DW & I have begun to plan for our full timing lifestyle. We plan to begin around spring 2017. We would be just over & just under 41 years of age (7 months difference between us). We have only one child, and he is now 21 yrs old, and no grandchildren, hopefully for the foreseeable future. We know we will have to work our way around the country, as we are not independently wealthy. However, we believe that this will be a wonderful way to enjoy the country, meet great people, and not have to wait until we are able to fully retire to begin a life of travel.
We don’t believe that we have any misnomers or misconceptions about the cost of living being “real cheap”. We have been investing and saving into multiple investment tools for many years, in the hopes of retiring by 50-55. We know there is plenty of risk in today's economic times, as well as that there are no guarantees. We hope to have a decent reserve fund when we begin, in addition to our retirement accounts being in a fair enough spot to hopefully grow untouched for the following 15-20 years, before we might need to access them.
We have been doing tons and tons of research about full-timing (more than a year at this point in time), and will continue to do so until we leave, and once we are on the road. We believe we will be forever learning in life.
That about sums up our story…. at least to this point in time!!!!
-- Edited by NeilRach04 on Friday 22nd of May 2015 04:10:25 PM
TRAILERKING said
04:56 PM May 22, 2015
Welcome aboard......Sounds like a plan.
Barbaraok said
06:23 PM May 22, 2015
What are you going to do about health care? That one item can derail the best of plans.
Barb
NeilRach04 said
08:31 PM May 22, 2015
Thank you for the welcome! Well.... health care is definitely going to be one of the biggest tricks to pull off. We have already started pricing estimates on the Health Care Exchange (HCE)The main question will be where we choose for domicile. Right now we are between the big 3 (SD, TX, FL). The problem with SD is that they currently do not have any nationwide provider plans on the HCE, where as, TX & FL do. We are already used to having a high deductible plan, and will probably stick with that to keep our premiums as low as possible. Plus it gives you an HSA account, which is another avenue to reduce your AGI, and subsequently, your MAGI that is used for determining what your premiums and premium tax credits will equate to. If you utilize both the traditional IRA ($5500 x2 for each spouse) and the HSA ($6500 family max), you can reduce your MAGI by about $17,500.00, in order to keep your premiums lower, in the case where your income climbs a bit higher than expected in a given year. And the best part of all is, you're using those contributions to fund your own future retirement and health care fund. If we end up making significantly more than expected, well that would be a problem we wouldn't complain to much about
-- Edited by NeilRach04 on Friday 22nd of May 2015 08:32:27 PM
-- Edited by NeilRach04 on Friday 22nd of May 2015 08:33:07 PM
mds1 said
12:53 AM May 23, 2015
Good luck with your planning and hope to learn from you in the forums.
BiggarView said
05:25 AM May 23, 2015
Welcome. Sounds like you have put a lot of thought into your planning and making sure you have the financial "muscle" to back it up in the future. 2017 will be here before you know it. Enjoy the ride!
NeilRach04 said
07:20 PM May 25, 2015
Thanks Mark!! I wouldn't expect that many of you will learn much from us rookies. We are definitely hoping to learn as much as possible from the veteran RV'ers on RV-Dreams, though.
Brian & Cindi, Thank you as well!! We have been trying to be as smart as possible about taking the big step. Lots and lots of research, possibly to the point of overkill. However, Since I am a planner (got to have a back up plan to the other 3 back up plans), I don't believe in being too prepared. Although, I believe I drive DW crazy with it at times We are definitely hoping that we've planned enough financial muscle for our future. The main problem with financial planning, is that you can never 100% predict the future markets, or the economy In a worst case scenario, we know we always have the option of dropping anchor for a while, and spend some time rebuilding reserves again. We are fairly resourceful individuals, and we are used to living below our means. Hopefully if push came to shove, we could make whatever adjustments we would need to make.
Offtosmelltheroses said
07:27 PM May 25, 2015
Welcome Aboard - if you haven't already you'll find out there's lots to learn from the fine folks here. Deb and I are in the same phase as you guys, though starting out a bit later in life to do so. We plan on heading out no later than early 2017, if not late next year. Best wishes!
DW & I have begun to plan for our full timing lifestyle. We plan to begin around spring 2017. We would be just over & just under 41 years of age (7 months difference between us). We have only one child, and he is now 21 yrs old, and no grandchildren, hopefully for the foreseeable future. We know we will have to work our way around the country, as we are not independently wealthy. However, we believe that this will be a wonderful way to enjoy the country, meet great people, and not have to wait until we are able to fully retire to begin a life of travel.
We don’t believe that we have any misnomers or misconceptions about the cost of living being “real cheap”. We have been investing and saving into multiple investment tools for many years, in the hopes of retiring by 50-55. We know there is plenty of risk in today's economic times, as well as that there are no guarantees. We hope to have a decent reserve fund when we begin, in addition to our retirement accounts being in a fair enough spot to hopefully grow untouched for the following 15-20 years, before we might need to access them.
We have been doing tons and tons of research about full-timing (more than a year at this point in time), and will continue to do so until we leave, and once we are on the road. We believe we will be forever learning in life.
That about sums up our story…. at least to this point in time!!!!
-- Edited by NeilRach04 on Friday 22nd of May 2015 04:10:25 PM
Barb
Thank you for the welcome! Well.... health care is definitely going to be one of the biggest tricks to pull off. We have already started pricing estimates on the Health Care Exchange (HCE)The main question will be where we choose for domicile. Right now we are between the big 3 (SD, TX, FL). The problem with SD is that they currently do not have any nationwide provider plans on the HCE, where as, TX & FL do. We are already used to having a high deductible plan, and will probably stick with that to keep our premiums as low as possible. Plus it gives you an HSA account, which is another avenue to reduce your AGI, and subsequently, your MAGI that is used for determining what your premiums and premium tax credits will equate to. If you utilize both the traditional IRA ($5500 x2 for each spouse) and the HSA ($6500 family max), you can reduce your MAGI by about $17,500.00, in order to keep your premiums lower, in the case where your income climbs a bit higher than expected in a given year. And the best part of all is, you're using those contributions to fund your own future retirement and health care fund. If we end up making significantly more than expected, well that would be a problem we wouldn't complain to much about
-- Edited by NeilRach04 on Friday 22nd of May 2015 08:32:27 PM
-- Edited by NeilRach04 on Friday 22nd of May 2015 08:33:07 PM
Welcome. Sounds like you have put a lot of thought into your planning and making sure you have the financial "muscle" to back it up in the future. 2017 will be here before you know it.
Enjoy the ride!
Thanks Mark!! I wouldn't expect that many of you will learn much from us rookies. We are definitely hoping to learn as much as possible from the veteran RV'ers on RV-Dreams, though.
We are definitely hoping that we've planned enough financial muscle for our future. The main problem with financial planning, is that you can never 100% predict the future markets, or the economy 
In a worst case scenario, we know we always have the option of dropping anchor for a while, and spend some time rebuilding reserves again. We are fairly resourceful individuals, and we are used to living below our means. Hopefully if push came to shove, we could make whatever adjustments we would need to make.
Brian & Cindi, Thank you as well!! We have been trying to be as smart as possible about taking the big step. Lots and lots of research, possibly to the point of overkill. However, Since I am a planner (got to have a back up plan to the other 3 back up plans), I don't believe in being too prepared. Although, I believe I drive DW crazy with it at times
Welcome Aboard - if you haven't already you'll find out there's lots to learn from the fine folks here. Deb and I are in the same phase as you guys, though starting out a bit later in life to do so. We plan on heading out no later than early 2017, if not late next year. Best wishes!