Biggest Challenges

[paulbeauchemin]

Hi everyone

My wife and I are about to purchase a 5th wheel and a truck. We are selling our house in July and want to travel full time.

I'm curious for others experience as to what the biggest challenges/ problems full timers have. Like
- money/budgeting
-internet/cell service
-driving an enormous rig (never drove anything bigger than my Jeep Commander)
-purchasing your rig
-health care
-missing family

or anything else

I'd appreciate your feedback
thanks
Paul

[Dutch_12078]

We sold our previous large house, although we did keep our small lakeside summer cottage in upstate NY. We invested the full proceeds from the house sale, and haven't spent any of that money to date. We did spend some time and money updating the cottage so it's year round habitable, and it will be our exit plan if our health permits when it's time to hang up the keys.

[doxiemom11]

If you know that you will not want to keep your current home either because of size or location, go ahead and sell. We loved our home, but it was in MI. We also realized that at some point it would become physically challenging to take care of the exterior and lawn. When we purchase another home, it would be in a warmer climate and probably a condo.

[paulbeauchemin]

2gypsies wrote:

paulbeauchemin wrote:
the biggest challenges/ problems full timers have.
- money/budgeting
-internet/cell service
-driving an enormous rig (never drove anything bigger than my Jeep Commander)
-purchasing your rig
-health care
-missing family

I'll try to put your list into my order by our experience:

1. Healthcare if not on Medicare
2. Purchasing the rig
3. Internet/cell service (that is reasonable in cost)
4. Budgeting
5. Missing family
6. Driving the big rig

Every person will have their own unique challenges. One size doesn't fit all.

Good luck! It's an awesome lifestyle that is worth some challenges. 🙂
They seem to get worked out gradually. There's a full-timing section on this forum that might help you answer some questions. Check it out.

Since we have already sold our home, this seems like the best answer to my original question.

I've seen a lot of blog posts on budgets - has this gone away as people have become more resourceful in making money or are people just richer now?

[captnjack]

OutdoorPhotographer wrote:

Captain_Happy wrote:
If your home is less then $250,000.00, there is no capital gains tax to worry about. I sold mine last year for a lot less then that. If you don't believe me go to the IRS web site and check it out for yourself. Like others have stated, if your younger then 65, health insurance is going to be your biggest monthly expense. Now if your over 65, no problem.

Make that less than $250,000 in capital gains. Home could be $750,000 if purchase price was $500,000 and no capital gains. But if you are close, did renovations, etc, definitely talk to a CPA.

Married couples can exclude up to $500,000 in profit from sale of main home (as long as it was owned for more than 5 years by at least one of them and lived in as main home for more than 2 years).

[Clay_L]

In addition to FL and TX you might want to take a look at SD.It is another state that is very accommodating to full timers. We used Dakota Post in Sioux Falls as our mail forwarding service. They have some good info on their web site HERE

[paulbeauchemin]

Mountain Mama wrote:

Can your wife stay on your retirement insurance coverage after you get on Medicar? Something to check in to.

yes she can. We have Aetna - hopefully they're big enough to cover in-network in lots of areas. I've already had the experience of them covering in different states

[Mountain_Mama]

paulbeauchemin wrote:

olygene wrote:
Hey Paul. Are you on Medicare? .

I'm 64 and my wife is 52. We have insurance through my retirement plan, so not sure how much I have to worry about insurance. Maybe getting health care is more important

Can your wife stay on your retirement insurance coverage after you get on Medicar? Something to check in to.

[NYCgrrl]

2gypsies wrote:
Many folks sell their house. They invest the money for the future. Everyone is different. Many retirees don't want the big house and yard to take care for in later years and still many don't want to live in a harsh climate. Keeping a house is added expense and worry if you leave it vacant or if you have renters. Putting your furniture in storage is a big expense. Later on if you buy in a retiree community you can find many homes or Park Model trailers for sale that come completely furnished. If you've thought out your plans and you're both onboard for full-timing then go for it. It's a big weight off your shoulder taking off free with no baggage behind.

We had never heard of full-timing until our first winter travels. We talked to so many that were extremely happy. That spring we retuned to our 2500 sq ft lake house with a big yard and sold it and everything in it over the summer and never looked back.

Only those who have done it can tell it like it is. 🙂

Selling your home makes sense for many but not all.

We are in the midst of selling our family raising home but that was planned years before thinking of RVing and goodness knows I'd heard of full timing years before that decision was made; just a good financial and maintenance strategy for many Americans, who realise that their S+B is the easiest to acquire tax deduction and asset they'll ever get.

Capital gains tax figures into this when you realise that the median price of a US home is about 350K according to the last US census. With that in mind, cold reality, requires careful thinking before pulling the plug on home ownership. I live in a region where prices are well north of the median cost and want to stay here after my RV adventure so knowing all my options and the cost further down the road makes sense. Real estate prices in your region may be lower which helped making your decision easier.

I see a raggedy looking "stealth" van (still emblazoned with a moving company's name) occupied by a couple of a certain age most every year for the past decade on the CT shoreline. It parks in the local WM, supermarket lots, and when they are flush, at local SPs. Spoken to the occupants and they seem to be nice people who fell on hard times yet goodness knows I wouldn't want to make their errors. I worry when we don't see them around but they popped back up last year after a 2 year hiatus.

I suggest people open their eyes to current realities/possibilities in their area and make their life choices accordingly.

Your years of F/Tming adds wisdom to this site but doesn't preclude common retirement or pre-retirement thought.

[2oldman]

Veebyes wrote:
We are the beneficiaries of such a case. First owners sold their house in spring of 2006, at top of market luckily.

Nice.

My comment was based not only on what I said, but my own personal experience. I sold in 2002, just at the start of the big run-up in prices. Had I been a little more cautious I'm sure I could have made a lot more. I really didn't need to sell to purchase my rig, it just made it a little more comfortable.

Who knew the market would get *that* hot!! Arg!!!

[Corky12]

paulbeauchemin wrote:

olygene wrote:
Hey Paul. Are you on Medicare? .

I'm 64 and my wife is 52. We have insurance through my retirement plan, so not sure how much I have to worry about insurance. Maybe getting healthcare is more important.

Check your coverage carefully. Will you be covered nationwide? Are you required to use in-network providers? Is your plan restricted as to emergency care or specialized care? Insurance companies are in business to make money not to see that you are taken care of. Those who are cautioning you about medical coverage are probably the voice of experience. Listen to them.

[Veebyes]

2oldman is correct. We are the beneficiaries of such a case. First owners sold their house in spring of 2006, at top of market luckily. Bought new truck & 5er. Never rented, never owned a camper before.

6 months later, September, they wanted out real bad & listed truck & trailer online. I saw it but was not quite ready to buy anything. October, they dropped the price. We were not ready still. November they dropped the price some more. That is when I made first contact.

We bought at the end of November at a price that was about 15% off trailer MSPR but with a new, 16,000 mile, 3500 diesel dually thrown in for FREE.

Don't make the same mistake that they made. Be sure this is what you want to do. At the very least do a rental trip.

[paulbeauchemin]

olygene wrote:
Hey Paul. Are you on Medicare? .

I'm 64 and my wife is 52. We have insurance through my retirement plan, so not sure how much I have to worry about insurance. Maybe getting health care is more important

[olygene]

Hey Paul. Are you on Medicare? Are you a vet that can use VA hospital? Or do you have medical insurance coverage for you and your wife already? These are very important considerations. I am hoping you never need medical care while traveling, but if you do, medical costs are a consideration while on the road. When I started RVing, I retired early and took a COBRA policy until I qualified for Medicare. It costs quite a bit for my wife and I, but thankfully I had it because I developed bladder cancer shortly thereafter and without insurance, I would have been broke very quickly.

[paulbeauchemin]

2oldman wrote:

"I recommend NOT selling your house before doing this at least one year. I see too many people ending up disillusioned and selling nice rigs at a big loss."

Well, my house was sold before I decided to be a fulltimer. I have no desire to purchase another house in NY and no idea where we'd like to live.

Part of my reason to do this is to experience different areas of the country before we decide where to put some roots down.