Active Duty Retiring - Should I Full-Time?

Thanks for the responses everyone. Lots of food for thought. We are leaning toward setting a specific goal to have a certain amount in savings before completely retiring and going full time. This will allow us to feel secure financially while RVing but also provide funds for a stick and brick if we get tired of it and want to settle down. One of the biggest draws is that both of our kids are in college and will going off living their own lives. It would be nice to be able to go spend a few months with one, then pick up and spend a few months with the other, etc. But we don't want to be too poor to spoil the grand kids (once they get here), so we want to make sure we are as prepared as possible! I love the stories and opinions. Thanks for helping out!

A lot of good information here. Your biggest concern will be covering expenses.

My story,retired 17 years ago, SMSgt, USAF. Wife is a retired TSgt USAF. We each have had successful civilian careers that match our military service. Along the way, we have bought land, built and paid for this house, and are maxing our 401k contributions. In several more years, we will be opting into a quite comfortable retirement. And we haven't sacrificed along the way.

We have been RV'ing since the mid 90s. Along the way, we always been able to afford to travel extensively. There have been some years where we have watched sunrises over eastern Maine and sunsets over Barking Sands Beach, Kauai.

We have talked about cashing out of this house if, then & when, but ask why? We are living where we want and how we want. Once the grand tour is done, we can still snowbird to Arizona. We really like Tucson, and that will become our winter time home away from this home

Take some time to do some serious financial planning with conservative estimates. At this point in your lives, full retirement may be a dream that becomes a scream. We didn't really retire as much as we transitioned.

Make the right long term choice.

We are not far behind you... Though my kids will still be in school. Our plan is to work until kids out of school & off to college and then full-time. We will hopefully not rack up too much "stuff" once we retire so transitioning to a full (or almost full) time lifestyle will be easier. We do plan on a "home base" that will be a huge barn and attached apartment so we can go back if we want/need to take a break.

Thank you for your service and congrats on making it to 20+ years

I did my service and my wife has always wanted to do full time RV.
We ended up putting it off. Wish I would have just got right into it.
Now I have a house and many obligations that are making it difficult. But we are slowly working into making it happen.
My 2 cents, go for it. Your fresh out of the military, don't own to much (I hope) and you have insurance. Hit the road, you owe it to yourself and have earned it.

Retire and travel while you're young. The guilt will pass quickly. Then after a few years if you start getting tired/bored you can find work.

When I travel full time I can easily live on $1000/month. I own my rig, have no debts, and boondock a lot. I also feed a bunch of dogs and cats for that amount, and they eat pretty well.

You never know what the future holds, good or bad, so if you want to do it, just do it.

JAXFL wrote:
I don't know what rank you guys retired as, I retired as a Senior NCO and that was 24 years ago. My military retirement is less than $1800 a month after taxes and you cannot Full time on that little of an income. I owe nothing except $500 a month on the Motorhome have only the DW and I to support and have a hard time picturing full timing. Insurance for the MH and car run a couple hundred a month, then you add in (at 65) another $208 MEDICARE a month even with Tricare for Life being free. Camping fees, and fuel and you don't have much left for entertainment or sightseeing. I currently work and make more than 5 times what I made in service and still think that is not enough. I have read many BLOGs and would say the average monthly expenses are in the $3000 a month range just to make ends meet. Now remember also you need those 40 quarters of BIG MONEY to get anything over minim Social Security. Go out the SS Website and see what it estimates your check to be. Alos remember that after you retire, those pay increases are very very small.
I know that you guys at are still in make a lot more than we old guys, but look over your REAL numbers and try to live on just that amount before you go out there Full timing and end up hurting...

You're right. There are a metric busload of variables that come into play, nonetheleast of which is the lifestyle you want to have. I have champaign taste and a beer budget.

Off topic, but if you want an eye opening experience, check today's military pay scales for someone of the rank you retired at, and look at how much money is received for housing. I thought I was making good money when I retired ten years ago (I was). That figure has increased by 31% since then.

2oldman wrote:

Moffittclan wrote:
..but the switch in lifestyle at a relatively young age makes me feel guilty or something...Am I the only one?

You'll be close to the only one.

I retired at 55, and the biggest shock to me was how much older everyone was. Few, very few of us can fully retire at 55, let alone 45. You will feel out of place.

I'd recommend staying gainfully employed another 10 years.

That is one of the biggest things the wife said to me when I retired at 41.... you are to young to retire.... I did retire for a little over a year and she was right... I was the youngest in the golfing group of 12 people...three foursomes everyday....the next youngest was old enough to be my dad.

Moffittclan wrote:
..but the switch in lifestyle at a relatively young age makes me feel guilty or something...Am I the only one?

You'll be close to the only one.

I retired at 55, and the biggest shock to me was how much older everyone was. Few, very few of us can fully retire at 55, let alone 45. You will feel out of place.

I'd recommend staying gainfully employed another 10 years.

Moffittclan wrote:
I plan to retire in 2-3 years from active duty (26 years). I'll be around 45 years old. Wife and I have dreamed of full-timing for a while and both kids will be finishing up college. We are considering full-timing it after I retire and I think we can afford it. But I'm struggling with the feelings that I "should be" or I'm "obligated" to continue working because I'm only 45. We aren't wealthy by any means, but with my military retirement, we should be comfortable. We know about workamping and those options (and will probably have to do that just to feel like we are still productive) but the switch in lifestyle at a relatively young age makes me feel guilty or something...Am I the only one? Am I just being silly?

Mike

I retired 20 years ago and considered it, but my ex was a compulsive shopper and killed any options we had. I'm still trying to get out of debt after a divorce 4 years ago.

I knew a few guys who retired from the military and went full-timing. They seemed pretty happy. One guy had a scroll saw and made wooden toys and puzzles and sold them from his site. He would workcamp every few months and said he loved it.

My ex wife's uncle use to work for Bell Helicopter and travelled around the country writing up contract bids. The company paid for his travel and his RV payment and he got a salary. Pretty good deal.

I don't know Monkey44, I went back again and looked at the BLOG budget of actual expenses and see nothing out of the ordinary with the number. The campground fees come to about $25 a night which is low, the food average for 2 people eating in the RV, the propane is a little high, the cell phone is low for us, the cable hookup is high because the campground normally has it for free, but then on a monthly stay I have electric to pay, the rest is in line with "our" normal monthlies when traveling.