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

I retired two years ago. Boat is paid for, and a traditional pension pays for the costs to own and operate it. Thankful every day I am able to swing it.

At 66 I am pretty much retired now, still have a few special clients for whom I do some work occasionally. My wife, at 62, still has an active practice she enjoys and is very good at. With our daughter a junior in HS, we have a couple of more years being a bit tied down, but not too much. We bought the boat about 4 years ago, a good bit earlier than we thought, but the right boat presented itself at a price too good to pass up, so we ignored the timing. I planned for the past 20 years or so to be in this position, so our house is paid for (and we live in Seattle in a very popular neighborhood so it appreciates much more than it is worth) and the boat is paid for. While we will necessarily monitor our spending as so many here also do, we will be able to live and cruise as we wish, within reason. So, I worked for the boat, just a lot of years before we actually got the damned thing!

Wow! So many success stories!! How happy I am for all those who I join with in retirement. Looking at the age grouping it is obvious that we put in to plan much of what our parents led with. Honest work, bills paid and obligations dealt with.

Retired at 59 and now 77. Came out of the Army in '59' married with our first born, and $125.00 in cash,(How is that for Army pay of $119.00 per month!! A fully loaded 1953 ford station wagon loaded with PX stock, so that you could not read 'ford' on the hubcaps, drove back home here in Alaska from Oklahoma and I haven't looked back.
No debt then or now. Home,cars,boats,all holdings paid.
My wife and I often note that for a couple of high school sweethearts, we did good. Happy to say that we have more coming in that going out. The boat and it's expenses are not an issue. Yes, we could afford a larger boat and it's expenses, but we enjoy having a simple life which includes a simple boat. We drive old cars which are maintained to the best and of those we have five!! Just because we can.
So if you find you can make the break and retire, Do what you can do it now with what you can afford and God bless your retirement years.
Cheers,
Al-Ketchkan Marben 27' Pocket CRUISER

One thing I'm observing is a lot of people here who had kids late in life, or at least their last one late. I think that definitely impacts retirement and boat buying. You wonder from generation to generation. Today we're seeing people wait until later to marry, although not necessarily waiting to have kids. It's a double edged sword as to when to have children. People wait until they feel more stable and financially able to support them, but then that impacts at the other end as they think about retirement. One isn't going to go cruise the world while they still have children in high school and most aren't going to while they're in college. Plus even after they finish school there is generally some time required to build that nest egg where one wants it for retirement.

B-as you note, there are some of us on a second go 'round. In my case, I also have a 37 year old son. When I married the second time, my wife was 42 and had not had any children. We decided to have a child and looked into fertility treatments, but that was an awful lot of money spent for a very uncertain result. So, we adopted our daughter from China. She has been the absolute light of my life since Day One! Believe me, there is no possible combination of our genes that could have done half as well. Her name, in Mandarin, means "Little Elegant" or "Little Beautiful". So, we named the boat after her. She has taken to the boat wholeheartedly. She may know more about boats than some here, surely more than most guys she will meet. She will shock some guy when she pushes him out of the way and backs in a 50 footer perfectly! Single or twin! She fully understands and supports the fact that once she is off to college, we are off cruising. In today's times, you have to get pretty remote to be more than about 24 hours from wherever she is. So we figure wherever she ends up, we can get there from wherever we are just about as quickly as if we were still in Seattle.

Iim 51. I call myself semi-retired. I go to the car lot most days for a couple of hours, but also take a couple of days a week to go to the boat to work on projects (or piddle around) or take a short cruise. Not a totally satisfying setup but it is what it is. Could be worse!

We still have a son in HS for a couple of more years so there is no reason to fully "retire" before then. The plan is to sell (and owner finance) the business to my current managers, but our business is in a slump due to the local oilfield crash so that's all up in the air now. I wish I was fully retired and could cut the cord and take off for wherever in the boat, but I must be patient I realize.

So I'm not really working for the boat, but just working to make the future a little better (possibly), I guess.

Short answer no.
Retired early (55) w no debts. (Now 66)
Had a good plan and worked & saved to allow our lifestyle.
I have continued part time consulting mostly for my previous employer developing and instructing project mgmt courses / workshops.
I have to admit the PT earnings helped the decision to upgrade to our current boat a few yrs ago but it was a cash deal.
Also... I'd be consulting PT even if we didn't boat...enjoy seeing others succeed, feedback is positive and the pay is Good...and they are willing to work around my committments & availability... win...win...win
Retirement is good...highly recommend!!!

Retired at 61, I will be 68 in April, my wife is 5 years younger and retired also. Between our pensions we live the same as we did before retiring, my SS supports our boating habit. She just started her SS about 6 months ago and it goes into savings. The only reason I could go before 65 was being able to keep my insurance through the union with the monthly payment deducted from my pension. Being retired has allowed me to use the boat much more than when I worked.


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BandB said:

One thing I'm observing is a lot of people here who had kids late in life, or at least their last one late. I think that definitely impacts retirement and boat buying. You wonder from generation to generation. Today we're seeing people wait until later to marry, although not necessarily waiting to have kids. It's a double edged sword as to when to have children. People wait until they feel more stable and financially able to support them, but then that impacts at the other end as they think about retirement. One isn't going to go cruise the world while they still have children in high school and most aren't going to while they're in college. Plus even after they finish school there is generally some time required to build that nest egg where one wants it for retirement.

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I agree. Having kids later in life vs earlier affects your later years. My sister had kids at 36, my son left for the Coast Guard when I was 38. Huge difference in our lives. She is still a PTA mom, and I'm playing grandpa.

I am also seeing a whole lot of long term relationships in this thread. Folks that end up starting over later in life with 1/2 their assets need time to rebuild.

Myself, I don't mind working for my boat. While we could do pretty well if I quit work at this point (without the boat) having that extra income sure makes things easier.

I have had 3 liveaboards...one before kids, one when they were young and another when they were out of the house and just married. My kids didn't happen till I was around 30.


All depends on lifestyle choices.....and a little with marital bliss. Good or bad....


But have met a few liveaboard/cruising homeschooling families...their kids turned out better than average....so anything is possible if you want it and can work it out.


Like homelessness and bankruptcy...some are destined for it and others get caught in a whirlwind not of their doing....while I neither went bankrupt or homeless...both were knocking at my door and I decided on inexpensive boat living for the 3rd time. Just happened at the right time and place.

I am not working part time for my boat....I am working for my house and a transient lifestyle.......and maybe that is about to fizzle out too and just get on with it all....


Then there are guys who want to cruise but it ain't never gonna happen because Mom is a nester (sometimes Grandpa too). Even when the kids barely get out of the house and grandkids come. Some women I dated or just know can't go a week without visiting the grandkids....so cruising is going solo.


Easier is nice...gold plated over bronze is nice too...but many friends gold plated yachts have less than 200 hrs on their engines after decades and their health for cruising isn't getting better.

I'm glad we waited to have our daughter. We had a chance to spend as much time as we wanted going on high octane physically demanding sea kayaking, rock climbing, and hiking adventures funded by working short contract or seasonal jobs. No ties. No anchors. Free to explore.

It's a gamble to wait until retirement to do that sort of stuff. Some people get sick and have to kiss life long dreams goodbye.

In our case it was a hard drinking, chain smoking driver of a Dodge Ram pickup who t-boned my wife's Honda Civic in the drivers side door. He was partially paralyzed from a previous stroke, got his drivers license back, had a seizure, and with his foot on the gas crossed into oncoming traffic and changed our lives forever.

That, and I freely admit being pretty scattered & squirrelly until my 40's and didn't "own myself" until my 50's, so waiting to have kids was best for us.

I should add...I was lucky to find a lady who agreed with me that memories of adventures accomplished while young would be worth more in your last days than whatever "stuff" you had bought during life.

Retired at 51 and had our current boat built 18 years ago. No kids and two good jobs, so we paid cash.

The amazing thing is when I was 65 we acquired a 7-year-old! Not exactly what we had planned. He's become a pretty darn good boater, with about 5 months cruising/fishing SE Alaska under his belt. Now we're thinking about an NT37.

THD said:

So, we adopted our daughter from China. She has been the absolute light of my life since Day One! Believe me, there is no possible combination of our genes that could have done half as well. Her name, in Mandarin, means "Little Elegant" or "Little Beautiful". So, we named the boat after her. She has taken to the boat wholeheartedly. She may know more about boats than some here, surely more than most guys she will meet. She will shock some guy when she pushes him out of the way and backs in a 50 footer perfectly! Single or twin! She fully understands and supports the fact that once she is off to college, we are off cruising. In today's times, you have to get pretty remote to be more than about 24 hours from wherever she is. So we figure wherever she ends up, we can get there from wherever we are just about as quickly as if we were still in Seattle.

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Beautiful name and beautiful story.

BandB said:

Beautiful name and beautiful story.

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As an adopted son, I agree on BandB's observation. Good one Marin
Al-Ketchikan

JDCAVE said:

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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This is what I also aspire to do all thanks to Jim, Larry and Al, KK42 do it yourselfers.

And because of their advice, I have been pretty successful in keeping coasts down the last three years.

Retirement came 5 years ago and as long as the cruising costs stay reasonable, I can eat.

Just give me another few years of cheap fuel and strong dollar

I am definitely working for the boat, but that is just fine. At 45 with kids in middle and high school we could have waited 10 years - paid cash and then sailed away, but i much prefer making payments now and enjoying it with the kids while we still have them at home. Priceless.

...and in 10 years we can still live aboard a PIF boat and start a different adventure.

Retiring in June, as is the admiral. Boat and house are paid for. Have an agreement with my boss to stay on as a consultant 1-2 days a week. Will keep my work phone and laptop on board so our guys can get a hold of me when necessary.
John

Not working for the boat, paid cash 4 years ago. I'm still working towards retirement in a few years... Still searching... For where we will land

We paid cash for the boat and the major yard work required at that time...I'm going to retire in 2 years at 62 with everything paid off. Wifey will keep working until she wants to retire, maybe 5 or 6 more years....that will give me time to tinker with the boat at my leisure and get it perfect for our planned loop/Bahama cruises. By the time I retire, the few financial obligations we have left will be totally paid off.

I would have probably worked another 2-3 years but I was having to put in way too many hours and just got burned out. I won't rule out working part time if I found something tempting but I'm really enjoying not having a schedule to work to. I'm finally getting around to repairs around the house I've been putting off and also getting to work on the boat. In addition I have a bunch of other boats and motorcycles sitting around that will be spruced up and sold off. The real benefit to retirement though is having time to be with family and friends for sure.

Kevin

tallswede said:

I would have probably worked another 2-3 years but I was having to put in way too many hours and just got burned out. I won't rule out working part time if I found something tempting but I'm really enjoying not having a schedule to work to. I'm finally getting around to repairs around the house I've been putting off and also getting to work on the boat. In addition I have a bunch of other boats and motorcycles sitting around that will be spruced up and sold off. The real benefit to retirement though is having time to be with family and friends for sure.

Kevin

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I contrast your post to Johnma's. You with what has become the typical employer. Him with an employer who valued his knowledge and was flexible enough to work out a solution that worked for them both.

Some industries and some jobs don't lend themselves to part time work or part time employees.

Being an optometric physician, I have the advantage of having the flexibility of working part time. Of course the down side is that it also means I am the sole source of production. If I am not seeing patients, no income is being generated yet rent and utilities still need to be paid and my staff for some odd reason still want to get paid.

Regardless, since no one is going to be paying me a retirement, I hope to be able to cut back to an equivalent of 2 days/week in a few years. I figure 35 weeks of working 3 days/week will give me lots of long weekends on the boat and 15 weeks a year of no work. Plenty of time to explore my home waters and still pay for the habit.

dhays said:

Some industries and some jobs don't lend themselves to part time work or part time employees.

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I can't think of many that don't. I've never encountered a situation in which I couldn't use a senior employee who was nearing retirement or retiring on a consultant basis to make the transition smoother. I consulted for my employer when I retired and still do occasionally. He'd give me as much work as I wanted.

The way I look at it, I see knowledge and experience in employees considering retirement. The way, unfortunately, many employers look at it is they see high priced workers who can be replaced by entry level at 25% of the cost.

B-very good points you have often raised. I am constantly amazed at the moves made, most often at mid to lower levels by major corps. Case in point-my brother-in-law and 3 others started a small. niche medical software company some 30+ years ago. Built a very solid stable business, catering to major medical centers. Well established over the years in those major centers and in the UK Health system. 8 years ago they were acquired by a big medical software company which was then acquired by GE. All upper level management was retired or let go. Management moved to a GE office in Salt Lake City. About half the remainder of the Seattle staff laid off. Projects now required 3 levels of review, 6-12 months, before approval. Business dropped off substantially. My BIL finally retired along with most of the older employees. GE went to the med centers asking why no more business. They were told-all the guys who know our systems (these were now legacy systems) inside out, and can respond to special requests quickly were gone. We don't get anyone from GE who knows our systems and can help us. We are dealing more with managers who don't know how to help rather than with systems guys who solve our problems. GE had to go back and rehire about 30 people as consultants to keep the business. My BIL now at 69, gets about 25 hours a week, on his own schedule, at home, at about 2.5x what he made before. The same goes for the other people hired back. GE was more concerned about integrating a newly acquired company into its "culture" than it was in recognizing and using the talents of those that built the acquired company to continue and expand the business.

Compare that to Berkshire-Hathaway, Warren Buffet, who acquires companies with strong management and then does no more than provide them with the resources to continue doing what they are doing, just more and better.

PS-sorry for the off-topic rant-B just hit a sore spot. One I guess we older guys see more often and recognize more easily than all those young whippersnappers!

I could see many occupations that are adversely affected by cutting back IE a Sales job, or roughly any job by the hour like tradesman type work. Maybe i just don’t see how without selling the business and agreeing to coach or only handle specific clients but if you intend to do any long distance or extended cruising this wont work either!
Great thread
Gregg

Retired at 55 (after 25 years in the Motorcycle business), Now 67. Immediately went into a home based business building some of my VW/Audi proprietary performance designs.....Mostly to fund my Car hobby and get the kids through college. About a year ago, and 16 years after selling our last big boat, I had a Eureka moment. We're near a beautiful cruising area and had no boat. Sold the C7 Corvette and bought the Cape Dory. Recently wound down the business as I was totally bored with it after 10 years. Plenty of time for boating now, and prior Pensions (Honda Motor Co.) IRA's and SS easily pay for the fun...We've been enjoying the boat a whole lot more than the Corvette...I've never begrudged a single dollar spent on boating. You can't put a price on that...

THD said:

Compare that to Berkshire-Hathaway, Warren Buffet, who acquires companies with strong management and then does no more than provide them with the resources to continue doing what they are doing, just more and better.

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Yes, I was fortunate enough to work for one of their companies.

Are you working for your boat or are you working for everything else. I am retired and my wife is still working. We can live comfortably on our boat wintering in florida and summering in Rhode Island and cruising back and forth. If we want the big condo, new cars, travel to other places and all the other land based stuff she will work for a few more years. If we just want the boat we could do it now.