ksanders
Moderator Emeritus
You must be, or should kidding
kidding about what?
You must be, or should kidding
I just sold or gave away everything. I had a boat, (many of you recall my adventures with southerly). She closed today. Before I sold her, I purchased a 55’ wide body Viking MY. I also had a 4000 sq. Foot house. Talk about a leap of faith. The dirt house closes on Thursday.
I’m writing this from my new home, Sunshine. I have been onboard for 2 weeks already getting to know her. I do most engine and general boat maintenance myself. I’m living on my hobby. I am an only child and my dad owns a beautiful home that is in a life estate so I have no worries for the future.
Of Course I worried that I wouldn’t like living onboard full time and maybe I won’t. But for now, it’s what I choose. I do not worry about tomorrow as there may not be one. I didn’t want to look back on my life and say, I wonder what it would have been like living aboard. I have no storage unit.
I still work, although a flex job. Some of you know what I do.
I have my coffee every morning with the dolphins, manatees, fish and birds before I start my day. I am so relaxed and the stress has melted away.
BTW, Southerly sold for way over what I purchased her for so take care of your boat and she will take care of you.
Good luck to all!
When we decided to be full time cruisers we looked at it as not just a new chapter in our lives but, a whole new book. We got rid of everything except for a few keepsakes. We dove right in, no handwringing and haven’t regretted it. We sort of treat moving back to land as “we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” In reality we have enough in assets to acquire a home later when/if we need to. Because we might want to buy a house someday doesn’t mean we have to invest in real estate. The idea of having some sense of security remaining anchored to land by retaining a home doesn’t register. For us, one bad rental tenant experience would sour us on the landlord thing, even with a management company overseeing the property.
The home of our waning years would be modest but, neither of us have any desire for anything large. A one bedroom condo would work, other than having to endure a resident who made a retirement career of playing Mayor of Condoville. But for now, and at this for over nine years and in our 60-70’s, we don’t stress about it.
I would never sell my dirt to fund my boating existence. I have no problem converting a primary residence into an apartment building or a REIT. At least this would give me options in the future.
I have lived on my boat for 25 years. In that time I have seen hundreds of liveaboards. Only one never returned to dirt. I have not yet met a liveaboard who went straight from their boat to a retirement center all but one went either back to a house or condo. Some went back as owners, some went back as renters. Those who had a plan from the beginning generally returned as owners. Those who had no plan or sold a house to fund their boating experience generally returned as renters. The one who never returned. You guessed it, he passed in his sleep. We all would like to think we are going to be that guy but he was less than one in a hundred.
I have lived on my boat for 25 years. In that time I have seen hundreds of liveaboards. Only one never returned to dirt. I have not yet met a liveaboard who went straight from their boat to a retirement center all but one went either back to a house or condo. Some went back as owners, some went back as renters. Those who had a plan from the beginning generally returned as owners. Those who had no plan or sold a house to fund their boating experience generally returned as renters. The one who never returned. You guessed it, he passed in his sleep. We all would like to think we are going to be that guy but he was less than one in a hundred.
We didn't think we would but we are building a dirt house and selling the boat. EVERY situation is different resulting in different choices, none wrong, just different. We will undoubtedly miss the boat but we will enjoy our plan for the future just as much but in a different way.Why would you want to return to shore?
We are selling our boat. In this very warm market, it worth far more than what we paid for it, albeit, with a boatload of expensive improvements. We may even break even but I won't even bother adding it all up to be certain. Who cares? It's boating.There's an argument to keep a dirt home or two, just to keep up with inflation, unless you have a huge bankroll and other investment that will keep up.
The boat will most likely depreciate. So if you want to return to a dirt home... keep one.
Now, to keep one you most likely need to rent it to cover the costs and you need expertise to do that, which can be a challenge.
With respect, your assumptions are inaccurate at best. We are selling our boat and building a dirt house. In this market we will ilkely come close to recouping our original purchase price including lots of improvments. That aside, even if we only got what we paid paid for it, EASILY done, the proceeds will be cash-in-hand. Please explain how that amonts to DIMINISHED financial resources. What you asserted makes no sense.With regard to financial considerations a boat is not like a house when it is time to sell. Fundamentally the boat will decrease in value while terrestrial real estate will increase in value. Point is that when you do move to land based living you'll have diminished financial resources to spend unless you have other traditional investments that grew in value.
I learned two things when my wife and I sold EVERYTHING and moved onto our live aboard. 1. Not having a home base we could go back to was more difficult than we thought. Not that we wanted to alot but not having the option was a heavy anchor. 2. When we did decide to buy another home we found out how difficult it is to get a mortgage after retirement. Need steady income source regardless of how much cash you have in the bank.
A lot of the people we met along the way did the live aboard for part of the year then returned home to recharge.
In the USA some retirees have little or no "income". If you haven't started social security, don't have a pension, and are paying expenses as needed from non-taxable savings withdrawals then you have no income from a mortgage lender perspective.Difficult for retirees to get a mortagage? Not really. It's no different for retirees than it is for younger folks. Qualification is based on current income. Age has no affect. Limited current income translates to lower loan amounts. My wife and I are 73 and 71 respectively. We are building a dirt home. We qualified for a mortgage easily. We are financing 95% even though we can afford to pay cash. Why pay cash when a fixed mortgage can be had for 3%? We are leaving our cash invested in a 401K. Even some conservative dividend stocks pay way more than 3%.
Yes, some do, some don't. The point I made was that anyone, young or old can get a mortgage with sufficient current income. I was responding to a poster who asserted that retirees cannot.In the USA some retirees have little or no "income". If you haven't started social security, don't have a pension, and are paying expenses as needed from non-taxable savings withdrawals then you have no income from a mortgage lender perspective.
Workarounds include filing for, then suspending, social security and/or creating scheduled withdrawals from a retirement account. I understand you only need to show a couple months of regular "income" and you are free to do as you wish after the mortgage is funded.
Closed on my house today, to have the cash on hand to buy my future liveaboard. I've been wanting and dreaming and planning for this for the last 4 or 5 years. The goal was always to sell the house that I want to never live in again, under any circumstance, just due to location, etc..Back when this dream started, selling the house would only have broken even, and I bought an old sailboat to work on and get set up to live on. With this real estate market, I made a hefty profit, I will allow half of it to buy me the boat I want, about 9 grand is going to put a new roof on the house my mother owns that I will inherit, Nice little place in a waterfront town, I have storage and a little shed already on the property for storing my motorcycle, etc.. leaving at least 10k as just a cushion for unexpected expenses, and investing the rest in things as a hedge against inflation and possible dollar collapse.Excellent points, however, I'd bet that most of us are not full time livaboards. For whatever reasons we like our dirt. For me, I'll never be a full time livaboard and sell all to do that. My retirement income is from real estate and it's been excellent.... not ever giving it up. However, getting out for a 2 day trip to a 8 month loop works fine.
There's one issue that could catch a livaboard with their pants down. If they're surviving on a limited budget and used the proceeds of their dirt home to fund their boating, they might not every be able to get back to "reasonable" dirt.
So, there's an argument to stash some dollars in something that will keep up with inflation if you venture out to the open seas for several years and wish to return.
I could argue that the best strategy is to own your single family home and rent it out. Put up with property management but try to get a good one. Even with the issues and hassles (which the manager should deal with), you'll still come out ahead... or at least keep up with inflation, which the boat won't. DON'T do condos, apartments, and absolutely NO REITs. Historically they all suck. Get a good house! Or better yet, get several.
In the USA some retirees have little or no "income". .
Been out here over 5 years now
Still haven't managed to get back to do something with the dirt house, car, motorbike or other big project boat.
Bought this boat, moved on and ran away.
Bad us.
As others have pointed out real estate is, generally, an appreciating asset while boats are not. I suppose if you have a massive equities portfolio then you might consider cutting the ties to land and deal with future needs in the future. However I think real estate is too important of asset class NOT to hold over the long term. You just have to be careful to own real estate in a place that doesn't expose you to too much risk or expense.
It is far more than ''some,'' it is many who are in a ''no income'' situation or at best a minimum income. This forces a major change in lifestyle.
My wife and I are building a dirt house after living aboard full time for six years. We sold our dirt house to live aboard and cruise which we have, extensively. Our plan had been to keep the boat but we have decided to sell her even though we have the means to have both without having to tap into our cash reserves. However, we have decided to sell the boat after we get settled into the new place. Considering the out-of-pocket cost to keep the boat and the opportunity cost of keeping a pile of cash tied up in a non-appreciating asset, I figure it amounts to about $30,000/year. Instead, we are going to use that freed-up money to travel the world extensively. We'll miss the boat terribly but it's on to new adventures for us. Boat, house, and travel would be a stretch so the boat goes.The big takeaway from this thread is to if at all possible leave yourself options.
Mot all have that luxury, and that is understandable, but if one can, they should plan for life after cruising.
My wife and I are building a dirt house after living aboard full time for six years. We sold our dirt house to live aboard and cruise which we have, extensively. Our plan had been to keep the boat but we have decided to sell her even though we have the means to have both without having to tap into our cash reserves. However, we have decided to sell the boat after we get settled into the new place. Considering the out-of-pocket cost to keep the boat and the opportunity cost of keeping a pile of cash tied up in a non-appreciating asset, I figure it amounts to about $30,000/year. Instead, we are going to use that freed-up money to travel the world extensively. We'll miss the boat terribly but it's on to new adventures for us. Boat, house, and travel would be a stretch so the boat goes.
Wifey B: We have great friends who live on the water and love boating and both have spent their careers in boating, but as they retire fairly young, they'll cruise some with us and some with his parents but they also want to fly and see the world when it's again practical.
Ironically, they've traveled the world but not seen much of it in the depth they'd like to. This summer they got 3 days in Paris with us, but they want 2 weeks. They want a month sometime in Australia and New Zealand.
I think it's so important that people do as you've done and regularly reassess their plans. Some act like changing plans is somehow admitting defeat, but it's really exhibiting wisdom.