How much is enough??

[seafox]

I read all the time in this forum about when my "cruising kitty" gets to the right amount I will be throwing the lines and heading off.

How much is this kitty? Do you mean 1000,s or $1,000,000's?

How much do you think is enough to call working a day and head off and never need to turn back???

I will start a poll but some discussion would be good.....

[Steve Rust]

A good rule of thumb is you should be able to pull out 5% yearly from your retirement account. This should still allow for some modest growth without depleting your principle. If I was to stay in the city and maintain my current lifestyle I would need at least 1.25 million. To take off on a boat and go cruising I could do it on 500k. Some may rely on property rental to help finance the cruise. That is the direct answer to the question. Now you don't need this much to go cruising and many people do it with much less. There are so many variables like age, spending habits, boat size, and where you cruise . The smartass answer is that it will cost what you have.

[44'cruisingcat]

Depends on how old you are.

[Tnflakbait]

TRue that hahahah

[Lynx]

How much do you think is enough to call working a day and head off and never need to turn back???

I cannot waite that long. I will leave in a year and return to work when the kitty is gone.

[Sonny]

My wife and I have been retired, going on 5 years now. We finally met up with an investment group who deals in mutuals with guarantees of a minimum yield of 6% per year and a guaranteed principal for a ten year period. These programs are annuities and vary in risk.

[Weyalan]

The answer will vary dramatically from individual to individual, depending on all manner of factors. Take a quick look at this thread:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...dget-4296.html

It will give you an idea of the range of live-aboard budgets. For exaple, almost 20% of live-aboard crusiers get by on less than $US10,000 per year, but almost 10% spend more than $US100,000 per year...

My personal plan, which currently looks to be about 5 to 6 years from reaching fruition is to have assets that will provide an income of about $US25,000 per year without touching the principal... If we can't survive on that, we will either need to make some lifestyle changes or work part of the year to top up the funds. The projected kitty principal will be $US250,000-300,000... that is my figure, others will be different.

[cat man do]

Is this a, how many dollars can you lay your hands on now to go cruising question or a How much will you have coming in a week from investment's to go cruising on question ?

Dave

[seafox]

It was a "How much will you have coming in a week from investment's to go cruising on question ?"

It obviously would differ for different people. Was just curious to see what replies I got.

I dont mean save a bit, blow it and then come back and work. I mean stop all work till you drop dead....

[S/Y Storm]

I'd say nothing is enough. You always want some more.?? no??
Can always work some here and there.
Carpe Diem
aksel

[Islandmike]

We will have aprox $38K in our sailing kitty to leave for a 18-24 cruise with my wife. We plan on leaving CT, heading down the ICW into the Caribbean for awhile then back. The $38K is money we have saved just for this cruise. It may seem low to some, but we feel we can make an 18 month maybe even 24 months cruise with that amount. We will not have to sell our house or go into retirement money etc. Once we return we can make a discision as to how to proceed. Sell the house, start liqudating assets etc, and continue cruising, whatever...

[ssullivan]

Wow! Look at those results so far. Incredible wealth distribution. Are there no "middle class" types that have voted, or is that segement of the population gone? Seems we have people just winging it, and millionaires on the forum. I'm winging it... lol

[mudnut]

I voted and I'm going cheap and nasty,I suppose that would be defined as ,"Sailor trash",But I don't intend on giving up working forever or retireing.I wish I was rich enough to do both.Mudnut.

[muskoka]

Originally Posted by ssullivan

Wow! Look at those results so far. Incredible wealth distribution. Are there no "middle class" types that have voted, or is that segement of the population gone? Seems we have people just winging it, and millionaires on the forum. I'm winging it... lol

I think it's what people would like to have rather than what they have.

But I sure would like to be the guy with the 10+ zeros net worth. Perhaps if I convert all my assets into some foreign currency....

[Islandmike]

I hope that the meager $38K that we have put aside will be enough for a 2 yr trip. The real trick will be if we decide to continue after the 2 yrs, and I am sure we will. I will have a new engine and systems when we leave, however, it is an old boat and there is always the potential for $$ issues $$. I suppose if I converted everything to Peso's I could be in the $10000000000000 class....... But I am not sure we would fullfill as many dreams, I know that may sound crazy but if I had that kind of money many of the things we want to do would not seem as important. That may be a hard concept for many to understand.