Foolish Late 50's Sell it All and Head North

[ob44]

Jill:

Reading your words on the train out of Manhattan on a Friday night is encouraging and inspirational! Just leave it all behind? How appealing. Keep posting; we need the encouragement! Best of luck!

[keninmed]

Sorry to be the only wet lettuce but I would strongly advise you to rent your home and not sell it.
We spent several years in the Eastern Med Cyprus to Corfu and met many livaboards from all over the world.
Most were like us-having a great time.The only ones who were a little worried were older with infirmity setting in ( as it will do ) and had no place to go home to. Inflation had made even the smallest pad out of reach and the returns on their savings greatly diminished.
Be realistic, what will you really want to be doing in 20 years time?

[gonesail]

we did the same thing but with a little twist: we downsized 3 times and finally moved aboard the boat. this allows you to keep working and save a bit more money. however i would not do this in the great lakes .. move south. don't panic you still have a lot of time left. at least you already have the boat

[sailorboy1]

Most people leaving to go cruising still have a large family house. Replacing that later for a smaller house should result in money they kept. And coming to land after cruising without still having a house means you can chose a location that has the costs and other living features best matched to your needs.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by keninmed

Sorry to be the only wet lettuce but I would strongly advise you to rent your home and not sell it.
We spent several years in the Eastern Med Cyprus to Corfu and met many livaboards from all over the world.
Most were like us-having a great time.The only ones who were a little worried were older with infirmity setting in ( as it will do ) and had no place to go home to. Inflation had made even the smallest pad out of reach and the returns on their savings greatly diminished.
Be realistic, what will you really want to be doing in 20 years time?

That's a very good point. Unless you (and your partner) die at sea, there will come a time when you can no longer handle the chores of boating and/or must be near medical help and facilities. You will need some sort of home to come back to. You could sell the home and buy a condo before you leave and rent the condo or invest the money in something safe to buy a place when you need it.

[adlib2]

Originally Posted by keninmed

Sorry to be the only wet lettuce but I would strongly advise you to rent your home and not sell it.
We spent several years in the Eastern Med Cyprus to Corfu and met many livaboards from all over the world.
Most were like us-having a great time.The only ones who were a little worried were older with infirmity setting in ( as it will do ) and had no place to go home to. Inflation had made even the smallest pad out of reach and the returns on their savings greatly diminished.
Be realistic, what will you really want to be doing in 20 years time?

Europe has much different demographics than North America where we're still recovering from the 2008 recession and suspect we will be for many years to come, especially in Florida that has a high percentage of recreational homes and are the first to be sold or foreclosed on. There is a huge surplus of homes for both sale and rent and economical marinas for sailing year round.
Banks have many foreclosed homes on their books that they release for sale gradually in order not to depress the market further. I have met a few Europeans that have purchased multiple dwellings in Florida for investment, living in one and renting out the others. There are probably other locations in the world also for affordable dwellings.
"Wet Lettuce" you can always find reasons for negativity and keeping your home when you're happy being a cruising sailor is a big negative. What will you do with your home while your cruising? Renting it out can be disastrous and leaving it empty can be just as troublesome .
If you truly want freedom then Sell-up and Sail and don't think back. A house is one anchor you can do without.

[adlib2]

Originally Posted by rwidman

That's a very good point. Unless you (and your partner) die at sea, there will come a time when you can no longer handle the chores of boating and/or must be near medical help and facilities. You will need some sort of home to come back to. You could sell the home and buy a condo before you leave and rent the condo or invest the money in something safe to buy a place when you need it.

The original Post gave a 20 year time span! The cost for maintenance and refurbishing would be a huge drain on resources if you were to move back in~
Prefer your Investment strategy; what else would you do with the proceeds from house sale?

[cwyckham]

Welcome to Cruiser's Forum. That was a great first post. Please keep us updated on your progress!

[Mtnyeti]

Hi Jill

I live in the Mankato area in southern MN. I have never sailed but have a dream of following your path so to speak. If your offer for a ride was sincere my wife and I would really appreciate a chance to tag along for an afternoon sail to see if it is truly something we would enjoy. We could meet somewhere in the cities to discuss it in the coming weeks if you are open to it. Thanks!

[tat]

IMO, Jill, you are not wrong, you are right.

When I became 50 I thus became 'over the hill'. To me, this is not being too old for this and that, but rather, it is an acceptance that one day my life will end, and also that of my partner, and that turning 50 meant that I could, thus, having done this-and-that (house/kids, etc), and in the certain knowledge I will die, begin to take it easy, begin to enjoy walking down instead of the walking up. It is difficult to spend when you have always saved, to give up what you once wanted soooo much. But those were different times. Things, as we age, radically change, and we are best to change with them. Respect to you, Jill.

[JPA Cate]

Welcome aboard.

If you want to be what I call a "lifestyle cruiser", those of us whose entire lives for many years are mainly on the water, selling the house and turning it into your cruising kitty really is the way to go. There are folks here who think you must have a house to return to; I'd say their need for perceived security is higher than ours. In fact, we never know what the future holds, and it is good to untie the dock lines and go see somewhere different. It stays fresh. Enjoy. It will be varied. You will learn stuff that will surprise you. We have some friends who say, "It's all good!" Well, some might be uncomfortable, but its mostly all good, I think.

cheers,

Ann

[Gary Stoneking]

Good for you, Jill and Todd, from another Minnesotan! We've spent the winter in South Carolina this year (grandchildren nearby...) on our newly-acquired Mariner 38 pilothouse sailboat. It has been interesting, and mostly fun, working on the boat, learning the systems, and getting her seaworthy for next year's trip south. It might be fun to connect when we return to Minneapolis in early May...

[jillnord]

Hey Gary,

Let's check in once you're back in MN. My cell: 651-336-9998. We are at Port Superior Marina in Bayfield WI as much as possible. But you can always reach me by cell!

THANK

[jillnord]

Hi
Watching the snow fly outside my office window this April day...ugh. The bright spot is that we head up to the boat (Bayfield WI- Apostle Islands area of Superior) Friday at noon. Hoping to get another coat of brightsides on and then Kiwi Grip time! My husband has been up most weekends this winter installing upgraded radio, changes to anchor locker, lots of deck work and probably quite a lot of whiskey drinking. My job has been to do the spring cleaning and yard work at home (St Paul) so we can hit the water and not look back. The boat goes in on Mon 4/27, five weeks earlier than last year. Far less ice to deal with! We'll tidy up, finish up the deck work and uncover so we are ready to go.

We both took a coastal navigation course over the winter. I was not nearly as good as Todd but got the basics out of it. Todd missed acing the final by one second-guessed question! We'll practice what we learned when we sail Superior this summer and try to keep the skills sharp although we may never need them- it's kind of fun stuff to learn.

Counting down the off-seasons to get everything we want done on the boat before we head out. The count-down has begun. Spring of 2016, 2017, 2018 and then we break free spring of 2019. That's three very brief MN springs to complete our to do list. Time will fly.

We are starting the slow process of divesting ourselves of possessions and prepping the house for sale. If it sells right away we'll have a year of homelessness but I'm sure we can figure something out (right sisters?).

Thanks for all the comments and connections. I look forward to talking to you all again as we move along!

[mpatter894]

you are never ready and can never have enough things, but if you think like this you will never leave. Cast off the lines, you don't have any long crossings in the future so you get what you realize that you needed along the way. Looking for boat parts and getting boat stuff done its part of the journey,and sometimes you never know who you might meet.