What percentage of your net worth does your boat represent?

[Pelagic]

If your boat is a weekender or a vacation home then lumping economics with your house in suburbia has some economic risk / security relevance.

However, if your boat is a live-aboard with the option to remove your family from any local or national upheaval. (riots, war, epidemics etc… ) you have accomplished a better level of security options for your family.

From a risk assessment basis….learning to remove yourself from dangers and live off the grid, will enhance your net worth in meaningful ways.

[Dennis.G]

I think so much of this relates to where you are in life:

Retired, likely less than 25% of net worth, hopefully less than 50% (otherwise, maybe need a cheaper boat).

Way back when I was fresh out of college and got first good job, I bought an old 32' sloop for $12,000 with a bank loan. My net worth at that time was likely less than $4,000 so boat value would have been at 300% of net at that time. Seemed to make sense when I did it, and I never regretted it.

Lot's of opportunity to fall between those two extremes.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by Liam Wald

Not really.
Both of the homes that I own are worth 150% more than I paid for them and I have only spent 10% of their value to maintain them. That puts them in the plus column.

dow is at 15,000. Everything's great! Right?
And the dollar is worth in gold what you paid for them instead of demanding gold instead? LOLOL

Gold vs dollar chart just for the last ten years:


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JdyDWlsq5m...llar+Chart.PNG

Dollar is the new Mexican PESO if not worse !
That ought'a put a DOH! into your thinking.

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

If your boat is a weekender or a vacation home then lumping economics with your house in suburbia has some economic risk / security relevance.

However, if your boat is a live-aboard with the option to remove your family from any local or national upheaval. (riots, war, epidemics etc… ) you have accomplished a better level of security options for your family.

From a risk assessment basis….learning to remove yourself from dangers and live off the grid, will enhance your net worth in meaningful ways.

There are several reasons we got our larger Pape. This was a big one.

Also, sailing is fun.

Also I lost less money on the boat than the market.

In the meantime it is our year round weekend cabin.

Etc

[Gadagirl]

This might, or not, be relative to this thread Home Rate of Return Calculator: Was my home a good investment? - CNNMoney

As stated previously a person needs minimal necessities. You have to pay for a place to rest your bones each night. Might as well be paying for some return vs. no return when you rent. However, there's that need to balance the life investments/financial investments. I crunch my numbers almost daily
trying to figure out how I can reach that balance.

[GaryMayo]

Originally Posted by Bluewaters2812

The freedom of travel a boat brings is priceless ... not sure how to calculate a percentage of priceless ... any ideas?

Have you seen my lake? Lol

[GaryMayo]

Buying a boat is like getting a spouse. It might work, it might not. It might cost a great deal, or be cheap to keep. It all depends how closely you look around before you break open the champagne.

I am on a small lake in Nebraska, so I went big for my lake size, but not expense wise. I am at way under 1%

[salticrak]

A boat can be a dream machine, what price your dreams?

[nimblemotors]

Originally Posted by Dennis.G

I think so much of this relates to where you are in life:

Retired, likely less than 25% of net worth, hopefully less than 50% (otherwise, maybe need a cheaper boat).

Way back when I was fresh out of college and got first good job, I bought an old 32' sloop for $12,000 with a bank loan. My net worth at that time was likely less than $4,000 so boat value would have been at 300% of net at that time. Seemed to make sense when I did it, and I never regretted it.

Lot's of opportunity to fall between those two extremes.

This is a very good point, retirement vs still working.
But I would say most often "the dream" is to get your boat and sail off into retirement, leaving work behind. As such, to go all-in to achieve "the dream" is a rather high risk decision. If you have limited funds, the boat needs to be limited too...it is the sell-everything-buy-a-big-boat-with-it that seems insane to me. sell 25% of everything and buy a boat seems a better decision, and seems most people are in that camp.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by JK n Smitty

Also, I am personally getting sick of the "boat's a money hole", "what does boat stand for", "a hole in the water you throw money into" attitude towards boats. If you don't like your boat, sell it and stop b%$&hing about it on forums. Anything that has value costs money to maintain: cars, houses, boats, RVs, etc.

Hey....I'm with ya on that!... It irritates me to no end hearing these statements. Usually because they heard it from someone. I have had 9 boats in all. I can say I have pretty much broken even. Mostly because I do my own work and very self-sufficient.
As far as percentages and everyone feeling they need to polarize an answer, it is different for everyone. I have had as many houses as boats. I buy low, ride the market and sell high. Some luck, a little skill. I now own a few property's and no mortgage. As far as feeling I'm tied down, having to come back to land-based responsibilities is B.S. I rented my house out and it is going to "help" finance my cruising. Being responsible, it needs occasional maintenance as does my vessel.
Honestly, I'm grateful I'm single. To me, supporting another person was the real money pit.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

But the nice thing is that there is nothing half so pleasant to spend your money on, other than possibly a young mistress.

You're a braver man than I for making that statement...

[Amnesia II]

I made the decision to retire, living on my boat. Out of the window goes the expense of running car, no house upkeep expenses....shire rates, water, telephone & electricity...... Doin' OK and a change of scenery when I want one!

[JK n Smitty]

Originally Posted by hpeer

An old chestnut.....but relevant...

Sterling Hayden Quotes (Author of Wanderer)

Sterling Hayden > Quotes

Sterling Hayden quotes
“To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... "cruising" it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.

"I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone.

What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade.

The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.

Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life? ”
― Sterling Hayden, Wanderer

“In the worship of security we fling ourselves beneath the wheels of routine-and before we know it our lives are gone.”
― Sterling Hayden, Wanderer

“The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked with dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.”
― Sterling Hayden, Wanderer

The problem with these quotes is Hayden was on something like a 75-100 foot boat with a professional crew and a kitty equal currently having like $150-200K. And with all that he cruised for less than a year.

Good quotes though.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by JK n Smitty

Be it a boat, a house, RV, anything it will cost money for maintenance and upgrading. If you ignore that fact, your asset will be worth less. Many people tend to ignore those costs with their house but then crap on boats as money pits because of those costs.

An argument for either maintaining a property fully or not at all, but with the latter are looking at a very long term scale of 30 or even 50 years. and of course depends on property type, usage and location. The profit comes from later redevelopment and an increase in land values.

IIRC worked ok over here for some, one end of the family got left with a chunk of slum properties of no great value in the back end of town. Of course it helps if that place later became an international finance centre......but nonetheless as long as the place does not lose all it's mojo (the one horse leaves town!) I beleive the principle stands good. Of course does not fit into the modern need for a quick profit. But frugal forebears who take a long term view are priceless . No death duties / taxes also helps!

Of course slumlording not for everyone, but puts food on the table (and often enough then some) - even if it takes it off someone elses .

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by JK n Smitty

The problem with these quotes is Hayden was on something like a 75-100 foot boat with a professional crew and a kitty equal currently having like $150-200K. And with all that he cruised for less than a year.

James Baldwin subscribed to this philospohy. He describes his circumnavigation on less than a shoestring in 'Across Islands and Oceans'.

There is a nice middle ground.
And regardless of your means, the trick is knowing when you have "enough".