None of us have a 100% guarantee of waking up in the morning.  After a certain age, the % chance of waking up gets less and less.  As we're planning for retirement, I have to keep that knowledge in my head.  

If we work for another 20 or 30 years, we'll have a much better nest egg to retire with.  The catch is I'll be pushing 80-90 years old!  I would have saved all this years for I could sit on a porch and die, IF I even lived that long (most don't).

Retiring earlier, means less money.  Since I'm relying on social security for the biggest part of my retirement, I'm stuck working at least to 62, and at 62 there will be a significant drop in benefits from working 5 more years until I'm 67.  The almost double sized paycheck at 67 would be nice, but at 67, how many more years will I have to enjoy my retirement? And compared to Kay, I'm in good health!

It's a shame that the best we've been able to come up with is a system where we spend most of our life working so that we can afford to sit by ourselves and die at the end of our lives.  It's frightening how many I know that even after working, don't see a way to retire, and face working until they are so used up society can't milk anymore from them, and them will dump them on relatives that don't want them or state programs only have enough funding to neglect them.

Yet another option. I might be able to get some land at a reasonable price  So maybe put a home on it?

Building a home can be expensive, and is more than I'd want to tackle when I'm trying to retire.  Kay has problems with mobile homes, so those are out, but there is another option

It's more common in the south apparently, but it's done nation wide.  Moving a house!

On paper the process is simple.  A house is cut off its foundation, loaded on a truck, and moved to a new location.  Sometimes they even cut the house in half to make it fit better!

The end point is, you take your property, and move a frequently historic house house onto it. You get a house constructed to a much higher standard than most modern construction, and the BIG payoff can be, at the fraction of the price of building a new home.

Yeah, it has draw backs, and I probably wouldn't even consider it if I didn't have a live on nice property.  I'm especially hesitant though not because of the house, but because of the location.  While I REALLY like this location, ever since we started talking about retirement we've talked about waterfront or mountains.  While this property is driving distance to the beach and even a couple bays, it's NOT on the water.

Look closely at this picture:

This is from a housemovers web site, http://www.cherryhousemoving.com/  While I haven't done any business with them, they were recommended to me.

Many of these companies in other parts of the country seem to focus on moving very expensive m historic and/or valuable building, but in the south they also move livable houses as an environmentally friendly alternative to tearing down a structure to make way for new subdivisions, highways, and parking lots.  The most expensive house on their website at the moment is $40K, and most are much less which includes delivery within 30 miles.

For the price of a decent houseboat or motorhome, you get a nice house?

Something to think about....

A land based option

Another maybe option, though Kay isn't too hot on the idea, is a more traditional RV.  Either a motor home or travel trailer.

Either one gets lousy fuel mileage, but I'm not thinking constant travelling.  I'm thinking a trip to a location, and rent a space or maybe even buy some land and park for a while. If it get cold in the mountains, head to the beach.  When the hurricane season rears it's head go inland.  In the heat of the summer, go taste the cool mountain breezes.

The motor home would allow towing a small boat or economy car, but like any vehicle, there's only so many miles in the drive train, and tires and such are big $$$.  The trailer would need a tow vehicle, probably a large truck.  Still bad mileage when towing, and not great with the trailer disconnected, but when the truck dies, it can be replaces cheaper/easier than a motor home.  I also suspect that a trailer with slide outs would give more space than a motor home. I wish the rental places would rent tow vehicles.  Then I could rent a vehicle for the couple time a year we may want to move the trailer, and they rest of the time drive an econobox.

Probably a pipe dream anyway.  A lot can happen in ten years.

Where to retire

Another issue we're tossing around is what we want to do in retirement.

Where?  As I mentioned, I'm not a winter person.  I relocated to Missouri for my wife, and frankly I hate the place.  My wife has agreed that since I've put up with here for so long, we can seek a more favorable location to retire.  

On first thought, it was Texas.  I'm from Texas, and I miss it.  Most of the family I still have is based in Texas.  Maybe most importantly is the I know Texas.  BUT, I've been some other places I liked, and seen even more on TV that looked good.  Much of the country, I've never seen.  Kay longs for a place with a nice view of the ocean, or at least a lake, and I have to admit, there is an attraction to it.  Florida has some beautiful beaches, as does Texas.  I've heard of beautiful beaches on the east coast, but I've never been.  Also, while I like Louisiana, I've really never spent much time on the coast, and the same for the reast of the gulf coast except for Texas and a small chunk of Florida.

Reality Check!  

The coast is subject to hurricanes.  Cabins I remember on the beach in Texas are now under water due to erosion.  The salt rusts your cars and the constant wind blows sand in EVERYTHING.  Probably the biggest issue though is that most coastal home are on stilts (for exceptionally high tides and storm surges) and Kay has limited mobility and has a lot of problems with stairs.

How about a lake?

Not the cachet of the beach, and the image of the quiet lake isn't as attractive as the palm studded sandy beach, but it does address most of the issues with the coast mentioned.  They still have issues, but careful shopping can get around most.

• Many lakes don't actually have "lakefront" property.  Corps of Engineers and some other like keeping the shorelines rustic and pristine, so the best you can hope for is a distant view.  Many lakes are subject to radical changes in water level.  What is a lake front home during high water seasons may be separated from the lake by a hundred yards of mud and muck during dry seasons.
• If the lake has entertainment options nearby, the lake property is probably expensive!  While we expect to be in better financial shape than many baby boomers, frugality is a must!

Water view?  How about...

If you've read my blog, you know I like houseboats.  How about living on a boat?

Many houseboats can't be used in salt water, and most are limited to bays and maybe the Inter-coastal Waterway (ICW), so there won't be views of the surf on the beach, but there will be water. 

How about a sailboat?  Sailboats can handle the ocean, and even cruise down the coast to Mexico, Belize, or Cuba and the Caribbean.  Yep, lots of issues, but it's getting late,so I'll talk about those later.   

What we really want to do.

About a year since the last post.  Yep, that keeps readers interested!

Houseboat?

I'm still alive.  I'm still interested in houseboats.  But lately a new twist has come into the picture.  It was pointed out by my wife, that retirement isn't that far away.  In 10 years I'll be qualified for full retirement, and she'll be a couple years ahead of me.  In 2-3 years we can hopefully swing getting a houseboat, but a few years after that we can retire.  Is buying a houseboat what we want to do??

Economics- Even a cheap houseboat is a substantial expense.  Besides the boat, there is

• the maintenance 
• the dock/storage fees
• fuel, not only for the boat, but the gas driving back and forth to the lake
• Associated expenses like life jackets, water toys, etc

In addition, a houseboat, like any other RV or vehicle, depreciates constantly.

By holding off on the boat, that money could be put toward savings or paying off bills.  Maybe invest the money on trips investigating future retirement locations (I want to leave winter behind).

Maybe a better idea would be to invest in a cabin or condo near the lake.  A quick search indicates that the cost is only marginally higher, but after a few years you'll have equity build up in land-based property.  In many cases, if you stay there long enough, you can actually get out more than you paid!  That would give a weekend get away, be usable 12 month a year (around here boats are generally 6-9 months of use).

WHAT TO DO??  If you have any suggestions, share!

Houseboat vs Housebarge

A Google search on "Houseboat" will bring up a lot of hits for familiar boats like Gibsons, Holiday Mansion, Summerset, etc and a few for less common manufacturers, BUT it will bring up almost as many hits for floating homes.

Several communities exist on each coast that are comprised of homes that "float" on the water.  I have "float in quotes because some of these don't really float, they are mounted on piers.  Many of these started life as real boats, like fishing vessels, trawlers, or old military craft, but over the years they have been gutted, engines removed, controls disconnected, and frequently bolted to the docks they stay at.  THESE ARE NO LONGER BOATS! They can't be driven, at most they are barges! 

Don't get me wrong, some of these appear to be beautiful homes, but they are a different machine than the Summersets and Gibsons.  Not only are they incapable of moving under their own power, but many are not even easily towed.

I suggest we need to correct our word usage.  These are house barges.  The first line of the Wikipedia entry on "boat" is "A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water." If it can't be rowed, sailed, poled, or motored from point A to point be, it's NOT a boat.

Trying to look up information on houseboats get real annoying when you get hit after hit on Seattle floating homes!

I'm not planning on building a houseboat, and I'd rather avoid any serious remodeling efforts, but for those looking for ideas...

I stumbled across something called the "Tiny House Movement". The idea behind the THM (based on a couple pages I've read, I'm NOT an expert) is that you can simplify your life and not only be "greener", but healthier and happier. While I don't necessarily buy into their philosophy, even in my big cluttered house I see advantages of better storage solution and better utilization of space, and anyone that's stayed on a boat for weekend knows space if at a premium.

I'd suggest the builders and re-modelers check these THM homes out. People are designing and living in homes under 100 sq ft. That would be a cabin area of 8.5 foot x 12 foot. Some of them looking better equiped than my 36 foot Kingscraft!

A couple web sites to get you started:

http://faircompanies.com/

http://youtu.be/juWaO5TJS00

http://www.resourcesforlife.com/small-house-society

Take a look and let me know what you think. Are any of these ideas applicable to a houseboat remodel? I Kept thinking that these were almost all working in 2 dimensions (except for a few upper sleeping lofts). In a hull type houseboat you also have your lower hull, how could that be better utilized?