Too Old to Fulltime - What Next???? - Montana Owners Club

Parrothead · 02-20-2005, 03:43 PM

I would like to pose a question to all of you. We are at the 18 month mark of retiring and have started to do some long range planning. (We've even been truck shopping and Ed has talked me into a Diesel. New ones are quieter.) The question about selling our stick house always comes back to what are we going to do when we are too old (or disabled) to travel, then what? What are you all going to do or have you not looked that far into the future?

rames14 · 02-20-2005, 03:59 PM

Parrothead -

Great question. I for one still have a few years before I get to retirement, but have many of the "plans" in progress. Although we love traveling and our Montana, I do not believe we will be "houseless", although we plan on being gone for two or three months at a time. We have our lot purchased in Colorado, water to the lot and a driveway in so we can use the lot until we build our house right as we retire. Once we can no longer travel, we will have our stick house to fall back on at that time. My brother's in-laws have been fulltiming for probably 15 years between Canada in the summer and Texas in the winter. They stop and see their kids/grandkids on the way up and back. They are starting to get to the point where they are ready to back away from fulltiming and have purchased twenty acres so that he can hunt and they will be putting up a house. Our situation is a little different because we have lived in the Midwest for the past thirty plus years and Terrie is a Colorado native. Our lot is two lots over from her sister. They also RV, but have a TT. I promised my wife that we would "retire" to Colorado. Our lot has year round views of snow capped peaks (Rawah and Mummie Ranges). So, we will have the best of both worlds, IMHO. Whatever way you go, planning is essential. The old saying in industry is "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail". Lots of considerations - if you sell the stick house and fulltime, will you have your principle left if you do go back to a stick house? How do you keep your nestegg even with the inflation of property values? As I said, its a great question. But so many opportunities, also.

Parrothead · 02-20-2005, 04:28 PM

Ron,
What you have planned is also one of the options we kick around but we think we might do Utah.

ragdoll · 02-20-2005, 05:26 PM

We have only been rving for a couple of years but won't give up our stick home. Traveling 4 to 6 months and having a home base agrees with us. Making the choice to sell out and store anything you want to keep would be a big decision and as Ron says keeping the money to invest in another home base or going ahead find something and purchase after your sell. I am sure others will be along with ideas and all that fulltime know what they anticipate doing in the future.

Safe travels.

azstar · 02-20-2005, 06:09 PM

Great Question,

It reminds me of when my finance advisor tried to come up with a plan for the rest of our lives. He asked many questions, like how much cash do you have?, how much in pensions?, how much equity in your home?, etc. But the final question was the most important and the hardest to answer. When will you die? He said if I could answer this He could write the perfect plan.

We have friends whom have been out there full timing for 8 yrs. now. They took their nest egg from the sale of their home and put it in safe investments. CD's, for when they were ready to settle. They had about $125,000 If they were able to get 4% they would now have $170,000. Problem is here in AZ the values have taken off. The house they sold if they wanted to buy it back would cost them about $300,000.

My point is, if we were to sell and FT, we would have to be willing to relocate to another State when it was time for us to settle. When that time comes some other factors loom large, like you may want to be close to good Medical Facilities and groceries. Living here in Chandler AZ we are close to these things. So we are perplexed. Can we fulfill our need to Travel and keep our home base by traveling 3 mos. a year? How do we feel about renting out our house for a couple of years? (no too good).

This is the kind of stuff that makes life darn interesting. But all of us that participate in this forum are truly blessed just to be in a position to think on these things. A lot of folks never get the chance we have gotten.

Wish you the best and Happy Camping

stiles watson · 02-20-2005, 06:37 PM

We are on the other end of the spectrum. We reasoned that when we are so ill or disabled to RV, we will also be unable to tend a stick house. We have linked up with Escapees. Should we need a recuperative environment, we plan to avail ourselves of their care facility.

Simplification of life and living has become extraordinarily valuable to us. We want more of our time to be discressionary. The care and feeding of the Montana comes in a much smaller package than a stick house.

We do not plan to be vagabonds without purpose. I plan to continue in a teaching capacity in the institute where I am now dean. I have plans to pursue seminar speaking. I am trained as an intentional interim pastor. I will be able to tote my "house" to the church field and when finished with the assignment, hook up and leave.

A category 5 hurricane (and possibily a catagory 4) would destroy my stick house even though It is located in one of the higher areas on the Gulf Coast. My house is on the Southeast side of Houston. That means, in a storm evacuation, I have 2 to 3 hundred thousand people trying to occupy the same escape route I would have to use. I would also have to climb over about two million Houstonians to just get to the west side of town.

I have lived on the Gulf Coast most of my life and been through or ran from every hurricane since 1942 except one. We have been extreemly fortunate, only experiencing minimal damage. But the time for playing environmental "Russian Roulet" has ended for us.

Home is wherever we are, we make the home, not the sticks or the land. We crave freedom from the encumberances of a geographical anchor.

stiles watson · 02-20-2005, 06:47 PM

This would be an addendum to the earlier remarks. To answer the question that arises, "What if one of you dies?" We have each insured the other with a term life policy over the next 20 years for enough to allow the other to make whatever decision deemed appropriate.

Montana_2304 · 02-21-2005, 01:14 AM

We plan on a small place down south for winters and back up north in the 5er for summers when we are done towing. It will all depend on our health. We have already sold our home here in NY and will full time starting this summer.
Charlie and Sue

Glenn and Lorraine · 02-21-2005, 02:10 AM

Quote:

quote:Too Old to Fulltime

Too Old to Fulltime ?????

Is there such a thing??? We have given that about as much thought as we give to winning a multi-million dollar lottery. Since retiring and going full time we have developed a "we'll see what happens when we get there" attitude. And like Stiles n Dianna we are also looking at Escapees. But of course that is if and when we become "Too Old to Fulltime".

vickir · 02-21-2005, 02:16 AM

Interesting question, Sue, and surprisingly one I don't believe I've seen here before ... but then I'm a relatively new member. Since we are full-timers (coming up on our 2nd anniversary), I thought I'd throw in a word or two on this topic.

Our current plan is to keep doing this until we either get tired of it (!!) or one or both of us is physically unable to keep going. At that time, we will probably rent until we decide exactly what "type" (duplex, condo, single-family home, etc.) of stick home we want. We know it will be in the Kansas City area since all of our kids live there (at least for now) and we know it will be of the maintenance-free-persuasion (the 1st and 2nd things to go when the house was sold were the snow-blower and the lawn mower, so that gives you an idea of Steve's vision of future home-ownership). Our financial advisor helped us to plan so that the money to "start over" with a new home (as well as furniture and appliances) will be there when we're ready. And, like Stiles and Dianna, we too have the life insurance for that eventuality.

We hope to continue full-timing for many years to come, but we realize that the end will come at some point and we'd be foolish to not have some sort of plan in place. Our plan is pretty "loose" but it gets us back to where our family is ... as well as excellent medical facilities and shopping opportunities.

sreigle · 02-21-2005, 02:29 AM

I think the decision to keep a stick home or not is one of personal preference and circumstances. For us, we had just put $23k into stripping out a finished basement, having major foundation work done, then refinishing that basement. We foresaw potential problems down the road with the remaining two basement/foundation walls. It made sense to us to get rid of that house. Additionally, all three of our kids had left the Topeka area. Two went to the Kansas City area and the third recently moved there. So we would not want to stay in Topeka anyhow. So we sold out and took off.

We have adapted well to this lifestyle. Like so many other choices in life, it will be what you make of it. You have to make your own decision whether to keep a homebase or not. Neither choice is better than the other, it's just what is best for you. We made our decision and are having the experience of a lifetime, memories we will have as long as we live. Whatever choices you make, I hope it works out as well for you. You are wise to be thinking these questions and addressing them now. Good luck.

Joyce H · 02-21-2005, 02:40 AM

We are semi-fulltime. We sold our stick house and most of the furniture when Tom retired. We did however keep our vacation home on 35 acres in the mountains of WV. We have been on the road since the Rally in September and on a site here in FL since Nov. When we sold the house in GA we put the money into safe investments to hold for future need. We hope to travel in the Montana and are in search of the perfect place to satisfy both of us for when "we are too old or unable" to continue traveling. We have the home in WV paid in full and it is a great place for our kids and grandkids (they are in OH & CT) to gather for holidays. I am from WV and have family in the Potomac highlands where our vacation home is located. I would probably be happy just staying in that area where I was raised, but Tom is a wanderer at heart and has one sister in TX and the other in Italy. So financially, yes we have a loose plan, but as my favorite saying is "Age is a matter of mind, if you don't mind, it doesn't matter!" We plan to stay young at heart for many years and enjoying traveling thoughout this great country, enjoying the beauty, adventure, and friendships we will form along life's highway!

richfaa · 02-21-2005, 03:29 AM

Good topic....It is our experience that about 8 out of ten folks who sell their house and all their stuff to "full time" wind up back buying another house and more stuff within two or three years.We will be "On the road" in less than two years..we will keep our house and stuff. Our "fulltiming will be to where ever it is warm from Nov to March. If we decide we like living out of a camper no matter how big it is YEAR ROUND (i don't think so) but we will give it a shot, then we will sell or at least Downsize. We love to travel and there are many places we have not been..we have a long places to go list.
Again everyone has to look at their own set of circumtances then go for it....

sreigle · 02-21-2005, 04:24 AM

Rich, I've not seen any numbers about that but you're probably about right. When we started out I really thought by the two year mark we would either be tired of the lifestyle or otherwise ready to stop. One month from today (that will be 3/21) will mark our two-year point and neither of the above has happened to us. We both now feel we need several more years to see and do everything we want to see and do, health permitting. We will eventually settle down in a stick home again. Neither of us questions that. It's just a matter of when, and, to some degree, where. One of the keys to enjoying the fulltiming, for us, has been to learn that we're not on vacation, we don't have to see and do everything in two weeks. We have time to do things at our own pace, for the most part. Otherwise we'd be worn out.

I think your idea of hanging on to the house until you make sure you want to continue the lifestyle is a good one. It gives you some options. You can move back in or sell it later.

You might be surprised how you will adapt to the space issue. At least I am surprised. It was quite a drastic downsizing for us and we both had concerns about that. But, like everything else, we adapted. We are enjoying all the things we are able to see and do so much that it's just that much easier to adapt to the smaller space. I hope it works out as well for you folks, as well. By the way, we just got back from a long walk on the beach.

azstar · 02-21-2005, 04:37 AM

OK Steve,

"Long walk on the Beach" I think this comes under the heading of "RUBBING IT IN"

"Drink Deep From This Cup" and Happy Camping

sreigle · 02-21-2005, 05:18 AM

Guilty as charged. Couldn't resist!

richfaa · 02-21-2005, 05:48 AM

Well we live only a few miles from the beach but it is covered in ice and snow and looks like the Artic circle right now.I think we will take full timing one step at a time.We are looking foward to being "on the road" Of course we do about 6-7,000 miles a year now and it is always good to get back home...

sreigle · 02-21-2005, 09:06 AM

Rich, there's certainly nothing wrong with that approach. I think everyone should use the approach that is comfortable for them. Good luck with yours. Since our kids are in the Kansas City area there's an RV Park near there we consider our 'home base' and they take real good care of us. We're there for November and December and again for a month in the June or July timeframe, or thereabouts. Rich & Helen, as your adventure begins, be sure to keep us informed.

GordonR · 02-21-2005, 10:26 AM

This is a great thread. It’s actually a topic that Carol and I have talked about at length; albeit with a slightly different twist. We still have a few years yet before the decision to full-time becomes real. We originally hoped we could make things work out as Steve and Vicki have. As some have indicated, the entire issue of giving up the stick house is critical.

In our case, doing without sticks probably won’t happen. I had a very close call with lung cancer three years ago. In that situation, Carol made a decision to move to be nearer one of our two daughters if necessary. Fortunately, it wasn’t yet my time to move to the big campground in the sky. However, the retirement plan now includes relocating to a new retirement home, probably within a few hours drive of Chicago. From there, we’ll travel extensively; particularly during the winter. Carol will always have the place to go. AND we’ll have a place to go if it gets to be time to get off the road. The bottom line is that it’s a security thing; geared as many have said, to personal preference and circumstances.

Personally, I like Glenn’s perspective. However, health, kids and spouses have a way of influencing how we think and plan.

Montana_2230 · 02-21-2005, 12:49 PM

Judy and I kicked around full timing for a long time before deciding what we would do. In the end we decided to down size to a smaller place in Florida to use as our base and to live in after we are finished with RVing. We moved here from Tenn last March. I have been retired for a while and Judy retired in December. We now plan to do some traveling, but will always return to our home here in Florida. It is really a tough question as to what is best. We do think leaving our place unattended for long periods of time, but the joys of travel out weight our fears on this.

We live on a major North/South route here in Florida 19/98/ALT 27. On an average, I see hundreds of RVers of all types going north and south each day. Maybe 15 or 20 parked at Wal-mart each night. I often wonder, as I see them, who are the ones that are full timing. I bet a lot are.

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