Work Less Live More update
- Thread starter ESRBob
- Start date
audreyh1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
You're very welcome.
I haven't been on the forum much lately, but I'm sure glad I caught ESRBob's post as it helped me step back and look at my big picture.
Audrey
Rich_by_the_Bay
Moderator Emeritus
Audrey, do you feel that your full-time lifestyle is an asset or liability during these trying times?
I am referring to the financial planning piece, not lifestyle (which I know you enjoy). Because if nothing else, this would be a fantastic time to activate the exit strategy and buy brick-and-stix even if you kept the motorhome.
I am referring to the financial planning piece, not lifestyle (which I know you enjoy). Because if nothing else, this would be a fantastic time to activate the exit strategy and buy brick-and-stix even if you kept the motorhome.
audreyh1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Definitely an asset! In fact, I am more than ever grateful for the flexibility of the fulltimer lifestyle. And fewer people are RVing these days in spite of the lower fuel prices due to the other economic stresses. The low fuel prices are definitely a boon for us right now.
We are in no hurry to activate an exit strategy as we aren't close to being ready to "settle down". I believe that we have plenty of time to buy property when we are ready. Even when we get past the extreme distress of the housing market, I believe that housing prices will remain low for many years. We are 3.5 years into our 10 year fulltiming plan, and even if we cut that tentative plan short by a couple of years, we are far from ready to change now.
In fact, I envision that we will start to do some serious overseas travel in the coming years, and that is easily accomplished even if you live in motorhome. You just need a reliable place to park it during a long absence and we have several places we feel are safe. Of course, international travel means the travel budget goes way up - that's the big downside. I'd love to have more padding to support that, but my sister just moved to Indonesia for a few years and tells us we have to meet her in Bali or Singapore for a visit. Well gee, how can we turn that down?!?!
Oh gosh, and we really hate to fly, especially long distances. I guess we'll just have to get used to it again as that's the unavoidable price of crossing oceans.
Audrey
Midpack
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I'll say it again. These are the kinds of personal insights that make this forum worthwhile. Thanks Audrey.
And the irony, we had a fairly nasty disagreement on another topic some time ago, hopefully Audrey doesn't remember. And I'm sure neither of us have changed our views, isn't life interesting...
And the irony, we had a fairly nasty disagreement on another topic some time ago, hopefully Audrey doesn't remember. And I'm sure neither of us have changed our views, isn't life interesting...
audreyh1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Hah! LOL!
Audrey
Audrey
Audrey,
Glad to catch up and you got it: if ER just means having more time to obsess about our portfolios then what's the point? Especially when we have all these great long-term passive investing approaches. (and even if they are disappointing right now I still believe the data support their winning out over the long term). All this really should give us the freedom to get out and live. Glad you're on the road and that gas prices are more affordable.
Don't know why it never occurred to me, but how do you mail order something if your a full-timer? Where do they send it and will they send it to a campground if it isn't your 'permanent address'?
Glad you like the sculpture!
Glad to catch up and you got it: if ER just means having more time to obsess about our portfolios then what's the point? Especially when we have all these great long-term passive investing approaches. (and even if they are disappointing right now I still believe the data support their winning out over the long term). All this really should give us the freedom to get out and live. Glad you're on the road and that gas prices are more affordable.
Don't know why it never occurred to me, but how do you mail order something if your a full-timer? Where do they send it and will they send it to a campground if it isn't your 'permanent address'?
Glad you like the sculpture!
audreyh1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Companies handle different shipping from billing address all the time although some are much stricter in terms of verification. Most UPS or Fedex deliveries take less than a week, so when we are somewhere for a week or longer, we catch up with our mail orders. We just have it sent to wherever we are staying - no problem at all with delivery to campgrounds. The last campground we stayed at the delivery trucks came right to the RV site! Usually they deliver at the campground office.
Amazon has a "prime" program where you pay a fixed yearly fee and then you get free two-day shipping on whatever you buy. We take advantage of this a lot, especially as Amazon is very flexible in terms of shipping methods and locations. The two-day turn is sweet.
Otherwise our mail is handled through a mail forwarding service which caters to RVers.
Audrey
Amazon has a "prime" program where you pay a fixed yearly fee and then you get free two-day shipping on whatever you buy. We take advantage of this a lot, especially as Amazon is very flexible in terms of shipping methods and locations. The two-day turn is sweet.
Otherwise our mail is handled through a mail forwarding service which caters to RVers.
Audrey
Moemg
Gone but not forgotten
Absolutely , the market was making me crazy but then I stepped back and looked at what I have . The freedom to do what I want when I want is worth the cost and if I have to cut back a little to maintain this freedom so be it .We put in our longevity hopes but you never know so why not enjoy what we have now .
BunsGettingFirm
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2004
- Messages
- 1,502
That's why it pays to change avatar often. In fact, I'm making a market on other people's old avatars so that you can "accidentally" attribute nasty posts to someone else.
I am charging $0.50 an avatar from non-controversial posters and $500 an avatar from controversial ones because these babies are at the money!
haha
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
That's why it pays to change avatar often. In fact, I'm making a market on other people's old avatars so that you can "accidentally" attribute nasty posts to someone else.
OK, I want a listing, as I may want to bid.
Ha
Moemg
Gone but not forgotten
As you can see I'm not paying the ransom to Buns I'm just using the bunny's avatar . That should piss him off enough so he'll be back ! Good because I need a veggie recipe for Christmas .
Missed this earlier, Rich --
My thoughts on SPIAs -- not too different from thoughts on any annuity -- I love the concept but whenever I've looked the payouts haven't matched SWRs until you get up into your late 60s and older. Fees are often an issue, and there is always some sort of risk that an issuer (eg AIG) will get squirrelly and give you sleepless nights on a par with those you'd have just holding a balanced portfolio.
