I don't post a lot during work weeks, however I wanted to give a special thanks to all who have given advice, information and encouragement concerning our decisions that we face. I am discovering there are a lot of others that have went through this process and also a lot that are facing the same decisions. Thank you friends for all your advice, information and support.
I don't have a lot of time to post this morning and I would like to acknowledge all the comments that were received on the previous post. Anyone that is facing similar decisions in their fulltime transition, I encourage you to check out the comments. Thanks again.............. God bless us all :)
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
HARD DECISIONS
I have had a great "lazy long weekend" doing nothing but surfing the computer. I have also been doing a lot of thinking about upcoming decisions concerning my retirement or resignation (decision 1), buying a fifth wheel or motorhome (decision 2) and keeping the house or not (decision 3). I have always thought those would be easy decisions to make when the time came, however the time is here and I now know otherwise!
Decision 1, retire or resign. Why is this a decision, well if I retire it means I wait until March of 2015 to finally be free to travel when we want and not based on our work schedule. It also means the difference of collecting some additional pension money or not. The pension money would be about $350. a month, since I only would only have 10 years in that pension plan. If I did wait on that pension money, with rising fuel prices, it may equate to a tank of fuel for the rig! However is it worth working another 4 years to get it? I don't think my laziness is a factor in this decision; I have literally had a job since I was 15 years old (if you count the working in cotton fields, make that 12 years old!)
Decision 2, fifth wheel or motorhome? I know it is a personal preference thing. Cheryl and I both love the Mobile Suites fifth wheel and the Fleetwood Voyage motorhome. If we go with the fiver, we are also looking at a truck, cost could be as high as $130k. If we go motorhome, cost could be as high as $220k (we would cap it at that). Another consideration other than cost is health. I have a couple of health problems, will they effect my ability to setup a fiver? I am scheduled to have rotator cuff surgery on my left shoulder in a couple of weeks (fairly routine). I am not the macho male I used to be!
Decision 3, sell the house or not. I believe fear is a factor in this decision. Our house is relatively small, 1450 square feet. We bought it in 1997 and have some equity built (depending on the market). However we still have some mortgage left also! Emotionally (a term not used a lot by us macho males), selling it would be like cutting ties with our past life. We do want to get out there and travel, see America; we do not want to cut ties with our past life. Our family is important to us and at times it seems they are really dependent on us. Maybe we should just keep the house and use it as a home base?
I know that these decisions may not seem like a big deal, however they have been wieghing heavy on my mind lately. It helps to write about them and I am sure it would help to hear opinions and advice.
Until next time... God bless us all...............
Decision 1, retire or resign. Why is this a decision, well if I retire it means I wait until March of 2015 to finally be free to travel when we want and not based on our work schedule. It also means the difference of collecting some additional pension money or not. The pension money would be about $350. a month, since I only would only have 10 years in that pension plan. If I did wait on that pension money, with rising fuel prices, it may equate to a tank of fuel for the rig! However is it worth working another 4 years to get it? I don't think my laziness is a factor in this decision; I have literally had a job since I was 15 years old (if you count the working in cotton fields, make that 12 years old!)
Decision 2, fifth wheel or motorhome? I know it is a personal preference thing. Cheryl and I both love the Mobile Suites fifth wheel and the Fleetwood Voyage motorhome. If we go with the fiver, we are also looking at a truck, cost could be as high as $130k. If we go motorhome, cost could be as high as $220k (we would cap it at that). Another consideration other than cost is health. I have a couple of health problems, will they effect my ability to setup a fiver? I am scheduled to have rotator cuff surgery on my left shoulder in a couple of weeks (fairly routine). I am not the macho male I used to be!
Decision 3, sell the house or not. I believe fear is a factor in this decision. Our house is relatively small, 1450 square feet. We bought it in 1997 and have some equity built (depending on the market). However we still have some mortgage left also! Emotionally (a term not used a lot by us macho males), selling it would be like cutting ties with our past life. We do want to get out there and travel, see America; we do not want to cut ties with our past life. Our family is important to us and at times it seems they are really dependent on us. Maybe we should just keep the house and use it as a home base?
I know that these decisions may not seem like a big deal, however they have been wieghing heavy on my mind lately. It helps to write about them and I am sure it would help to hear opinions and advice.
Until next time... God bless us all...............
Sunday, January 16, 2011
WHAT'S NEXT?
That is the question on my mind for the past couple of weeks. What is the next step in our journey to change over to a fulltime (or most of the time) RV lifestyle? I know what the answers should be, yet know I find it sort of intimidating to be at the point where I need to make life changing decisions. We have reached our financial goals, no debt (except the house) and now I can easily go out now and finance a fulltime rig and even make a decent down payment. On the other hand I can put the house up for sale, wait a year and a half, then tap into our retirement savings and house equity to pay cash for the fulltime rig. Then there is the question of our 22 year old son who decided to move back in with us and start school! Things get complicated, its time for prayer :)
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