Full Timer questions, making the transition.

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tat-2 - 07 Aug 2006 05:50 GMT

Hi,
I have a few questions as a potential future full time RV'er.
A little about me.
I am currently a home owner (free and clear except taxes and monthly utils).
I presently own my own motorhome (also free and clear).

I think my most important question is:
Did you sell your primary residence?
Next on list:
How much is a resonable amount to have saved/invested to use on an annual
basis. In other words is $40K a year enough for travel expenses, food,
insurances and other special treats?

Did you auction off your possessions prior to going full time? or sell them
at fair market value individually?
i.e. I have a fair amount of tools/wood working equip which I would not be
able to take with me on the road.

Do you ever regret doing it? Is there anything you miss from the traditional
lifestyle.

I realize this may be rather open ended but I'm still looking at 16 years of
"traditional life" before this could happen. BTW: I'm 34 yrs old, so that
would make me 50 yrs for retirment.

I live in a state (PA) that has numerous oppertunites of free camping via
the campground host. Figuring 3-4 months of being a host would not cost
anything for camping sites.

In theory, I would still be able to work my currwnt profession even on the
road but within a confinded area as professionally licensed if need be or
for extra cash.

Thank you,

Ed

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Rick Onanian - 07 Aug 2006 11:07 GMT

> I am currently a home owner (free and clear except taxes and monthly utils).
> I presently own my own motorhome (also free and clear).
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> road but within a confinded area as professionally licensed if need be or
> for extra cash.

Hot damn! What _is_ your current profession, anyway? 34 and no mortgage
on a house and a MH, and expecting to retire at 50...

Reply to this Message

tat-2 - 08 Aug 2006 13:43 GMT

>> I am currently a home owner (free and clear except taxes and monthly
>> utils).
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> Hot damn! What _is_ your current profession, anyway? 34 and no mortgage
> on a house and a MH, and expecting to retire at 50...

Nurse,
I worked double shifts five days a week for two years when I wanted to
purchase a house. So, I had quit a bit down.

Also my motor home is used and older 1997 but, in real nice shape.

Ed

Reply to this Message

Dapper Dave - 07 Aug 2006 15:14 GMT

>"tat-2" <tat-2@rcn.com> wrote:

>Hi,
>I have a few questions as a potential future full time RV'er.
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>I think my most important question is:
>Did you sell your primary residence?

We did, but we don't have any desire to own another home again. If we
thought that we might want to own again in the future, we probably would
not have exited the real estate market when we hit the road.

> Next on list:
>How much is a resonable amount to have saved/invested to use on an annual
>basis. In other words is $40K a year enough for travel expenses, food,
>insurances and other special treats?

We spend just about as much as retired full-timers as we did as employed
homeowners.

>Did you auction off your possessions prior to going full time? or sell them
>at fair market value individually?

We donated almost everything and had a one-day garage sale for the rest.

>i.e. I have a fair amount of tools/wood working equip which I would not be
>able to take with me on the road.

Those are the sorts of things we sold at our one-day garage sale.

>Do you ever regret doing it? Is there anything you miss from the traditional
>lifestyle.

After four years, we have no regrets whatsoever.

>I realize this may be rather open ended but I'm still looking at 16 years of
>"traditional life" before this could happen. BTW: I'm 34 yrs old, so that
>would make me 50 yrs for retirment.

We did it at age 54/55. We did it by "saving ourselves into the poor
house for 30 years," as my lovely wife puts it. One advantage to being
DINKs.

>I live in a state (PA) that has numerous oppertunites of free camping via
>the campground host. Figuring 3-4 months of being a host would not cost
>anything for camping sites.

That's good, but remember that camp site fees are probably not going to
be your biggest expense. Health insurance, taxes, fuel, and groceries
are all bigger expenses for us, and they all went up when we retired and
started traveling.

>In theory, I would still be able to work my currwnt profession even on the
>road but within a confinded area as professionally licensed if need be or
>for extra cash.

You will be well situated for full-timing, then.

Good luck to you.

Signature

Dave

Reply to this Message

tat-2 - 08 Aug 2006 13:45 GMT

> >"tat-2" <tat-2@rcn.com> wrote:
>
[quoted text clipped - 62 lines]
>
> Good luck to you.

Thank you for your response.

Ed

Reply to this Message

Janet Wilder - 07 Aug 2006 18:21 GMT

> Hi,
> I have a few questions as a potential future full time RV'er.
> A little about me.
> I am currently a home owner (free and clear except taxes and monthly utils).
> I presently own my own motorhome (also free and clear).

That's a great start. So many new fulltimers are "upside down" owning
large sums on rapidly depreciating assets. If you are going to keep the
house, you might have some problems with insurance coverage on a "vacant
home" Try to have the utilities paid on your credit card so you don't
have to worry about bills chasing you down the highway. If you use a
credit card with a cash-back program. You keep your money a little
longer and get something back.

> I think my most important question is:
> Did you sell your primary residence?

We sold ours. We knew that Central New Jersey was not where we intended
to settle down if we ever decided to settle down. We did not want to be
landlords. We wanted to be as free from encumbrances as possible.

> Next on list:
> How much is a resonable amount to have saved/invested to use on an annual
> basis. In other words is $40K a year enough for travel expenses, food,
> insurances and other special treats?

That's a tough question. annual budgets are very dependent on individual
lifestyles. We managed on a lot less, but we had purchased several
membership camping programs while we were still working using
"replaceable" dollars not retirement funds. The membership camping kept
our costs way down. We paid our vehicle insurance once a year just to
get it out of the way (on the credit card for cash-back) Maintenance is
going to depend upon your set up. If you have a gas puller and can
change your own oil, that's a savings. We had a Freightliner and it cost
us quite a bit more for its upkeep than the preceding One-ton pickup.
Fuel is a big concern right now. How much traveling you are going to do
is going to effect your budget. Health insurance is another thing to
look into.

I'm sorry but there isn't one answer. Try to do a spread sheet with the
numbers that are known to you and we'll help as best we can to fill in
the rest.

> Did you auction off your possessions prior to going full time? or sell them
> at fair market value individually?

We had a garage sale, gave stuff away and donated to charity. I kept a
running list of all the things that went to charity, setting a "garage
sale" value on them. When I got the receipt from the charity, I stapled
the list to the receipt. We took a large deduction that year but the IRS
never questioned it. It was 1996, so I think we're square with the gummint.

> i.e. I have a fair amount of tools/wood working equip which I would not be
> able to take with me on the road.

I left some things with a daughter. I'd like them back, but she's using
them so I let her keep them. They'd be hers when I die anyway. Do you
have a family member who can use the tools? Is there a local charity
that might want them, like Habitat for Humanity? You can deduct them at
fair market value.

> Do you ever regret doing it? Is there anything you miss from the traditional
> lifestyle.

We did it for 9 years. I do not regret a single moment of it. My darling
husband regrets no longer being a fulltimer.

> I realize this may be rather open ended but I'm still looking at 16 years of
> "traditional life" before this could happen. BTW: I'm 34 yrs old, so that
> would make me 50 yrs for retirment.

Wow! I only planned for 8 years before we did it <g>

> I live in a state (PA) that has numerous oppertunites of free camping via
> the campground host. Figuring 3-4 months of being a host would not cost
> anything for camping sites.

You might want to look into a different state for residence. PA has a
rather high state income tax. There are various places on the internet
where domicile is discussed. You will have to pay non-resident income
tax if you work in any state that has an income tax that is not your
home state. You might want to work in Florida or Texas or Nevada or one
of the other handful of states with no income tax.

> In theory, I would still be able to work my currwnt profession even on the
> road but within a confinded area as professionally licensed if need be or
> for extra cash.

I know several nurses who travel between contracts and are quite happy
with the lifestyle. Some others get certification as substitute teachers
when they hit a state where they plan to spend quite a while. Another
friend was a bank teller and was always able to find work for a few
months before Christmas. There are hundreds of people whose work
involves computers. They have Datastorm installations and can work from
the road while deducting a good portion of the cost of the equipment and
service contract.

You might want to take a look at www.escapees.com and join some of their
forums. RVnet is another with forums.

Good luck.

Signature

Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life

Reply to this Message

Dave Lee - 07 Aug 2006 22:33 GMT

"Janet Wilder" <kelliepoodle@yahoo.com> wrote in

> You might want to look into a different state for residence. PA has a
> rather high state income tax. There are various places on the internet
> where domicile is discussed. You will have to pay non-resident income tax
> if you work in any state that has an income tax that is not your home
> state. You might want to work in Florida or Texas or Nevada or one of the
> other handful of states with no income tax

What about vehicle taxes? I had a hunting partner who registered is rig in
Oregon, I believe, but was from RI. He said something about calling it his
home and not paying taxes, or something or other. Sorry, but this was 10
years ago and I'm not keen on the details. Is there something about RV's and
Oregon? Like Delaware and corporations?

Reply to this Message

Janet Wilder - 07 Aug 2006 23:16 GMT

> "Janet Wilder" <kelliepoodle@yahoo.com> wrote in
>
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> years ago and I'm not keen on the details. Is there something about RV's and
> Oregon? Like Delaware and corporations?

Oregon doesn't have a sales tax. It was a lot easier 10 years ago to
establish a mailing address there and save the sales tax. Not so easy
any more. There is a personal income tax in Oregon and it's hefty. The
newest trick is to establish a corporation in Montana and have it
purchase the RV thereby saving sales tax. It will not change your
residency. My personal feeling is that the corporation's sole purpose if
to defraud your state of domicile out of sales tax and one of these days
that loophole will be closed.

The favored states for fulltimers are Florida, South Dakota and Texas.
Tennessee has some positives.

You should check out some of the forums I suggested. Those groups are
more expert than most here.

Signature

Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life

Reply to this Message

tat-2 - 08 Aug 2006 13:51 GMT

>> Hi,
>> I have a few questions as a potential future full time RV'er.
[quoted text clipped - 96 lines]
>
> Good luck.

Thank you for your feedback and link.

Ed

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