like to buy my book titled Retire and Live Carefree (While Trading ETF's for Big Profits).

 

[haha]

But we will not all be able to write blogs and get money to fund that sort of life. So people who think they want to follow such advice should be able to remove that income stream from their planning process. For example, if I'm writing about the unique benefits of an overseas lifestyle and also getting 50% of my living expenses from such writing activities then I think that to be ethically and factually correct I should disclose that fact.

I agree 100%. However, in at intensely commercial and media savvy culture like ours, most of what we read is self serving on the part of the author. No one should really expect a retirement blog to tell the whole story, because the bloggers are selling a fantasy, they need to sell this fantasy, and if they get very realistic about it the dreamers will buy their fantasies elsewhere.

Compare to a profile on a dating site. Are these truthful, or a sales document? It has been shown that ones that succeed are sales pieces. Later, one can do the old bait and switch. My guess would be that "retirement bloggers" need success at least as much as a prospective online dater.

We should be glad the ER bloggers understand their true role, it will keep them self supporting. As consumers, we do not have to fall for any of it, there are plenty others who will. And some experienced realists will say, so what if a lot is concealed, there are tips here that I can use anyway.

Ha

 

[rodi]

As far as blogging negating the use of the term retired... Look at Nords - he blogs, and has ads on his site.... But he donates the money to military charities. So... is he retired? I'd say he is.

These arbitrary rules about when you can call yourself retired always strike me as splitting hairs where there is no need. If someone makes a CHOICE to no longer work for pay. And income comes in from something they'd be doing anyway, for enjoyment... why deny them the word "retired". If they *have* to get income to get buy... in other worlds, if their nest egg or income stream (pension, SS, etc) isn't enough... then I can see it.... maybe.

I am taking a 5 unit Italian language class - does that mean I'm not retired, I'm a student?
I am a mother to minor children - does that mean I'm not retired, I'm a stay at home mom?
In the first case, I am taking the class because I want to - and being retired gives me the time to do it.
In the second case - I was a mom before I quit my job, and that hasn't changed... my status changed when I quit paid work to live on my SWR.

Why split hairs over the label retired? If someone considers themselves retired, and isn't a wage slave... let them call themselves retired.

 

[retirementguy1]

I've heard about the internet retirement police but this is the first time I've seen em. lol. Paul wrote one book in 1988 and it isn't even in print anymore. They also do not have any advertisements on their blog. Now are they retired? Come on people... Paul does write an occasional article but I doubt he is making much. It seems like he just likes to write.