• RME Gear & Apparel

What are your retirement plans?

Greg

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Location
Grand Junction, CO
This is something my wife and I talk about often, we're 14 yrs away and I feel like that's going to come quickly. I'd like to have a plan so we can prepare.

We have nothing tieing us to Grand Junction and while I like it here, I don't know that we need to stay here.

We are thinking about living somewhere with minimal snow, decent population size without being too big, plentiful recreational opportunities and probably closer to the border for frequent trips to Baja. Another thing in the back of mind is water supply... I'd prefer to have a property with a well and plenty of water. I'd like to build our home and have a decent chunk of land, 5-10 acres.

We looked outside of St George last month and like it down there, but it's growing like crazy and land is expensive. I love Moab, but it's become an overrun tourist town.

Currently interested in Prescott, AZ... the weather is pretty mild year round, seems to be perfect size, close to lots of national forests, closer to Baja, etc.

I'm hoping to have a home that we can lock & leave, head out on roadtrips that last a few months. I'd like to have something like a 4x4 Sprinter van or diesel truck with a camper and head up into Canada and Alaska in the Summer, then down South in the Winters. My wife really wants to spend time traveling internationally, fly to Europe and spend a few months living in Italy, Spain, etc. Probably do the same in South America.

Since we don't have kids, we're not feeling tied down and with both of us working full time, retiring at 60 (58 for her) should give us a chance to travel and play before we need to slow down.

How about you, what are your retirement plans?
 
Tonkaman

Tonkaman

Well-Known Member
Location
West Jordan
Greg said:
This is something my wife and I talk about often, we're 14 yrs away and I feel like that's going to come quickly. I'd like to have a plan so we can prepare.

We have nothing tieing us to Grand Junction and while I like it here, I don't know that we need to stay here.

We are thinking about living somewhere with minimal snow, decent population size without being too big, plentiful recreational opportunities and probably closer to the border for frequent trips to Baja. Another thing in the back of mind is water supply... I'd prefer to have a property with a well and plenty of water. I'd like to build our home and have a decent chunk of land, 5-10 acres.

We looked outside of St George last month and like it down there, but it's growing like crazy and land is expensive. I love Moab, but it's become an overrun tourist town.

Currently interested in Prescott, AZ... the weather is pretty mild year round, seems to be perfect size, close to lots of national forests, closer to Baja, etc.

I'm hoping to have a home that we can lock & leave, head out on roadtrips that last a few months. I'd like to have something like a 4x4 Sprinter van or diesel truck with a camper and head up into Canada and Alaska in the Summer, then down South in the Winters. My wife really wants to spend time traveling internationally, fly to Europe and spend a few months living in Italy, Spain, etc. Probably do the same in South America.

Since we don't have kids, we're not feeling tied down and with both of us working full time, retiring at 60 (58 for her) should give us a chance to travel and play before we need to slow down.

How about you, what are your retirement plans?
Click to expand...
You pretty much summed up hopes as well. I’m a bit further off from retirement though.
 
jeeper

jeeper

I live my life 1 dumpster at a time
Location
So Jo, Ut
I struggle with this everyday. I HATE crowds and traffic. I want neighbors and friends, but not big city. But I think it is too hard to decide right now what our future is going to be like.. what my kids will be doing, etc.

But if I had it my way, small town with 1-2 acres. Southern Utah / Northern Az.
 
D

DesertRam

Active Member
Location
Southern New Mexico
Though the wife is only five years out, I'm 20. She will likely retire from one job and work another for the rest of my time, dumping all that income into a retirement account. When it's time, who knows what we'll do. We have the type of property right now that we could close down and walk away from for a long trip, so we may just stay here and use it as a paid off base of operations. The first of our three kids is just now in college, and the youngest is still a sixth grader, so there's still so much life of raising kids ahead that we haven't gotten too carried away about final planning.
 
TurboMinivan

TurboMinivan

Still plays with cars
Location
Lehi, UT
I share a lot of thoughts with Greg.

I've got another 14 years of work ahead of me, though at that point I should be self-sufficient indefinitely <knock on wood>. Like Greg, I won't have any real reason to stay where I am currently. It wouldn't bother me to sell my house and relocate somewhere with a LCOL. My fiancee is also from rural Ohio (like me), so it wouldn't surprise me at all if we ended up back in that general area.
 
spaggyroe

spaggyroe

Man Flu Survivor
Location
Lehi
We are in a VERY similar situation Greg. No kids and 14 more years. That's when the wife qualifies for her full pension. She'll be 55. Her pension alone is more than enough to cover us, so everything else we have saved will be gravy.

I'll be downshifting to retirement or part time work by the time I'm 55. 10 more years.

Our plan (at least for now) is to sell our home and rent 6-12 months at a time. There are SO many places on earth that we'd like to stay for a while and we don't want to have to worry about a house while we do that. When we are old / elderly, we'll probably buy a small home at that time, somewhere with little to no snow.
 
N-Smooth

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
I have surprisingly little planned considering how much I think about this :rofl:

Being 38 and having kids 9, 6 and 2 limits my options in the short-term but I do know that I don't want to live conservatively so hopefully my retirement accounts are up to the task :grimacing:
I imagine we'll want to stay close to our kids but who knows where they'll end up with how expensive everything is in the SL Valley already. I'd like to have a vacation home in the Hurricane area due to the mild winters and amazing rock crawling nearby. That pretty much sums it up for now.

Ideally my wife will continue down the career path she's on now and I'll retire in a handful of years and just do RockCrawlersForSale stuff or something. We joke about that often but a lot less since buying a new house. We'll see.
 
Last edited:
P

Pike2350

Registered User
Location
Salt Lake City
sadly I have no real plans. I don't really plan on leaving where we are. I would like to be able to travel more frequently. Other then that, not much planned. I just hope, by the time I retire, medical care won't cost me my whole retirement income.
 
spaggyroe

spaggyroe

Man Flu Survivor
Location
Lehi
Pike2350 said:
sadly I have no real plans. I don't really plan on leaving where we are. I would like to be able to travel more frequently. Other then that, not much planned. I just hope, by the time I retire, medical care won't cost me my whole retirement income.
Click to expand...

I'm legitimately considering medical care in Mexico (when possible) in my retirement years.
The U.S. system is insane.
 
BlackSheep

BlackSheep

baaaaaaaaaad to the bone
Supporting Member
Location
South Carolina....no public land
Something to consider if you are going to change your location - what type of social network and / or infrastructure are you leaving and what will you have in your new location? I hear of people retiring, then moving across the country where they no nobody, don't know the area nor the local scene, don't have any doctors etc. (I don't have any data to say they're not happy, but I personally would struggle with 're-starting' my social life). Maybe that doesn't matter to you but you should at least think about how it might affect you / your family / spouse etc. A way to mitigate that is to visit that area on an annual basis so that you can establish that stuff. My Uncle and Aunt bought property in Florida 15 years ago or more and they started spending their winters down there. By doing that, they truly built themselves a new home. They still split time between Massachusetts and Florida but they have an option now if they decide to sell one of them.

Me personally, some of you know what I've been up to. I retired from my job in November 2020 and closed on the sale of my house one week later. Prior to that, I bought a cool adventure van and got rid of about 95% of my 'stuff'. I spent the last year traveling and hiking with my dog Gunner (RIP). I'm now back in Greenville, SC, where I was living before my retirement. I came back in October and will be hitting the road again in a few weeks, after I close on a vacant lot at the top of a place called Caesars Head, just north of Greenville, SC.

My plan is to build my dream shop on that vacant land and use it as a base station (mostly winter time) for my travels. Now that my dog is gone I will have more opportunity to do the cycling and running in the very many cool forests and parks in the continental US. Perhaps when this covid madness dissapates, I'll get opportunity to explore more in Canada and perhaps Mexico.
 
lhracing

lhracing

Well-Known Member
Location
Layton, UT
I went on a back road's trip in November with my son and moab_cj5 and realized how fast I am getting old. After my return from the trip I decided it was time to quit so I am retired as of 1/1/22. I have been in the planning stages for this for many years but I can say, that no matter how you plan for this event it is a scary life change.

If you think a move or relocation is part of your plan, I would advise doing it sooner than later. As you get older there are things you could do last year that you can't do this year and moving at any age just sucks.

I hope that over the next few years I can get out and see some of the back country that I missed in my younger years.
 
BCGPER

BCGPER

Starting Another Thread
Location
Sunny Arizona
Having recently done this at the ripe old age of 58, I’ve read a lot of good advice here, and a lot of just dreams that will never come true.

One of the biggest hurdles to overcome is the cost of health care. Plan ahead for that and over budget. You’re going to need it.

If relocating is in your plans, I suggest you decide where and buy now. Pay the future place off before you retire and you’ll be set. You can’t comfortably retire with a mortgage hanging over your head.

And for Greg, Prescott (pronounced prescut) is among the fastest growing cities down here.

We bought this house nearly 10 years ago. Used it as somewhat of a vacation home, then decided to make it full time. I don’t miss the snow, smog, and traffic of Salt Lake one bit.
 
Cody

Cody

Random Quote Generator
Supporting Member
Location
Gastown
I'd like to stop "working" around the time my youngest finishes high school... So another 15 years. That likely doesn't mean I'm retiring, more I'm hoping my responsibilities no longer require me to be tied to a time and place to be. I feel like when I stop trying to build and better myself and my position is probably the day I just start dying.

I'd like to move to a place with a little more personal freedom, better Healthcare, better education options, etc so if my kids want to raise their kids there they have the opportunity. I'm looking at Portugal, Sweden, Norway etc.

Baja would be a dream, but unless my health holds out that might be tough. I feel like my "luck" of generally never getting sick or hurt will eventually flip on me and I'll get everything painful all at once.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top