Retriever
Senior Member
Fascinating thread with many valid perspectives.
I bought my current boat when I was 24 specifically to liveaboard and cruise the PNW. At 24 my financial situation is different. I should have lots of years to make more money BUT the money I spent on the boat would have grown nicely in those same years.
Whether it's a boat or a house or a condo, I'd need some place to live. None of it is free. If I'd bought a house/condo I would have spent at least twice what I did on the boat. I don't view residential real estate as a particularly good investment, but I think long term it's fair to expect to break even once inflation/taxes/maintenance etc. are taken into account. I view the boat as a depreciating asset (and did my calculations assuming the boat is worth nothing when I sell), but the boat is also much less expensive than a house. So I might lose a high percentage of what I put into the boat, but that will hopefully earn roughly as much on money that I invested because I didn't buy a house/condo.
So instead of selling the farm, I just never bought it. I do have ownership interests in commercial real estate. Owning real estate (especially when it's cashflow positive) certainly makes me feel more comfortable financially about living aboard.
My decision to live aboard was really more about lifestyle than finances, though. I figured I had the money, I hadn't yet collected all the "stuff" or gotten used to a large house, and was single...what better time to liveaboard? So far, so good...I put 600 hours on the main engine the first year, took a bunch of family and friends to see glaciers and bears and whales in SE Alaska, met lots of really nice, interesting people...yeah, I wouldn't trade it for land life.
I bought my current boat when I was 24 specifically to liveaboard and cruise the PNW. At 24 my financial situation is different. I should have lots of years to make more money BUT the money I spent on the boat would have grown nicely in those same years.
Whether it's a boat or a house or a condo, I'd need some place to live. None of it is free. If I'd bought a house/condo I would have spent at least twice what I did on the boat. I don't view residential real estate as a particularly good investment, but I think long term it's fair to expect to break even once inflation/taxes/maintenance etc. are taken into account. I view the boat as a depreciating asset (and did my calculations assuming the boat is worth nothing when I sell), but the boat is also much less expensive than a house. So I might lose a high percentage of what I put into the boat, but that will hopefully earn roughly as much on money that I invested because I didn't buy a house/condo.
So instead of selling the farm, I just never bought it. I do have ownership interests in commercial real estate. Owning real estate (especially when it's cashflow positive) certainly makes me feel more comfortable financially about living aboard.
My decision to live aboard was really more about lifestyle than finances, though. I figured I had the money, I hadn't yet collected all the "stuff" or gotten used to a large house, and was single...what better time to liveaboard? So far, so good...I put 600 hours on the main engine the first year, took a bunch of family and friends to see glaciers and bears and whales in SE Alaska, met lots of really nice, interesting people...yeah, I wouldn't trade it for land life.