Retirement in My Early 40s ?

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by Intoxicat

My plan has been similar to yours, with exception of 4 kids and a wife. My goal is to retire at 46 (when youngest graduates high school). I'm 37 now. What we've done is invest in an average house but on 60 acres at the end of a nice subdivision. My goal is to sell the house / land in about 9 to 10 years. Then buy a little house on a bay (preferably in Alabama) and an Outremer 45. I've been chasing this goal since I was 25, and the boat has changed about 10 times and will probably change another 10 in the next few years. As far as how much money saved up to sail forever... That depends on a lot of things. Everybody has mentioned maintenance, but are you going to keep your boat for 20 plus years? If not then you'll need money to buy another one somewhere down the line. I'm very slowly building my "Last Boat" fund (very securely in savings and cd's) and planning on selling the land to buy the first boat and house close to the coast. Until then I'll trailer sail and bareboat charter.

The most important thing is to never give up.

Sounds like a good plan Intoxicat. Be sure to either subdivide your land now or to keep vigilant as to whether or not you will be allowed to subdivide in the future. That makes a big difference into the value of your land. Also instead of selling you should look into doing a 1031 Exchange into Rental Real Estate. If you own the land out right and trade for an apartment building that has no or little debt then you will be able to have your ccake (the real estate) and eat it (the cash flow) too. You do have the problem of finding a good management company. If one of those is a rental property on the beach in Alabama the IRS has made a ruling that you are allowed to move into that rental house in the future.

[RayW]

Thank you for the advice Charlie on the 1031. How does it work? As for subdivision, well, I'm a land surveyor, so I think I have that part covered. Check it out on google earth. 33 17'22"N, 86 41'47"W. Also, this is exactly what I'm looking for, just not right now. [PM the member if you want his real estate / condominium rental link. TaoJones]

[Caribsailors]

The Cayman Gov does not allow live aboards.

But with that said, we lived aboard and know others, stick to your plan. I decided I was retired at 43, bought a boat in the Caribbean and now we cruise work. It's all a matter of mindset.

From my first sail at 10 years old, I'll be 39.5CI on Monday, I always said. "when I retire I'm gonna sail the Caribbean" After three friends died when I was 40.... I retired.

I'm richer now than ever.

Cheers

[CFR]

Hi all, i am writing from Hamburg Germany and i am planning the same since i am a student now i am 46. I allways dreamed to be a millionare and to retire at 50 but then we got the euro.... .I bought my first small house with my first salary, sold it 10 years later, bought a big house and paid it full the last 6 years. Bought a 46 alumium boat for 100 k and will have paid it next year. will work 2 more years to get some cash and will go. sell the house at 500k ( which would have been 1 mio deutschmark) and hope to live from 20.000 euro a year. One important thing, we have no kids and i life with the same girl since the age of 16. Double income no kids and no fancy stuff. we are sailing whole live with small boats. So it works out..... at least i hope so. But verything is changing 25 years bag a million mean you are rich, now it is still okay but a lot less.

[Dockhead]

I usually refrain from giving people advice on life in general, but I can't resist here. This is a very poor plan, as others have said! You will f*ck up your life if you choose a profession just for the sake of making a certain amount of money within some limited period of time. What if you die 10 years into your plan? What will you have gotten out of life? You should choose a profession which you love, so that you are getting full satisfaction out of life starting now, not x years from now. One of the most disastrous things you can do with your life is to work at something you hate and count the days until retirement. The happiest people never really retire; they find something to do which is as natural to them as breathing and which they cannot imagine not doing, whether it pays a lot or only a little or maybe even nothing at all. Retirement is for the rest of us, who didn't quite manage to achieve that. It is a failure mode; it is not something which should already be your career goal when you are just starting out.

By the way, a legal education is an excellent basis for dozens of different professions, besides just practicing law. Find something you love to do and forget about this retirement nonsense. If you want to be a boat bum, and that is the only thing you really love, and you can't be happy otherwise, then be a boat bum -- that's a profession too. But do it now, not x years from now. Drop out of law school, learn some nautical trade, and hit the water.

[hellosailor]

Old Yiddish proverb that sounds less lyrical in the translation:
"Man plans, God laughs."

Real estate can be good, it has been good to a friend on mine for 30 years. But right now...he can't sell what he's got, unless at a loss. (And he bought at good prices, not high ones.) So he has to rent it out, and renting can be a brutal time consumer. The professionally managed "resort" units take care of themselves--but of course generate less profit and require careful and constant consideration of the management agency.

Money invested in the bank? Well...whether it is the corporate bond market, the government bond market, the stock market...timing is everything and right now the only reason people aren't stuffing their mattresses is because a lumpy mattress makes it hard to sleep too.

Letting you money make money, all by itself, may no longer be possible in the bizarre quirks and timing of the new world economy. The rich play bigger games, the middle class get cleaned out. While some stocks actually made incredible profits (over 1300%) in the past year, others got wiped out, and even the folks who held the winners didn't expect to win that big. Real estate? Subdivisions? If there's a big push to electric cars and you're outside the 40-mile commuting range...it might be worthless in ten years.

Man plans, God laughs.

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by CFR

. . . Bought a 46 alumium boat for 100 k and will have paid it next year. will work 2 more years to get some cash and will go. sell the house at 500k ( which would have been 1 mio deutschmark) and hope to live from 20.000 euro a year. . .

If you can maintain an income of 20K Euro per year for 2 people on a 46ft Aluminum boat you will be very happy and unrestricted in your cruising. Currently that amount of money in in the high end of the middle range of full-time cruisers. There will be few if any restrictions on your style of life - maybe you will have to stay away from "super-yacht marinas" but just about anywhere else will not be a problem. You can anchor out as you desire or spend some time in a marina and even rent cars and tour.
- - Of course, if the Euro falls anymore, you will have to give up the rental cars.

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by Randoneur

Go do it.

Just don't forget to enjoy your work life too, if will lead to success that will make your retirement plan possible.

Right! And also remember ..."Life is what happens to you when you are making other plans."

[CFR]

[QUOTE=osirissail;462984]If you can maintain an income of 20K Euro per year for 2 people on a 46ft Aluminum boat you will be very happy and unrestricted in your cruising. Currently that amount of money in in the high end of the middle range of full-time cruisers.

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yes i talked to several sailors and in europe 20 k should be roughly ok in europe a little bit difficult esp the Med in summer time when they charge 100 usd a night in the marina, but in greece or turkey you can easily find a secure anchorage. the good thing will be that they have the euro so no problem with the euro value. And the usd will also fall in the next 2-3 years so everything will be the same again. Caribean i only know from hotel holiday so i am not sure it 20 k will be enough incl maintenace etc on the .
a positive thing is that in Germany we have no housing bubble at all, over the last 10-20 years the prices went up 2-4 % a year only which is actually nothing, only in some very good location you can get maybe 10 %

[MarkJ]

I think 20,000 Eur is a fine budget. But still not one to start splashing about!! Do that in your first year and that 20kEUR will go like quicksilver.

I'm stuffed if I know how much some folks must spend but it must be easy to spend 100k Eur / $120,000 USD per year by staying at marinas and eating out 5 nights per week night.

[JordanRHughes]

Originally Posted by ZuiQuan

Hello everyone!
I am a 22 years old Finnish guy. I know that most people in my age dont think further than the next month, but I think/hope that I have it all figured out for the rest of my life:

At the moment I am studying law in England and the plan is to end up practicing law in the Cayman Islands. My idea is to get myself a catamaran, something similar to Lagoon 421 or 450. Besides the boat I will need about 600k invested which should get me 40k+ a year to spend. I have made some calculations but I am yet not sure if that is enough to maintain myself and a 40-45f catamaran. I have also calculated that achieving this economic situation should not take much longer than 15 years.

One of my options is to live in the boat, something I have always dreamed about, and that would also save money in living expenses. I was involved in an internet business which left me with ~100k € and this should get me the advantage of getting a loan for the boat right away (not needing to waste time/money for renting an apartment) and start payments as soon as possible.

The second option is to buy/rent myself an apartment and then get myself a catamaran few years later and lease it to 3rd parties. During the first years I will probably have to work very long hours which means that I cannot really enjoy much sailing anyways. Renting the boat should help with the payments but would also expose it to more usage and wear. Does anyone know what is the average utilization rate of a leasing catamaran in the Caribbean area?

I understand that things may and will change, but with the facts above is there anything I should think about during this early stage of preparation? All tips and words of wisdom are very welcomed and if you find any flaws in my logic/planning please let me know!

In my experience, this sort of option isn't available unless you are born into money.

[RayW]

Originally Posted by JordanRHughes

In my experience, this sort of option isn't available unless you are born into money.

Its amazing to me how someone can say he must be born into money. It appears that he's willing to work hard now and live the lifestyle later (option 2). People should be judged by their own work ethic and ideas, not their parents. Hopefully his kids will be born into money.
Also, I wouldn't knock people that have relatively high reaching goals like this. There is a good chance you'll call him or someone just like him boss.

[CFR]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

I think 20,000 Eur is a fine budget. But still not one to start splashing about!! Do that in your first year and that 20kEUR will go like quicksilver.

I'm stuffed if I know how much some folks must spend but it must be easy to spend 100k Eur / $120,000 USD per year by staying at marinas and eating out 5 nights per week night.

Clear, i know such people also, they working in my company and complaining how i could paid my house and boat although they earning the same like me since years.... maybe a different lifestyle. I am easy with big investments and very critical with the small ones from dinning, concerts,theater, cinema, fashion, new cars etc. and so far is worked out nicely.

One question reg Turkey: i hope that in winter time one can get a marina berth for 1-3 month with accepable costs, in summer it will be better to avoid any marina in the med that i know. but longer stay seems to be much cheaper.

[JordanRHughes]

Originally Posted by Intoxicat

Its amazing to me how someone can say he must be born into money. It appears that he's willing to work hard now and live the lifestyle later (option 2). People should be judged by their own work ethic and ideas, not their parents. Hopefully his kids will be born into money.
Also, I wouldn't knock people that have relatively high reaching goals like this. There is a good chance you'll call him or someone just like him boss.

Could work, if you live in a bubble! Usually life gets in the way if you don't have to family money to back you up.


Sounds like you come from family money-you probably don't even have to work, do you?

[RayW]

Originally Posted by JordanRHughes

Could work, if you live in a bubble! Usually life gets in the way if you don't have to family money to back you up.


Sounds like you come from family money-you probably don't even have to work, do you?

LOL. I wish you were right. I'm a land surveyor. In the office two or three days a week and in the woods the other two or three. The good thing is its not too much like work. I'm essentially a professional hiker that has to keep meticulous notes.
Enjoy