Cruising on $5,000 / Month

[messias]

Originally Posted by RainDog

I thought the "better than you crowd" was driving (...) Land Rover (...)

Forget it... they leak as hell!

About the topic, I have to say that I am really amazed with the numbers here... 5K/month to cruise? Damn I want that!

As I live in europe and (above all) from a almost bankrupt country (now I moved) I will most certainly NOT HAVE a pension! Simple as that! After decades of paying high taxes and not beeing enough, the government has just decided on playing the "robin hood game"...the other way around! So, by all means, take more taxes, cut the pensions, raise the retirement age to 66 (and they say it will rise again)...and save the banks (the privat ones, of course)... so...

I cannot count on any retirement plan, other than starting some savings (again) and maybe work my but off until I die...

Fine! I´ll do that.

But I´ll do it at sea!


5K?! wow...i wish.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Rule of thirds.....

1) 1/3rd to cover the basics (food / rent / heat etc)
2) 1/3rd to have fun (toys / holidays / beer etc)
3) 1/3rd for the future (long term expenses / unexpected expenses / rainy day / future choices / own credit facility ).

Gonna be some overlap between 1) & 2) - but if you can keep 1) down then allows 2) to be higher .

Works well enough ashore......at least as a ballpark to aim for.

[David_Old_Jersey]

For a back of a fag packet calculation (until own numbers are available from own experience) - figure on 10% of boat value per year out cruising (costs will be incurred in chunks and not on a nice even monthly basis)....if you start off with a boat fund ($5 / 10k) to cover expenses arriving before the saving for them! then likely will be less stressful.

Other costs will depend on starting boat condition, usage and location and personal lifestyle - if "you" don't know what those are (will be), no one else will........but a bit of effort with a Spreadsheet and Mr Google should get "you" into own ballpark.

Is $5k a month enough? Very likely - but depends on your boat, your plans and your abilities (to control costs and to manage finances).

[tightgroup]

Let me see. In order to have a 5k monthly sailing budget at retirement, we would to calculate the principal in the following fashion. Taxes do come in play , so we would require a 8700.00 monthly income before taxes. Now we all know that a secure investment these days will not yield more than 2% per annum. Thus requiring an initial capital of 5 million dollars. So unless your liquidating your capital to sustain your monthly expense, I suggest for those of us who live with modest means, that we focus on what we can achieve with the means at hand.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[undercutter]

Originally Posted by tightgroup

Let me see. In order to have a 5k monthly sailing budget at retirement, we would to calculate the principal in the following fashion. Taxes do come in play , so we would require a 8700.00 monthly income before taxes. Now we all know that a secure investment these days will not yield more than 2% per annum. Thus requiring an initial capital of 5 million dollars. So unless your liquidating your capital to sustain your monthly expense, I suggest for those of us who live with modest means, that we focus on what we can achieve with the means at hand.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

You can easily get 4% in Malaysia on a 30 day GIC.

[messias]

Originally Posted by tightgroup

I suggest for those of us who live with modest means, that we focus on what we can achieve with the means at hand.

I know, I know...!
This:

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by undercutter

You can easily get 4% in Malaysia on a 30 day GIC.

I imagine you need to be residing in Malaysia to open an account, you do it Thailand. Do you know or do you have an account?

[undercutter]

Originally Posted by Doodles

I imagine you need to be residing in Malaysia to open an account, you do it Thailand. Do you know or do you have an account?

No problem to open an account in either country. Actually Thailand is easier than Malaysia where they want a local address. Last year we took up diving and had to exchange a significant amount of US dollars into TB so along with other expenses we changed over 10k US and the bank (kruger) offered to open an account on the spot so we did for the convenience. No problem at all.

If I was going to invest in SEA, I would stay away from Thailand but Malaysia is a fairly safe place to put your money IMHO.

[w1651]

I was just thinking what does The bank of Switzerland pay in interest? Or any multinational banks these days. That's probably a great thread to start. International interest rates.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by undercutter

If I was going to invest in SEA, I would stay away from Thailand but Malaysia is a fairly safe place to put your money IMHO.

Of course in the 97 Asian crisis they imposed capital controls overnight......

[RainDog]

Originally Posted by tightgroup

Let me see. In order to have a 5k monthly sailing budget at retirement, we would to calculate the principal in the following fashion. Taxes do come in play , so we would require a 8700.00 monthly income before taxes. Now we all know that a secure investment these days will not yield more than 2% per annum. Thus requiring an initial capital of 5 million dollars.

In the US it should be much lower Taxes at least. 0 - 15%, depending on how you do it. I figure 3k per month, 10% tax, so 40K per year before taxes. To not draw down your capital, I think 3% is a better number, so just need 1.4 million dollars. So basically still never going to happen.

[Hud3]

If your income was from a source of taxable income, like investments, your federal tax would be about $6,000 on $66,000 of income with the standard deduction and two personal expemptions, to net $60,000 per year. Maintain Florida residency through a personal mail box at St Brendans Isle, and you would pay no state income taxes.

If your income was from $35,000 in social security benefit and $26,200 from taxable investment income, you'd pay about $1,200 in federal income taxes to net $60,000 per year.

[tightgroup]

In Canada if you make 60,000 then you pay 30,000 in taxes to the Feds, the Provincial gov, the municipal governments and of course the the corruption boys. If you make 1 mill a year you pay nothing in taxes ... The corruption boys pay you a royalty instead, so your income is now 1.5 mill

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by tightgroup

Let me see. In order to have a 5k monthly sailing budget at retirement, we would to calculate the principal in the following fashion. Taxes do come in play , so we would require a 8700.00 monthly income before taxes. Now we all know that a secure investment these days will not yield more than 2% per annum. Thus requiring an initial capital of 5 million dollars. So unless your liquidating your capital to sustain your monthly expense, I suggest for those of us who live with modest means, that we focus on what we can achieve with the means at hand.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

In the States a "secure investment" would probably mean a bank savings account or money market account all of which rarely pay over 1/2 to 1% interest per year these days. So to make any kind of return on your money you would probably need to invest in less "secure" financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, investment funds (e.g. Fidelity). These can yield from negative annual return to as much as 25% or more per years depending upon the risk you wish to take.

Overseas, bank savings and CD-type certificates can yield up to 10% per year (Russian banks now pay about 7.5% per year). However, the governmental consumer protection for such banks and their accounts may not be as "secure" as US banks.

Over the last 20 years I have averaged about 10% to 20% annual yield on US mutual funds. They have ones that pay twice that but they also are very sensitive to world politics and economies and may loose next year what you made this year.

Average Federal taxes in the USA - unless you really are bad at doing them - rarely exceed 10% to 15% of your adjusted gross income during the year.

[a64pilot]

Either way unfortunately life is a sexually transmitted condition with a 100% mortality rate. You don't need to plan on being able to sustain a retirement account indefinately.
My plan is 25 years, assuming retirement at 60. If I live to 85, and statistics say I won't, then I won't be living in a boat or house by myself anyway, and liquidating what's left would put me in a retirement home for a few years