Question... Are you working for your boat???

This is a big question... Is the reason you are still working to pay for your boating hobby???

That's my situation, and I suspect others are in the same "boat".

I feel very fortunate that at 53 years old I could retire if it weren't for my boating hobby. We have a business that we run from the house that provides more than enough income to live on, including medical, travel, etc... But the boat puts us over the edge, so I still hold down a full time job. (Abet I only work 26 weeks a year).

In four years and 1 month I reach normal retirement age and can draw my pension, and my boat gets paid off as well. A year and a half later I can start withdrawing from my tax deferred savings.

But...

Right now I am working for my boat.

Anybody else in that situation? Are you working for your boat?

I have been going through the retirement planning exercise myself the last couple of months. My wife wants to retire early (at about age 59 with 33+ years of teaching). Part of the equation is how we are going to pay for the next boat. The only way to do that (without making other financial sacrifices that she is unwilling to make) is for me to keep working. It is amazing the number of years that I have to keep working to pay for the purchase, use, and upkeep of the boat that we want.

I don't have any type of retirement being self-employed but I am fortunate that I will be able to gradually work less and take more time off over the next 10 years.

Yes and no. I am 13 years and 5 months away from full retirement age currently (that is if the rules do not change ) - but who is counting

My bride is 6 years younger than I and I would not want to retire without her being able to come along anyway so HiHo HiHo, it's off to work I go

I guess that means technically I am not still working because of the boat, but it doesn't help the budget any either

John

I'm 55 and our daughter is in grade 9...as it turns out my earliest retirement date for a full pension is less than a year after she graduates high school.

Everything we have is bought & payed for, so payments aren't an issue. We've been putting money aside for retirement and for post secondary education (or travel/exploration if that's what she'd rather do) so hopefully that's squared away.

The fixed costs of our boat are what I used to spend on cigarettes and booze, so it hasn't effected our life at all, financially that is!!!!

We pay into a spousal RRSP and the plan is to use income tax return monies to finance the upgrades Badger will need for us to comfortably travel BC's north coast for months at a time.

After retirement we'll keep Badger in good condition without major upgrades, and pad the retirement saving by selling our photographs.

Such is the plan...reality may intervene...

Short answer is no. If we didn't have the boat I'd still be working.

I do see the possibility of one day delegating more of what I do and working part time from the boat wherever we happen to be cruising, but that's I'd guess 10 years in the future or more.

I retired at 55 and am now 80. Just sorry I couldn't afford to retire sooner. Beats the hell out of workin' that's for sure.

I happened to meet with a financial planner yesterday, a sailing friend of long acquaintance. After discussing finances, we started to discuss one of the reasons for financial decisions, boats. As it turns out, he is currently repowering his sailboat because as he said "hard to sell a boat without an engine".

He and his wife, as it turns out, are doing the same thing we are, looking to transition to a trawler. One of the boats on their short list is the same as ours, a NT37. Much like me, he would be happy with a NT32-34, but his wife wants a second stateroom for kids to come along, exactly like my wife.

At least my financial advisor "gets it" as I try to pay for the boating habit.

Nope. I am fortunate enough not to have anything better to do (than work, which I actually enjoy) and I want to set a good example for my kids (two in college, one in high school, all hard workers).

Nope, I am fortunate enough to be fully retired (9 years ago at 52). I too want to set a good example for my kids. Work hard and you too can retire early and go cruising!

Still working at 60 . Hardwood lumber . I go in everyday . Although I sell more lumber when I'm at the boat . I tell my boss it's all about attitude .

My retirement date is so far astern it's gone below the horizon. Work, what is that? I'm 69, retired just over 5 years ago. So did my wife who is 60.


So no, I'm not working for the boat, I'm not working for anything except my wife. My Honey-Do list never seems to get shorter, but what the heck, what else would I do?

I am 64 and not sure what retirement means. I wake up every morning looking forward to what I do. Ihesitate to call what I do "working" and doubt I'll ever stop "working" after all I hang around boats all day, get to drive many different boats (sea trials and deliveries) all the time and then people give me money

Had a customer who was a retired butcher for a large grocery store chain. Got into scuba diving; started diving a lot. Had to get a part time job with his son's mechanical contracting business to afford his diving habit. Used to tell people on the boat, "I'm diving paycheck to paycheck ".

Ted

No. I retired in June. Angelina has been paid off for over a decade.

I am retired and have been retired for over ten years. When I saw my current boat, I called my financial planner and asked if I could afford it. She said "Yes."

Retired for the second and last time, 11 months ago. Not gonna go back to work, retirement is work enough!

Hope to see some of you in the coming months up North!

I retired in 1992 at the age of 51. I'll be 75 next month and haven't missed working one damn bit! I'm at the boat at least 5 days a week, spending money on projects that aren't even necessary. I look at taking care of my boat as if it's a 57 Chevy.....which I always lusted for but never had.

I retired 3 years ago this coming June. I'm keeping up with the boat maintenance but we,spend everything I earn on retirement, including a drawn on the dividend income from the RRSP. I just picked up a couple of contracts which will help things a bit.

I am working for the boat. I'm doing many of the projects myself. For example, I rebedded all 7 Pilothouse windows and replace 4 panes that had clouded around the edges. Total materials were just under $700. I talked to another owner of a KK42 and he paid a shipwright $4,000 to do only the 3 forward windows and his completed work didn't look any different than mine. I figured I saved $8,600.


Jim
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I retired and paid cash for the boat and extensive refit. The latter was pretty much all yard work and cost way too much. But time is too valuable for me to have done all that work myself - it would have been a multi-year saga.

Didn't purchase my boat until after (1) the kids' college expenses ended when they graduated, (2) paid off all debts including house mortgage, and (3) retired.

Yes, kinda.

I was planning on retiring last December. I was in the market for a boat for the last two years leading up to retirement. But I decided that I wasn't going to be able to get the boat that I wanted for the price I was willing to pay.

So I increased the budget. Got the boat that checked all the boxes.

Another year's cash bonus and ten year stock option grant will cover the increase. So I told my boss that I was going to retire last year, but in these exact words, I said "I am now going to be a mercenary for the next twelve months. The only reason I am going to keep working in 2016 is to allow me to buy the boat I want. But as of December 31 2016, I am out of here."

So yep, I am working for the boat, but not on an ongoing basis - its more a one-off deal!

menzies said:

So yep, I am working for the boat, but not on an ongoing basis - its more a one-off deal!

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It's a lot easier when you know the target as you do and it's reasonably close.

Honestly, we say we're retired, but what percent retired. I don't feel like I work. I don't work for anyone else. But I do read a lot of emails and respond and even remotely I sit in on staff meetings sometimes and when we're home, we'll both actually go into the office two or three days.

I think retirement is poorly defined. It says "ceasing to do work". I think it's more a state of mind and it's doing what you want to do. I intended to do no work, but I do some and enjoy the amount I do. We honestly think of our business as a hobby, not a job.

I'm still working but at a great job where i love what im doing and I feel very appreciated. I get a lot of time off (about 8 weeks) and very flexible work hours and spend most of that on the boat cruising the east coast. Off season i spend more time on the boat making it just the way i like which i love to do. I dont have enough for my satisfaction to retire yet, but our boat is paid for and when the time comes in about 8 years we'll be able to do pretty much everything we want and cruise our boat anywhere.

Ken

No, I paid cash for both boats. I retired 16 years ago. I do have a hobby business to keep me occupied in the winter, but I am ending that in two months.

kchace said:

I'm still working but at a great job where i love what im doing and I feel very appreciated. I get a lot of time off (about 8 weeks) and very flexible work hours and spend most of that on the boat cruising the east coast. Off season i spend more time on the boat making it just the way i like which i love to do. I dont have enough for my satisfaction to retire yet, but our boat is paid for and when the time comes in about 8 years we'll be able to do pretty much everything we want and cruise our boat anywhere.

Ken

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I think that's where so many are really suffering, is not having time off while working. In the ideal world as you work many years, you'd get more time off and you'd gradually work toward retirement. We have a CEO who has no financial need to work. She was getting 8 weeks vacation and it's gone up now from there. But we're willing to give her as much time off as she wants. We know the time will come she'll say she's ready to retire, but we also know even then she'll want to advise and consult and keep her hands in the business a bit.

I'd love to see more job sharing and rotational working. I wish we could make the transition better for people.

And I abhor the long hours so many have to work. Actually, they're against our company policy. I'll guarantee we get more productivity from people regularly working 40 hour weeks than one gets from those who have worked 60 hour weeks for a long time and are quite mentally fatigued.

Insequent said:

I retired and paid cash for the boat and extensive refit.

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Wow.

I am an advocate of paying cash for cars (why pay interest in a depreciating asset?) but to be able to pay cash for a 50' yacht AND the refits?

You Sir, must be a man of foresight and discipline.

It`s the reverse

I`m not working so I can enjoy my boat. When I was working I didn`t have time to own one, let alone enjoy it.

markpierce said:

Didn't purchase my boat until after (1) the kids' college expenses ended when they graduated, (2) paid off all debts including house mortgage, and (3) retired.

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Good points. 1) My kids are done with college, 2) I am on track to have all my personal debts paid off in under 4 years, 3) won't retire for almost another decade.

Initially it was looking as if I would delay the next boat purchase until after #2. However, since I have decided on #3, I can change boats earlier. I guess that means I am working for the boat.... just don't have it yet.

I retired last June. House and cars/motorcycles/boats are all paid off. Bought the Prairie in August and am doing 90%+ of the work myself which is keeping me busy. Hoping to not have to go back to work but economy may dictate a part time job just to keep a comfortable margin. I'm 58.

Kevin

BandB said:

I think that's where so many are really suffering, is not having time off while working...

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That's it right there. I love my job, I still feel lucky to have it, I walk through the door every day and feel blessed and honored to be there and I can't imagine leaving yet -- but I do so wish my wife and I had more time. That's what will eventually make me retire I know -- not that I won't still love the job someday, but I'll get to the point where my need for more time away will finally force me to make that decision and leave it behind.

As for the boat though, we are making payments for a little while longer, but no way on earth I'd stay working just for the boat. We do work like dogs though to support our standard of living in general. The boat is just a piece of it. I'm 53 so I could start thinking of retiring sometime soon and we could afford to live okay, but between loving my job and all the comforts an active income brings, retirement isn't entering my mind yet.