Picked this up on facebook

[powsmias]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

One thing that strikes me as a Canadian, is that I probably wouldn’t be able to do as I’m doing if I were an American. Your health insurance costs alone would make my current lifestyle impossible. I’m also banking on our government run pension plan (CPP), our government supported supplements (OAS/GIS), and other general support for seniors.

Looking at the costs my American friends have to carry, I am constantly amazed any middle-class folks down there can find a way to go cruising. Those that do are amazing … and probably far more focused on finances than I have the luxury of being.

never took that into consideration.. fortunately for me i go to the VA for med care and it's free.. snuck in the navy in '72 during vietnam and ended up in athens greece running a boat for 18 months then they threw me out.. my spine a little crooked.. home run for the med care though.

[RTB]

Originally Posted by powsmias

splains it all..
Life is incredibly short.
We take everything we were born with to the grave, i.e. nothing.
All the houses/cars/money/social position we covet and struggle and waste our lives for mean zip at the end, which comes all too soon.
WTF do you want to do with your life?
This is basic philosophy 101 and to me it means live it to the fullest, every day an adventure.
Security is an evil illusion that does not exist except in the profit margin of those who sell it to you by exploiting fear of death and the unknown.
'Oh, you need a house, and home insurance and life insurance and health insurance and a better car and new clothes and a bigger TV and a more impressive job title' and on and on and on so get to work to pay for it!
Go ahead, sell the short hours of life to the bankers, landlords, car dealers and profit takers, or wrench it out of their hands and spend it in your own joy and amazement in our wonderful world.
A sailboat is a subversive thing, and offers true freedom, with all the uncertainty and self reliance and potential for daily disaster that come along with same.
Not for wimps...

I Totally agree. My wife and I sold everything back in 2012, and have never looked back. Unfortunately, after selling everything, we still owed a mountain of debt. We enjoyed 4 years of full time cruising. I took a job here at the marina 2 years ago, and will be totally debt free in July. No doubt I would have died one day, still owing a huge debt had we not changed our way of life. Now, at the end of the day, we relax together in the cockpit having a sundowner and enjoying the sunset together. We have manatee, dolphins, sea turtles, and pelicans to entertain us. Life is peaceful, and sleep comes easy.

Ralph

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

One thing that strikes me as a Canadian, is that I probably wouldn’t be able to do as I’m doing if I were an American. Your health insurance costs alone would make my current lifestyle impossible. I’m also banking on our government run pension plan (CPP), our government supported supplements (OAS/GIS), and other general support for seniors.

Looking at the costs my American friends have to carry, I am constantly amazed any middle-class folks down there can find a way to go cruising. Those that do are amazing … and probably far more focused on finances than I have the luxury of being.

Your health care costs are relatively cheap if you stay at home. Leave the country and it's a totally different story.

[MarkusK]

Originally Posted by zeehag

i thought i lost everything with 5 restarts.

until my brother died in 2014.

i never lost so much in my life as loss of my brother, my shadow my pal.

appreciate that which you have before it is too late.

True. And appreciate the freedom to travel while you are healthy.

My wife is going through Chemo right now and she cannot get travel insurance.

[kapnkarl]

After all is said and done... You're dead for a long long time.

[powsmias]

Originally Posted by Vasco

Your health care costs are relatively cheap if you stay at home. Leave the country and it's a totally different story.

i'm hearing med care in thailand is a no brainer.. w/o insurance

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by powsmias

i'm hearing med care in thailand is a no brainer.. w/o insurance

And Malaysia
And Vietnam.

We have friends living in all these places and all have had work done at some stage for not much money and all are fine.
I have had dental work done in those parts and essentially got a two month holiday for free compared to getting it done in Australia.

Like anywhere, some drs and hospitals are better than others.

[puffcard]

You win when you have your Mind, Body and Money run out at the same time.

[cyan]

Originally Posted by powsmias

yeah a little concerned. i lost everything in '06 due to bad bike wreck now got some back. in the states we get a check at 62 yrs old. if it all went to hell, i'd move back to the pool room.. it doesn't suck! but thinkin 5 yrs of cruising will be a helluva lot better than sittin home watchin tv all day, go to sleep, wake up and do it all again. everyday. certainly don't want my kids handling any problems like that for me. i'd just bite the bullet before i'd let that happen.. don't want my kids spoon feeding me oatmeal and changing diapers. for me this is all free.. i already been dead.

I once woke up to a wonderful gift. The impossibly blue sky hosting slow motion cotton clouds behind the swaying eucalyptus... this was my gift. I stared for hours at the scene beyond my hospital window. It was a second chance at life and I can still feel the tingling shame from my previous inability to understand how my priorities were upside down. Money. Career. Possessions. All of this stays behind but few of us act like we know that. Now I know.
I’d ponder a bit more but there’s still 8 knots here and 3 hours till dark.
What a gift, indeed.

[lifeofreilly57]

Hmmm....My mantra was always live for today but plan for tomorrow.
I've know too many people who never thought about tomorrow and are now in a tough way financially and health wise. They aren't that old, well OK, not old in my eyes but I was born in the fifties and still don't think I'm old, although I do notice I'm invisible to younger women in pubs, so I'm at least old enough to have become invisible. It's not a bad thing you know, they don't notice me admiring them these days, most likely because they don't see me. It one of the perks.
I've always taken all the opportunities offered me, even if it wasn't convenient at the time. This has led to work opportunities, travel opportunities, life experience opportunities. Not diving into the consumer lifestyle has left us the funds to do what we always wanted to, including travel, family and wonderful experiences, we still continue to.
We worked hard, didn't buy into the consumer lifestyle and got to use our funds to see and do the things we felt would lead to a more fulfilling life. We've done it along the way and still continue to move ahead with our children on our family boat, currently I'm finishing up the full refit on our family boat, so it's the hard work phase to be followed by the next cruising phase. We're still dirt dwellers for now, just for now.
Still I know I'll be too old and feeble to handle a good size boat someday, and my age will hinder my capacity to earn money, so I'll have to depend on those funds we've set aside to carry us through that phase in life.
Never did feel the need to have the newest car/phone/TV/golf club.........but hey, different strokes for different folks, it's not for me, but it's the life some people actually enjoy. I won't knock their lifestyle if they don't knock mine.
Live for today, plan for tomorrow.

Spend your time wisely indeed.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Vasco

Your health care costs are relatively cheap if you stay at home. Leave the country and it's a totally different story.

The only place healthcare costs look scary are in the USA. Most of the rest of the world is quite affordable.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by powsmias

never took that into consideration.. fortunately for me i go to the VA for med care and it's free.. snuck in the navy in '72 during vietnam and ended up in athens greece running a boat for 18 months then they threw me out.. my spine a little crooked.. home run for the med care though.

That looks pretty disabling. I broke my back and neck earlier in life, but I’m sure my X-Ray doesn’t look anything as scary as yours.

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by zeehag

i thought i lost everything with 5 restarts.

until my brother died in 2014.

i never lost so much in my life as loss of my brother, my shadow my pal.

appreciate that which you have before it is too late.

My wife's sister was always so careful, planning for the future, saving her money, delayed gratification, playing it safe....then one day, out of the blue, the doctor said cancer. You know the rest. She was 45. The sadness destroyed my wife. Now I sail alone.

Everything can change in a minute.

So if you can...be happy...have some fun, go sail.

Most of us want such a big pile that it kills us before we can enjoy it.
Less is more.
Carpe Diem.

[powsmias]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

That looks pretty disabling. I broke my back and neck earlier in life, but I’m sure my X-Ray doesn’t look anything as scary as yours.

yeah, it's fugly.. but shoot pool 8 hours a day and have over half a million miles on motorcycles so as long as i keep movin i be ok.. if i stop, i'm gonna end up on the recliner with the remote in my hand.. on top of that bad curvature i broke my neck in '06, lost a kidney, clamp in knee, rod in femur, broke 7 ribs two months in coma.. now it's ha ha time.. all the best mikey

[Sailorbob8599]

Some very interesting comments on how to live the good life etc. I've always been a worker. Never thought of cutting the ties to sail the world, just a local coastal cruiser but that's a good thing too. We did cross an ocean once, but that was on an ocean liner on our way to the new country but, it removed any thoughts of wanting to cross it again in a small sailboat.
My wife was a stay-at-home mother of our family. I think that is why they all graduated from the various levels of learning that was right for them, never got in trouble with drugs, alcohol or the law, never saw the inside of a jail cell etc. all have excellent paying jobs or own business and own their own homes. Grandchildren all following in same tracks, and so many great grand children now filling our lives.
I guess that may sound "too safe" to many of you, but it brings us a lot of pleasure and happiness. I've been retired some 22 years now and arthritis has taken its toll on me so I no longer sail. I currently have my boat on the market, and will be selling off all my extra gear at a swap meet at a local marina on the 26th of this month. we own our home lock stock and barrel and have no debts; we have additional company retirement benefits that include insurance coverage for just about all of our needs, as well as travel insurance anywhere in the world. So, we'll go travelling.
One of my aims in life was never to purchase anything that required monthly payments if at all possible hence, no subscriptions to cable TV or anything of that kind, except utilities to keep the home operating. yes, it pains me to pay for insurance, but I admit I am not a gambler.
I bought a very expensive '96 VOLVO 960 for cash many years ago and declared it would be the last car I would ever buy. I think even at 22 years of service, it will outlast me as it still looks, and drives like new although I can't say the same for myself.
We are debt free and no monthly payments to speak of; house, car and boat insurance al come in April, as well as annual municipal rates payment. We have a very healthy bank balance and many investments. We enjoy life with our family. The idea of course was not to become a "lunch ticket" for someone else.
Oh, I would love to be sailing again, but I'm afraid I have now become a liability to any who might offer me the opportunity.