Non tech ways of supporting the cruisers lifestyle?

[valhalla360]

With the exception of financially independent people doing an occasional odd job for a bit of spending cash and those who can work remotely via internet (not necessarily tech geeks), the more mobile you are, the more difficult it is to find work. Doing enough to provide primary financial support, gets hard very quickly unless you are the "live on $500/month" type which a 40'+ boat does not suggest.

Even if you stay in the states, the marinas will typically want you to carry insurance and likely pay a fee for working in the marina, which is even harder if you are on the move regularly.

Also being on the move will limit your prospective clients. I'm going to be a lot more skeptical (and likely ask for a lower price) from a random guy who showed up in port yesterday with no references as opposed to the guy who's been in port for 6months with many happy customers in the marina.

Returning to a high demand seasonal work every 3-6months makes a lot of sense if you don't have the background to work remotely. With the skills you suggest you have, get an RV and work the summer season in the Great Lakes at a marina, then when they close down for the winter go back to the boat and cruise for 6 months.

[thomm225]

If you are still in Colorado, you may just want to get an apartment in a coastal town (say on the gulf coast) and sail locally for a few years to see what it's like

You can get an apartment for $800.00 - $1,000.00 per month.

Many of the beaches are beautiful and very similar to those in the Caribbean.

And there is lots of sailing.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by softdown

For the record, I have no interest in "setting up shop" anywhere. A sailor staying in one location makes as much sense as a backpacker staying in one camp. Of course the locals are going to be upset if a sailor literally "sets up shop" and competes with them.

It isn't always possible to find the help that one needs in any single location. For example, a sailor may need some solar help and not be able to find any local help with our 110/120 volt 60Hz electrical apparatus. Something important may be broken with a hurricane approaching and no way to move. It would be foolhardy to think that the locals can always fix anything. With sailing, there may be no locals for 1000 miles.

It takes a certain amount of mental gymnastics to even visualize a few of the accusations: Sail to a third world country and compete with third world labor rates.....from a sailboat?

On the other hand, sometimes the most necessary help is the help that arrives on its own accord. Cars and boats sometimes break down in very adverse conditions.

I got completely lost on the California Delta three days ago. Found some locals and asked for directions to Franks Tract. They did not speak English. Good thing that I was able to exercise more options.

You might find the random emergency fix in remote locations, but not likely steady work.

Anywhere cruisers congregate in numbers there are typically locals too.

Its common for those who cruise and work to change venues periodically. One canvas worker I know has done work for me in several different venues. He just moves periodically from one cruiser hang out to another...usually when his tourist visa is about to run out.

[indiana_ct]

Originally Posted by softdown

9) Own two S Florida rentals. Sometimes they make a little money. Sometimes they lose a lot.....air conditioners and drain fields etc.

Sell the loss-making condos, buy an investment portfolio instead and have someone manage it for you. Then you can focus on the sailing.

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by indiana_ct

Sell the loss-making condos, buy an investment portfolio instead and have someone manage it for you. Then you can focus on the sailing.

So your advice is to stop being self sufficient, fully informed, and in control of your investments and instead give all your money to a stranger who makes big promises, and hope for the best?

Trusting strangers because they wear a nice hat that says "finance" is a good way to lose every cent you have.

Q: How can you easily make a small fortune ?
A: Start with a big fortune, and go from there.

[UNCIVILIZED]

How's that expression go? "A competent dishwasher will never starve". - Robert A. Heinlein

[indiana_ct]

Originally Posted by hamburking

So your advice is to stop being self sufficient, fully informed, and in control of your investments and instead give all your money to a stranger who makes big promises, and hope for the best?

Trusting strangers because they wear a nice hat that says "finance" is a good way to lose every cent you have.

Q: How can you easily make a small fortune ?
A: Start with a big fortune, and go from there.

My advice wasn't to stop being self-sufficient, and I see nothing about actual self-sufficiency in the original question. They all involved working/investing and being paid by others.

My opinion was to get out of loss making property and invest in another way. Letting your property to a stranger who damages the place and doesn't pay is risky, the value of the property could fall, the govt could change taxes and legislation on property rental. That's not meeting the description of being fully in control, and having a large chunk of money in two properties is not exactly spreading your risk. You can't sell a bit off if you need some cash - you have to sell a whole property.

In the UK the govt is doing everything it can to cool the property market by taxing small-time landlords buying property to let (capital gains, can't deduct mortgage interest, increase in stamp duty), making it very much harder to make money this way. I expect a lot of former buy-to-let property will soon be dumped back on the market, meaning the profit in property price increase will also be diminished.

Investing in the stock market is not less self-sufficient than property. You can buy into various funds yourself, stay informed (if you want to) but your investment portfolio won't call you in the middle of the night because they locked themselves out or leave your portfolio in such a bad state that it needs fumigating and repainting.

Our OP has plenty of ways of making money - letting property probably isn't the best fit. 8)

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by indiana_ct

Sell the loss-making condos, buy an investment portfolio instead and have someone manage it for you. Then you can focus on the sailing.

Wowow, slowow down. Now this portfolio, AD 2017, what would it contain actually?

Because I think US gov papers return nominal 1% while the inflation is 2.4%.

Meanwhile the stock market is flying very very high (DJ above P/E 20, much higher at NASDAQ).

Meanwhile the dividends pay 2 to 3% ...

So please step in and enlighten us on what such a portfolio should contain.

Because well managed rentals return 6%, which beats any financial instruments portfolio.

So, what investments do you have in mind?

b.

[barnakiel]

I think it is what UNCIVILIZED said: get a sought after skill then sell it.

b.

[Madwand]

Originally Posted by zstine

This is important... If you are not in US territory, you can't and should not work for pay. Unless you get a work visa and that's a PITA, so I assume you won't do that. Do you want to risk loosing your boat, freedom or even just a ton of fines and BS just to make some money on the backs of the locals in some foreign island. The laws protect people who need the work more than you. Stay within the law, it is there for a reason. If you're taking work away from locals, who I guarantee don't own 2 condos, then you are unethical... And you won't have insurance to protect you either.

Sounds to me like you have enough assets to cruise for years without working. Number 1 priority is 'do not hurt others'. If you run an under the radar outboard repair shop off your boat in the caribbean or mexico, then you are hurting others who need the business more than you and they have the law on their side and you shouldn't do it even if you can get away with it... So, be aware that all your options listed will keep you cruising in USA.

Not saying to deny your skills to a cruiser in need in a place that has no repair service... but pay it forward, not off the backs of others.

Funny how that post got completely ignored. I guess morality don't carry much weight any more. Probably has to do with the modern entitlement mentality.

My plan is to bring a big ole sack of cash with me that I earned from having the same job for 30 years, and the fat check they're gonna give me monthly after I quit. Plus I'm gonna use a boat that is too small, but paid for. Sure, I'll be 55 years old, but I'll never work for money again. I know it's a zany idea that not many people go for, but it suits me.

[indiana_ct]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Wowow, slowow down. Now this portfolio, AD 2017, what would it contain actually?

Because I think US gov papers return nominal 1% while the inflation is 2.4%.

Meanwhile the stock market is flying very very high (DJ above P/E 20, much higher at NASDAQ).

Meanwhile the dividends pay 2 to 3% ...

So please step in and enlighten us on what such a portfolio should contain.

Because well managed rentals return 6%, which beats any financial instruments portfolio.

So, what investments do you have in mind?

b.

Ah for a crystal ball. I'm NOT a financial advisor and bear in mind that my finances are UK-based not US.

I did some sums for myself, on buying and letting a property under local conditions, and taking into account costs and taxes. I couldn't find a realistic return any more optimistic than 5% considering that we would need a rental agent and insurance. If you are on the move and far away, you don't want to be worrying about your bricks and mortar and the mortals within them, at least I don't. So for me property is not so hot.

I wouldn't take anyone's predictions on the stock markets except to say it goes up and down but historically it's more up than down. Other investment opportunities are available and you can do worse than put some of your cash somewhere 'safe' e.g. government bonds, and if you like property anyway, I believe there is such a thing as a property fund.

Me, I'm happy to live low-budget. Even if my investments went belly up, I'd still have my home (boat) and my skills. if I lost the boat, then just my skills. They've supported me so far and I can always learn more.
So, for the OP - it's great that you have skills, just be careful to make sure you can lawfully work wherever you are.

[indiana_ct]

Originally Posted by Madwand

Funny how that post got completely ignored. I guess morality don't carry much weight any more. Probably has to do with the modern entitlement mentality.

My plan is to bring a big ole sack of cash with me that I earned from having the same job for 30 years, and the fat check they're gonna give me monthly after I quit. Plus I'm gonna use a boat that is too small, but paid for. Sure, I'll be 55 years old, but I'll never work for money again. I know it's a zany idea that not many people go for, but it suits me.

I am not certain it was ignored. Did anyone disagree?

Do you know - my financial plan for sailing is not so very different from yours, i.e. earn money, put it in the bank, buy a boat, go sailing, live on what I saved up.

[Madwand]

It was ignored by the OP as he quoted and replied to almost every other one.

Yeah, I believe in working for what you want, then getting it. I don't live on credit, have no bills other than utilities, and I don't have anything I didn't pay cash for.

I don't do investments though, anything I could have put my money in would have had a tax penalty if I pulled it before I'm 59 1/2 and I'm leaving at 55. So I keep my money in a sock. I'm in the Sock Market.

[indiana_ct]

Originally Posted by Madwand

It was ignored by the OP as he quoted and replied to almost every other one.

Yeah, I believe in working for what you want, then getting it. I don't live on credit, have no bills other than utilities, and I don't have anything I didn't pay cash for.

I don't do investments though, anything I could have put my money in would have had a tax penalty if I pulled it before I'm 59 1/2 and I'm leaving at 55. So I keep my money in a sock. I'm in the Sock Market.

I concede defeat - though I don't think I've had a response either.
Sock Market - mwahahahahaha. There is no safe place to put money. It's ALL risky, including your sock. Try putting some in a different sock, in another drawer.

[Madwand]

Of course, different socks. But not because investing is unsafe. Because investing generally pays nothing for my level of comfort, and then I can't put my hands on it. Plus the tax thing.