We are Dan and Ruth now living on the Mississippi River in Wisconsin. No kids, no pets and tired of winter. Unless the stock market tanks, we look to retire at the end of April, 2017 and full time for at least a couple of years. We will re-evaluate after that time. If we continue we'll probably upgrade our rig to whatever we find that we really need during these first 2 years. Right now it's so hard to predict what kind of camping we'll do and what best serves our purposes. For now, the plan is a 5er. Today (could change) we like the Grand Design Reflection 303 and probably a Ford F350 SRW diesel.
The lifestyle seems perfect for our situation. A few years ago we purchased her parents house but it is not the place we'll spend our final days so it must go no matter what. We have always traveled be it by car, camper or motorcycle - it's the journey for us.
I think like most of us considering this move, we are frightened and overwhelmed - so many things to do, so many questions. Jeez, health insurance considerations alone are enough to discourage a person. Which is how I stumbled upon this forum, doing research. Looks like a lot of experience concentrated here and I look forward to participating.
Thanks for having us.
Dan
mds1 said
10:14 PM Apr 16, 2016
Good to meet ya Dan. We plan to hit the road in 2019. Till then dreaming and planning. I toured the Reflection at the last local show. Rated it highly compared to others in its class. We decided on a 5th wheel last year and right now are looking at trailers under about 18,000 pounds that can be pulled with a dually. But have not ruled out something in the weight class of a Reflection and a single rear wheel would be easier to drive around town. We are concentrating on what floor plans we like and figure that will help narrow the gap in selection.
I have to agree with the health care thing. By far the only variable I can't get my mind around it because who knows what will be out there in 2019. Like I told my finance guy when we met to rebalance our funds and his ideas of how to manage the account (by adding more $)- there is no point in talking about somethings when the decision is already made.
Mark from Missouri.
Dan and Ruth said
07:42 AM Apr 17, 2016
Hi Mark, thank you for the welcome.
Our choice in trailers reflects the lack of confidence in what we'll be doing. Super C motorhomes like Jayco's Seneca really make my monkey dance but I balk at the buy in price, at least for now. We used our previous 5er in small county campgrounds because it was a 25 footer and we enjoyed that. So while we prefer to start with something not so large as to preclude smaller sites, we don't think we can live that small. The 303 seems like a good compromise and should get 32' into most places of interest to us. Once we better understand our campground preferences, we can decide what truly is best for us. We want to buy used so trading trailers or changing to a Super C won't be such a big depreciation hit - at least not numerically.
So far as the truck, we are somewhat adventurous and like occasional off road excursions and we don't see us ever hauling 40'. For those reasons we're thinking SRW.
Health care, who knows what happens next year after the election? Guess we'll see!
You touched on the first topic for which I will seek advice - finance. About half of our money is invested in Vanguard and most of the rest will transfer there after retirement, but I'm already disappointed that they charge $5 monthly to add electronic payment - sort of ticks me off. Currently plan to move from our local credit union to a large national bank chain and link to the investment accounts for money transfer. Many branch offices and ATM's seems right to me. But we would like to hear about what works for others here. Some things, like changing banks, etc., don't have to wait until next year for implementation. We want as many components of this lifestyle change in place as far in advance as possible so come April we can focus on selling the house and getting out of town by the end of summer.
Offtosmelltheroses said
11:36 AM Apr 17, 2016
Welcome aboard Dan and Ruth! You'll find answers to all your questions here. There are so many very knowledgeable folks here...it's amazing. We made the decision and began our search for our RV in earnest just about a year ago, and since have learned so much from everyone here. We eventually narrowed our RV search criteria down to a 2005-2008 DP, either Newmar or Tiffin in the 40 ft class. Even though there are tons of RV's out there on the market, the search can get pretty frustrating. I can't count how many "possibles" we got excited about only to pass them by for various reasons. Just when we thought we'd be searching forever, we recently got lucky enough to discover our " Mary Poppins" (Practically Perfect in Every Way) in San Antonio - she's a 2007 Allegro Bus, in wonderful condition, and we're very excited to hit the road around the end of this year. We'll spend the next eight months or so doing test runs, getting our solar installed, tying up all the loose ends etc., and take off for the desert shortly after the holidays. We hope to run into you out here one of these days! Once again, welcome, have fun and safe travels!!!
Jim and Deb
Portland, Oregon
mds1 said
01:46 PM Apr 17, 2016
Dan,
I'm with Bank of America and have been for a long time. But we are not fulltime RVing yet. I hardly ever go by a branch office. Can even do check book balancing online, if that's important. Joined USAA because of veteran status and as a second option. Been thinking about some insurance changes so USAA might help, or not.
I like Vanguard because the fees are low. I also have a Fidelity account for playing around. Also using Waddell and Reed which is a managed account but the fees are high. In retirement, I may move things around. Our target is 7% earnings with a withdrawal rate of 4%, at least for the first few years of retirement. My gut feeling is overall, in retirement, Vanguard is a good bet.
The Reflections model 303 was the one we looked at also. Was comparing to the Keystone Cougar and Laredo. One thing you give up is the drop frame so basement is not as large compared to the larger class trailer. But gaining the benefit of less gross weight. In that class there are a lot of units to compare against, especially in the 30' plus range.
We are thinking alike. Wife and I are not going all-in, in terms of breaking the bank on whatever rig we go with. Too much riding on it if we don't end up liking the life style. However, we don't want to set ourselves up for not enjoying it because of buying a rig with less comfort than our minimum standards. That's why I've also not given up looking at the mid-profile 5th wheels like the Reflection and others. We would have to be careful because the price on some of the lower profile stuff is getting closer to the larger full profile stuff.
el Rojo and Pam said
03:57 PM Apr 17, 2016
Welcome Dale and Ruth. Looks like you're on the right path. What's funny is when we worked we always stayed at CORPS or state campgrounds and now we never do. We have found county parks to work good for us and also BLM.
Glad you're here and good luck on your decisions.
Red
Dan and Ruth said
05:47 AM Apr 18, 2016
Welcome aboard Dan and Ruth! You'll find answers to all your questions here. There are so many very knowledgeable folks here...it's amazing. We made the decision and began our search for our RV in earnest just about a year ago, and since have learned so much from everyone here. We eventually narrowed our RV search criteria down to a 2005-2008 DP, either Newmar or Tiffin in the 40 ft class. Even though there are tons of RV's out there on the market, the search can get pretty frustrating. I can't count how many "possibles" we got excited about only to pass them by for various reasons. Just when we thought we'd be searching forever, we recently got lucky enough to discover our " Mary Poppins" (Practically Perfect in Every Way) in San Antonio - she's a 2007 Allegro Bus, in wonderful condition, and we're very excited to hit the road around the end of this year. We'll spend the next eight months or so doing test runs, getting our solar installed, tying up all the loose ends etc., and take off for the desert shortly after the holidays. We hope to run into you out here one of these days! Once again, welcome, have fun and safe travels!!!
Hi Jim & Deb, nice meeting you.
You are way ahead of us in preparation, I have RV envy. LOL. I like the solar idea. The guy I work has owned Class A's all his live and currently drives a Tiffin, he swears by them. Going by that, I think you made an excellent choice.
Best of luck in your adventure and yes, I hope we do cross paths in the forum and on the road next year!
Dan and Ruth said
05:50 AM Apr 18, 2016
el Rojo and Pam wrote:
Welcome Dale and Ruth. Looks like you're on the right path. What's funny is when we worked we always stayed at CORPS or state campgrounds and now we never do. We have found county parks to work good for us and also BLM.
Glad you're here and good luck on your decisions.
Red
Hi Red and thanks for the welcome. We are glad to be here.
It sounds like you have few problems getting that 380 into county parks which is good news to me. I'm sure the forum collective will help me make better decisions.
Dan and Ruth said
06:17 AM Apr 18, 2016
mds1 wrote:
Dan,
I'm with Bank of America and have been for a long time. But we are not fulltime RVing yet. I hardly ever go by a branch office. Can even do check book balancing online, if that's important. Joined USAA because of veteran status and as a second option. Been thinking about some insurance changes so USAA might help, or not.
I like Vanguard because the fees are low. I also have a Fidelity account for playing around. Also using Waddell and Reed which is a managed account but the fees are high. In retirement, I may move things around. Our target is 7% earnings with a withdrawal rate of 4%, at least for the first few years of retirement. My gut feeling is overall, in retirement, Vanguard is a good bet.
The Reflections model 303 was the one we looked at also. Was comparing to the Keystone Cougar and Laredo. One thing you give up is the drop frame so basement is not as large compared to the larger class trailer. But gaining the benefit of less gross weight. In that class there are a lot of units to compare against, especially in the 30' plus range.
We are thinking alike. Wife and I are not going all-in, in terms of breaking the bank on whatever rig we go with. Too much riding on it if we don't end up liking the life style. However, we don't want to set ourselves up for not enjoying it because of buying a rig with less comfort than our minimum standards. That's why I've also not given up looking at the mid-profile 5th wheels like the Reflection and others. We would have to be careful because the price on some of the lower profile stuff is getting closer to the larger full profile stuff.
Thanks for the input. Vanguard fees are great. Overall I'm very happy with their performance (Love Wellington and Star funds). I also have a Schwab account and need to investigate options there, too. I have a couple of BofA accounts at work and they seem to be able to do whatever I need without hassle. BofA and Wells Fargo are both of interest to me. I also have a Schwab account which is unfamiliar to me as it's only used by our financial planner so far. So Schwab may have options of which I'm unaware.
Yup, our thoughts on the buy in are aligned. It's good to see I'm not alone in my thought process.
Hi Everyone,
We are Dan and Ruth now living on the Mississippi River in Wisconsin. No kids, no pets and tired of winter. Unless the stock market tanks, we look to retire at the end of April, 2017 and full time for at least a couple of years. We will re-evaluate after that time. If we continue we'll probably upgrade our rig to whatever we find that we really need during these first 2 years. Right now it's so hard to predict what kind of camping we'll do and what best serves our purposes. For now, the plan is a 5er. Today (could change) we like the Grand Design Reflection 303 and probably a Ford F350 SRW diesel.
The lifestyle seems perfect for our situation. A few years ago we purchased her parents house but it is not the place we'll spend our final days so it must go no matter what. We have always traveled be it by car, camper or motorcycle - it's the journey for us.
I think like most of us considering this move, we are frightened and overwhelmed - so many things to do, so many questions. Jeez, health insurance considerations alone are enough to discourage a person. Which is how I stumbled upon this forum, doing research. Looks like a lot of experience concentrated here and I look forward to participating.
Thanks for having us.
Dan
I have to agree with the health care thing. By far the only variable I can't get my mind around it because who knows what will be out there in 2019. Like I told my finance guy when we met to rebalance our funds and his ideas of how to manage the account (by adding more $)- there is no point in talking about somethings when the decision is already made.
Mark from Missouri.
Our choice in trailers reflects the lack of confidence in what we'll be doing. Super C motorhomes like Jayco's Seneca really make my monkey dance but I balk at the buy in price, at least for now. We used our previous 5er in small county campgrounds because it was a 25 footer and we enjoyed that. So while we prefer to start with something not so large as to preclude smaller sites, we don't think we can live that small. The 303 seems like a good compromise and should get 32' into most places of interest to us. Once we better understand our campground preferences, we can decide what truly is best for us. We want to buy used so trading trailers or changing to a Super C won't be such a big depreciation hit - at least not numerically.
So far as the truck, we are somewhat adventurous and like occasional off road excursions and we don't see us ever hauling 40'. For those reasons we're thinking SRW.
Health care, who knows what happens next year after the election? Guess we'll see!
You touched on the first topic for which I will seek advice - finance. About half of our money is invested in Vanguard and most of the rest will transfer there after retirement, but I'm already disappointed that they charge $5 monthly to add electronic payment - sort of ticks me off. Currently plan to move from our local credit union to a large national bank chain and link to the investment accounts for money transfer. Many branch offices and ATM's seems right to me. But we would like to hear about what works for others here. Some things, like changing banks, etc., don't have to wait until next year for implementation. We want as many components of this lifestyle change in place as far in advance as possible so come April we can focus on selling the house and getting out of town by the end of summer.
Welcome aboard Dan and Ruth! You'll find answers to all your questions here. There are so many very knowledgeable folks here...it's amazing. We made the decision and began our search for our RV in earnest just about a year ago, and since have learned so much from everyone here. We eventually narrowed our RV search criteria down to a 2005-2008 DP, either Newmar or Tiffin in the 40 ft class. Even though there are tons of RV's out there on the market, the search can get pretty frustrating. I can't count how many "possibles" we got excited about only to pass them by for various reasons. Just when we thought we'd be searching forever, we recently got lucky enough to discover our " Mary Poppins" (Practically Perfect in Every Way)
in San Antonio - she's a 2007 Allegro Bus, in wonderful condition, and we're very excited to hit the road around the end of this year. We'll spend the next eight months or so doing test runs, getting our solar installed, tying up all the loose ends etc., and take off for the desert shortly after the holidays. We hope to run into you out here one of these days! Once again, welcome, have fun and safe travels!!!
Jim and Deb
Portland, Oregon
Dan,
I'm with Bank of America and have been for a long time. But we are not fulltime RVing yet. I hardly ever go by a branch office. Can even do check book balancing online, if that's important. Joined USAA because of veteran status and as a second option. Been thinking about some insurance changes so USAA might help, or not.
I like Vanguard because the fees are low. I also have a Fidelity account for playing around. Also using Waddell and Reed which is a managed account but the fees are high. In retirement, I may move things around. Our target is 7% earnings with a withdrawal rate of 4%, at least for the first few years of retirement. My gut feeling is overall, in retirement, Vanguard is a good bet.
The Reflections model 303 was the one we looked at also. Was comparing to the Keystone Cougar and Laredo. One thing you give up is the drop frame so basement is not as large compared to the larger class trailer. But gaining the benefit of less gross weight. In that class there are a lot of units to compare against, especially in the 30' plus range.
We are thinking alike. Wife and I are not going all-in, in terms of breaking the bank on whatever rig we go with. Too much riding on it if we don't end up liking the life style. However, we don't want to set ourselves up for not enjoying it because of buying a rig with less comfort than our minimum standards. That's why I've also not given up looking at the mid-profile 5th wheels like the Reflection and others. We would have to be careful because the price on some of the lower profile stuff is getting closer to the larger full profile stuff.
Glad you're here and good luck on your decisions.
Red
Hi Jim & Deb, nice meeting you.
You are way ahead of us in preparation, I have RV envy. LOL. I like the solar idea. The guy I work has owned Class A's all his live and currently drives a Tiffin, he swears by them. Going by that, I think you made an excellent choice.
Best of luck in your adventure and yes, I hope we do cross paths in the forum and on the road next year!
Hi Red and thanks for the welcome. We are glad to be here.
It sounds like you have few problems getting that 380 into county parks which is good news to me. I'm sure the forum collective will help me make better decisions.
Thanks for the input. Vanguard fees are great. Overall I'm very happy with their performance (Love Wellington and Star funds). I also have a Schwab account and need to investigate options there, too. I have a couple of BofA accounts at work and they seem to be able to do whatever I need without hassle. BofA and Wells Fargo are both of interest to me. I also have a Schwab account which is unfamiliar to me as it's only used by our financial planner so far. So Schwab may have options of which I'm unaware.
Yup, our thoughts on the buy in are aligned. It's good to see I'm not alone in my thought process.