The snowbird crowd is ageing

Emptypockets wrote:
I remember our first winter in Quartzite, AZ in 2001 making the comment about how old the crowd was. (Made me feel young) Now all of these years later I am one of those old geezers at 79.

hakuna matata

Simply look at the economy- look at college tuition to help the kids and grandkids- look at fuel prices- look at RV costs- look at the job market- look at the minimum wage- look at bankruptcies.........
I myself would love to leave for several months and RV around the country. I also have everything except the MH paid off; the biggest problems are economy, fuel prices and general living costs. General living costs are crazy, Cable TV, electric, Phone, Insurances, Taxes, and the new health care costs that will as of next month raise 28% and “we” still being under 65, make travel for extended periods out of the question.

CKNSLS wrote:

Water-Bug wrote:
Homes are a place to live and not an investment. A lot of people are just now starting to realize that fact. Part of the justification for buying too much house use to be "I can always sell it for more than I paid for it." Not so anymore.

It all depends of what part of the country you live in.

What part of the country you live in has NO bearing on the fact that a home is a place to live and not an investment. Yes, some parts of the country were spared during the recent down turn, but NOBODY knows where the next realestate colapse will happen. One MAJOR earthquake and California realestate is toast. The same goes for any other part of the country. The causes vary but the unpredictability is universal. Industries move, natural disasters happen, economic conditions change. If you can predict all three of those, you don't have any use for an investment.

EDIT. I can dispose of an investment in stocks or bonds in minutes. How long does it take to divest of realestate ? When realestate values are dropping, nobody is buying. Once it hits bottom, only a fool sells.

CKNSLS wrote:

Water-Bug wrote:
Homes are a place to live and not an investment. A lot of people are just now starting to realize that fact. Part of the justification for buying too much house use to be "I can always sell it for more than I paid for it." Not so anymore.

It all depends of what part of the country you live in.

Unfortunately, having a working knowledge of things like lost opportunity cost, true cost of ownership, true cost of money, and other factors tend to be of critical importance when educating yourself as to the real cost and investment value of your personal home. Sadly, most folks don't have a hint of a clue as to any of this. This forum is a great example. One member here was strutting around as he doubled his money, over a twenty year span, in the "hot" market he was in. Bottom line is that it was far a huge win, quite the opposite, but like many, he wasn't going to let any reality interrupt his delusion. He paid $200K in the early 1980s ($468K in today's dollars, BTW) and he doubled his money. That's his story, and he is sticking to it, LOL.

:S It's enough to make your head hurt.

dad4papa2 wrote:


Also keep in mind that retirement ages have increased before you can sign up for social security and medicare so this could be slowing some down.

Just some thoughts.

Have a great day!!

I believe that medicare age has always been 65. Chris

qtla9111 wrote:
SS pensions were never meant for living on, they were meant to supplement retirement savings, investments such as having your home paid for by the time you retire.

According to the SSA 23% of married retirees, and twice that number of single folks depend on SS for 90%+ of their retirement income. Hard to imagine that these percentages will do anything but rise dramatically over the coming years. Given the shocking lack of saving available to most older, pre-retirees, there are tens of millions of boomers out there that are going to have to figure out how to live on nothing but SS, since they will have no other option.

Two articles I have read recently highlight the delusion of a single family home as an investment. Both took 100 year spans, ending at the start of the great recession, and determined that appreciation was less that 1%, per year, in the USA, over that time period. As others correctly point out, a home is a roof over your head. A home with a mortgage is a huge drain on your wallet, and selling a paid off home is typically a matter of cutting your loses. Sadly, most folks will vigorously argue to the contrary, but it doesn't change the math.

Water-Bug wrote:
Homes are a place to live and not an investment. A lot of people are just now starting to realize that fact. Part of the justification for buying too much house use to be "I can always sell it for more than I paid for it." Not so anymore.

It all depends of what part of the country you live in.

I remember our first winter in Quartzite, AZ in 2001 making the comment about how old the crowd was. (Made me feel young) Now all of these years later I am one of those old geezers at 79.

AprilWhine wrote:
We had neighbors who were about the hubby's age who had never saved a dime, always rented their home, and always drove a fancy new truck. Boy were they surprised when they found out how much SS would pay! They are still working and last time we talked all they could do was complain about how "lucky" we were.

That's a very common phenomenon. It's just too darn painful to admit it's their own "live for today" attitude.

doxiemom11 wrote:
dad4papa2 you are right as far as some people. My son is now 41 years old and has just stopped paying child support for his first 2 children. He is remarried and supporting a wife, stepson and 3rd child of his own. When these last 2 have graduated from college, he may be able to start saving some money. After years of child support, it's now time to upgrade his own living situation, purchase a reliable (not new, just better) car. He will be at least 58 years old when the youngest would graduate from college.

I respect that he actually paid his child support, because so many do not/ On the other side though, he did make these children. Nobody held a gun to his head.

My wife and I purposely had an only child as we felt we could not afford any more than one.