A Reminder To Do It Now

dhays said:

Not quite all...



One thing that often folks don't factor into their financial planning is the cost of divorce. Simply put, if the money obsessed would pay more attanetion to their marriage than their career, they may do better financially in the long run, and have a more enjoyable life in the process.



Being married for 35 years ismore rewarding, and more challenging than practicing for 33 years.

Click to expand...

Hmm.... Sometimes sure, but not always

No Mast said:

Ok, so I'm here at a bar, few drinks have gone by and I'm thinking. What is it? Are we too afraid of "not" being indispensable? Why can't most of us just turn it off?

Click to expand...

Some are scared that if they're out, they'll be fired shortly after returning. Some work those hours out of fear. Some do it because they consider it the requirement and right. Others do because they're obsessed with finishing all their work and due to that they keep getting more and more piled onto them. Obviously they can never get it all done, but they feel they must. Sometimes, being a perfectionist has been drilled into them since as young as they can remember. They were expected, no make that required, to excel in school and everything they did.

I have had the impetus to "retire now!" for about 10 years now. As I've explained before I shut down my old business in 2008 and tried to retire, but it didn't stick. It wasn't because of money, it was because we didn't have a good retirement plan. Hell, my wife was still working, kids were still in school, so there really wasn't a way for me to "retire" successfully.

So I went back to work, started another business, made more money, and I'm still looking for a retirement plan that will work for both of us. I thought it was going to revolve around a boat, but that's probably not the case.

So I guess my point is yes, retire ASAP so you can enjoy life, but have a good plan that works for you and your spouse. Pretty obvious advice of course, but I seem to constantly screw it up. ?

I feel like George Bailey desperate to get out of Bedford Falls, see the world and have big adventures before I get too damn old, but I can't seem to get it done. I'm a very impatient person.

For those who feel like George Bailey and can't escape, all I can suggest is find a way to make life where you are, doing what you do, better, more pleasurable and more fun.

TOHO

Today Only Happens Once.

dhays said:

Not quite all...

One thing that often folks don't factor into their financial planning is the cost of divorce. Simply put, if the money obsessed would pay more attanetion to their marriage than their career, they may do better financially in the long run, and have a more enjoyable life in the process.

Being married for 35 years ismore rewarding, and more challenging than practicing for 33 years.

Click to expand...

Yes, not starting over in your 40's with half your assets makes a HUGE difference.

Also, paying off your (through not refinancing, or trading up) home frees up cash to do other things.

I retired ASAP and haven't regretted. The job was stressful even if challenging, and every additional year of work came out to be one-plus year's less retirement.

In my first several positions one always groomed your successor so you could move up.

In my last several positions one never told anyone how to do anything you did.

If two people knew how to do something, the expensive one was fired.

That explains the constant off-hour phone calls and vacations spent connected to the server.

alormaria said:

In my first several positions one always groomed your successor so you could move up.

In my last several positions one never told anyone how to do anything you did.

If two people knew how to do something, the expensive one was fired.

That explains the constant off-hour phone calls and vacations spent connected to the server.

Click to expand...

Yes. One thing I observed in major cutbacks was it was somewhat like skipping generations. However, the one in the absolute riskiest position was the number two person in an area. It's simple. The order comes to reduce staff. So, most people are not going to eliminate themselves. They eliminate the person directly under them, protecting their job even more. Now the next person in line is generally save, but not those under person number 3.

Those moving into companies and initiating major cutbacks think of themselves as heroes and often the Board of Directors does too. I find it just a horrible way to start, taking the easy way out, you can point to dollars saved. However, you did nothing to improve the company, change things for the better, generate more income. In fact, you greatly weakened an already struggling company.

An interesting question about life balance. My only addition to all the good advice above would be that part of any job interview should be a question about the prospective boss's last vacation. How long and where? I had a short job with a nice company, good people, but I found out the boss hadn't taken a vacation in 10 years. He expected the same from his employees. Sorry, bad fit.

And this is why we bought the boat we bought when we did. We had been looking for over a year and had initially said we weren't going to buy a boat until our other home sold which would free up a rather large amount of money each month. And we knew selling that house wasn't going to be easy or quick. So we just "window shopped". We ended up deciding to spend quite a bit less for our "starter boat" and just do it now. As it turned out, the house sold like the week after we bought the boat.

We have lots of years left before we can retire and that precludes us from doing any long range cruising. That played a factor in our boat choice.

Hubby works for a large global company that preaches the importance of work/life balance. As part of their promotion of this, they recently gave everyone a beach blanket, a beach ball, and a soft sided cooler. We're going to spread the blanket out on the deck of our boat, blow up the beach ball, and stage the cooler and have someone take a picture of us having a picnic on our deck to send in to them. They requested pictures of people actually practicing the whole work/life balance.

Hubby gets quite a decent amount of vacation every year which will allow us to hopefully spend a good bit of time on our boat.

As for me, I run a company with a staff of 17 very well trained employees. I used to be a total control freak and a workaholic. I love my company and I love what I do. Back in 2009 the founder of my company was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He was 65 years old and had retired when he hired me to run the company. We were very good friends. When he was diagnosed he came to the my office and said who's going to take over if something happens to you? I told who my choice was to succeed me. He said, if you die tomorrow, could she step in? Does she know enough? I said ummm no. He said you have got to learn to delegate and give up some control. You've got to train her. So I started doing that, but at a very slow pace. It ended up that she had to basically learn "trial by fire". As John's cancer progressed, he asked me if I would be his medical power of attorney and make all of his end of life decisions. There were lengthy hospital stays and I was there with him 24/7. And then he decided no more doctors and no more treatment and he wanted to go back to Florida and wanted to die in his condo overlooking the beach. So off to Florida we went. I set up hospice and John got his wish. He died in a hospital bed set up in his living room positioned so that he could watch the sunrises and sunsets over the beach. My chosen one really stepped up to the plate as did all of my staff. They are all like family to me. The phone calls became fewer as she gained more confidence in making decisions without me. She now completely runs the day to day operations of the company and I have very little to do. She knows which things she can make sections herself about and which things she needs to call me for. I spent the week IN the office last week because she went on vacation and I was bored to tears.
Anyway, all of that to say, I do have a lot of flexibility which allows me to spend time on the boat as well. However, I'm never "unplugged". While all of my employees work 8-5 M-F and don't have to think about work when not at work, that is not true for me. My company is never far from my mind.

Our dream though for retirement, God willing, is to get a Lrc of some sort and spend the majority of our time cruising. Until that day arrives, we will enjoy what we CAN do for now.

I've been camped out in Mom's hospital room in the ICU and the family lounge at this hospital for about a week now. The wallpaper on my computer is a shot of our boat in the marina back home. Mom is recovering gradually, we're pretty sure now she'll get out of here, but in this week's time I've watched a family crisis in adjoining rooms just about every day.

Last year at almost exactly this same time, we took delivery of our boat around Newport, RI, then motored it over a couple weeks to Mystic, up the CT River to the Goodspeed, back to Essex, my home town of Chester, then Black Rock, Northport, Manhattan, up the Hudson, and then had it pulled, dismantled, and loaded for shipping to South Dakota. For those two brief weeks we spent a frightening amount of money, everything from plane tickets to new electronics at the helm, charts for every inch of the trip, marina hopping every night, all that fuel, dinner and cabs in Manhattan, marinas on the Hudson. We had some expensive upgrades done at Coeymans because they're experts on those Mainships and they do great work, then the shipping, then reassembly and launching at our home marina. It was all a great adventure, fun and challenging every day, unlike anything we had done before, and my wife and I and a couple friends have memories we'll always cherish, but it was all shockingly expensive. We could have paid down the mortgage. New roof on the house. Remodeled for a fourth bedroom for better house resale value. Could have bumped up my 401(k) significantly.

After a week camped out in this hospital though, I don't regret one single penny of that trip. We should have stayed out longer and done the Erie Canal and had it pulled in Oswego or Buffalo, but we had to get back to work. (Such a dilemma, one that we see in these forums over and over again -- chained to our jobs, but the jobs buy the boats.)

Star0210 said:

As for me, I run a company with a staff of 17 very well trained employees. I used to be a total control freak and a workaholic. I love my company and I love what I do. Back in 2009 the founder of my company was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He was 65 years old and had retired when he hired me to run the company. We were very good friends.

Click to expand...

Star, I just want to say this is a beautiful story. I also have a woman COO that runs my company. And even though she is only 50, we have begun working on her succession too. Everyone should. Way to go for being there for the CEO and for the company on an ongoing basis. Warms my heart!

My motto in life has always been "no regrets." While we may look back on things and think of how we could have done things differently due to an unexpected outcome, so long as the decision made at the time made sense, there is no reason to regret it. We look the same way at our lifestyle and work. I took a significant pay cut to move to a position that I really love. I could go back to what I was doing in a heartbeat and probably make enough to retire after about five years, but those five years would be hell. I'd rather stay where I am, make less day to day, but have a better quality of life. Now, that said, we do make enough to enjoy life and save for retirement, but I've learned that more money is not always the answer. We are now in our mid-40s and thinking about (1) when can we retire and maintain the lifestyle we want and (2) should we buy the big boat now so we can enjoy it rather than wait, not knowing what the future will bring. We are leaning toward upgrading now and, if we do, I can say without reservations that we will do so with no regrets.

Carolena said:

Now, that said, we do make enough to enjoy life and save for retirement, but I've learned that more money is not always the answer. We are now in our mid-40s and thinking about (1) when can we retire and maintain the lifestyle we want and (2) should we buy the big boat now so we can enjoy it rather than wait, not knowing what the future will bring. We are leaning toward upgrading now and, if we do, I can say without reservations that we will do so with no regrets.

Click to expand...

I would be curious as to why you are thinking of the "big boat". What is "big" and what ideas do you have for how you will use it?

Historic rule of thumb in pleasure boat hunting:

1. Be honest to yourself, i.e. think deeply in defining the way and scope of use you need the boat to accomplish for you and yours - immediately and during the next five to seven years.
2. Carefully calculate size of boat you "feel" you will need to fulfill the definitions of #1.
3. Then, in general, plan to find and purchase a good condition boat that can fulfill #1... but is 3% to 5% smaller that what you calculated in #2.

Reasons for #3 in this "thumb rule": Because it works out - notably saving you money, effort, and headache; in the short as well as long run.

Happy Boat-Choice Daze! - Art

dhays said:

I would be curious as to why you are thinking of the "big boat". What is "big" and what ideas do you have for how you will use it?

Click to expand...

For us, it would be something in the 40-50 foot range, preferably 40-45. We want to make the upgrade becuase our current boat is a little tight for us and how we use it. We want a walk around queen, larger galley (fridge in particular), larger shower, covered cockpit, and upper deck to carry a dinghy. We often have guests on board, and it can get a little tight with four adults. Something like the boat you have now is what we have in mind. We spend just about every weekend (Friday night through Sunday), as well as most of our vacations on the boat. And we almost exclusively anchor out. It is essentailly a second home, a lifestyle choice for us. We've even spend nights on the boat in the winter when the river is frozen. The additional space would tick all of the boxes for us.

We are very pleased with the single engine, pilothouse style we have now, and are thinking about a larger Nordic Tug, American Tug, North Pacific or Helmsman. We really like the Krogen and Norhavn models in our prefered size range, but we have no plans to cross oceans and the draft would be a hinderance for what we do. Short range plans are to continue boating in our imediate area, including the Chesapeake Bay and ICW to North Carolina. Longer range, we intend to cruise the East Coast from Canada to the Bahamas. We think the boats we are looking at will fit the bill perfectly for us. We knew when we bought our current boat that we would eventually move up, it is just that we are thinking why not do it now rather than wait, given that there is no way to know what the furture will bring in terms of health and ability to enjoy the water.

Even with prohibitive family-care health items and home rebuilding ongoing after 200 year oak fell on it... we two who are healthy (Linda and me)... leave today for five days aboard our Tolly! Been way toooo long, since... YEA!!!!

Carolena said:

For us, it would be something in the 40-50 foot range, preferably 40-45. We want to make the upgrade becuase our current boat is a little tight for us and how we use it. We want a walk around queen, larger galley (fridge in particular), larger shower, covered cockpit, and upper deck to carry a dinghy. We often have guests on board, and it can get a little tight with four adults. Something like the boat you have now is what we have in mind. We spend just about every weekend (Friday night through Sunday), as well as most of our vacations on the boat. And we almost exclusively anchor out. It is essentailly a second home, a lifestyle choice for us. We've even spend nights on the boat in the winter when the river is frozen. The additional space would tick all of the boxes for us.

We are very pleased with the single engine, pilothouse style we have now, and are thinking about a larger Nordic Tug, American Tug, North Pacific or Helmsman. We really like the Krogen and Norhavn models in our prefered size range, but we have no plans to cross oceans and the draft would be a hinderance for what we do. Short range plans are to continue boating in our imediate area, including the Chesapeake Bay and ICW to North Carolina. Longer range, we intend to cruise the East Coast from Canada to the Bahamas. We think the boats we are looking at will fit the bill perfectly for us. We knew when we bought our current boat that we would eventually move up, it is just that we are thinking why not do it now rather than wait, given that there is no way to know what the furture will bring in terms of health and ability to enjoy the water.

Click to expand...

Forgive the over quoting but my iPad is being difficult.

The North Pacific, American Tug, Nordic Tug, and Helmsman were the boats that we ended up looking at well. All good choices for what you have in mind. I am also guessing by your list that you, like us, want to stay away from an older boat or a boat with exterior teak.

One thing that my wife commented on last weekend was that she can find a place for anything that she wants to put on the boat. So even when it is just the two of us, the extra room is nice.

dhays said:

Forgive the over quoting but my iPad is being difficult.

The North Pacific, American Tug, Nordic Tug, and Helmsman were the boats that we ended up looking at well. All good choices for what you have in mind. I am also guessing by your list that you, like us, want to stay away from an older boat or a boat with exterior teak.

One thing that my wife commented on last weekend was that she can find a place for anything that she wants to put on the boat. So even when it is just the two of us, the extra room is nice.

Click to expand...

Danger, Danger Will Robinson!! :lol:

dhays said:

All good choices for what you have in mind. I am also guessing by your list that you, like us, want to stay away from an older boat or a boat with exterior teak.

One thing that my wife commented on last weekend was that she can find a place for anything that she wants to put on the boat. So even when it is just the two of us, the extra room is nice.

Click to expand...

You are 100% correct! Would prefer something from the early 2000s (not the 1900s). And as much as I love the look of varnished teak, been there and done that with our last sailboat, and never again. We now firmly believe all the wood should be on the inside. We would rather admire the beautiful teak outside other people's boats. As for the space, that is an issue we have run into - not enough storage, in addition to needing more room to move around when we have guests with us. Lastly, would prefer Cummins power, primarily becuase I'm very familair with the motors and do my own mechanical mantenance and repairs. Yes, we have put a lot of thought into this and pretty much narrowed everything down (already having a Nordic Tug has made it much easier than when we were looking last time).

psneeld said:

People often jab at government workers...well as one...I have some stories about business too....

Click to expand...

Ditto. I practice law and was in the private sector 20 years and have now been in the public sector 20 years. Heard a lot of good lawyer jokes in both sectors, and met most of them

Carolena said:

You are 100% correct! Would prefer something from the early 2000s (not the 1900s). And as much as I love the look of varnished teak, been there and done that with our last sailboat, and never again. We now firmly believe all the wood should be on the inside. We would rather admire the beautiful teak outside other people's boats. As for the space, that is an issue we have run into - not enough storage, in addition to needing more room to move around when we have guests with us. Lastly, would prefer Cummins power, primarily becuase I'm very familair with the motors and do my own mechanical mantenance and repairs. Yes, we have put a lot of thought into this and pretty much narrowed everything down (already having a Nordic Tug has made it much easier than when we were looking last time).

Click to expand...

If you are looking for a used boat and are willing to get away from the NT or AT styling (which are very nice), I would encourage you to look at the North Pacific 42/43. The only downside is that there is not a huge used inventory out there. The advantage is that they have been around long enough to find used boats, and are much less expensive on the used market for comparable NTs or ATs. They, like the NT and AT, have the Cummins engines you are used to. The Helmsman are nice as well, copying the business model of North Pacific, but being newer boats there are even less out there on the used market.

Carolena,

Have to second dhays on the NP. We have put our NP 39 on the market and are moving up to the new 45. My wife is the driver on that. Did I marry well or what!?

The Reminder To Do It Now thread also drives it home.

Rob

Datenight said:

Carolena,

Have to second dhays on the NP. We have put our NP 39 on the market and are moving up to the new 45. My wife is the driver on that. Did I marry well or what!?

The Reminder To Do It Now thread also drives it home.

Rob

Click to expand...

That is funny - I have been doing some searches on Yachtworld and was actually looking at your boat the other day, just didn't realize it was yours. She looks great. Did you order it new? And will the next boat also be new? That is one route we've discussed, since we expect to own this one for quite sometime (and the Helmsman build thread has peaked our interest), but I'm not sure I can deal with the depreciation issue.

As for who is driving the decision, fortunately my wife is also 100% behind boating. When we started talking about selling the sailboat to go larger and power, I told her that with what we were planning to spend, we could sell the condo instead and get a larger one in the city. Her response was "why would I not want a larger boat?" She is a keeper!!!

Datenight said:

Carolena,

Have to second dhays on the NP. We have put our NP 39 on the market and are moving up to the new 45. My wife is the driver on that. Did I marry well or what!?

The Reminder To Do It Now thread also drives it home.

Rob

Click to expand...

Rob that is great. That new NP45 looks sweet!

Carolena, the NP45 is a new boat, so nothing on the used market yet.

Carolena,

Thanks for the compliment Diane does call me Mr. Anal. We did not order it but bought it new. It was the boat that made the show circut here in the Northeast. I have to say working with Trevor Brice the owner of North Pacific was a very good experience.

As dhays said the 45 is a new model. Hull no. 3 is being completed now so nothing but new on the market at the moment.

Glad to hear you married well also!

Rob

I'm looking at a boat that was prepared for 5 years to livaboard and do the loop and Bahamas. They untied the lines and a day later the wife wasn't feeling well. Ended up with a terminal illness and now the boats for sale.

Who the hell needs money when your old and unable to do anything. You'll just be reading and watching tv.
Hearses don't have luggage racks!

I've spent 1/2 my money on boats. The other 1/2 I wasted foolishly!