do we do it

gst · Senior Member

do we do it

deb-gary · Senior Member

ok guys be honest with us.we are sick of work (thats normal) if we sell our house pay off the majority of debts we would have a little cash left plus some super however we would need to earn approx $25000 to live on and pay for our van is this enough??btw we are 52 fit and pretty versatile work wise.interested to know should we do it??

cannylass · Senior Member

I agree take it slowly.you don't need to buy an expensive van first off.just see how it goes

ChiChi1 · Guru

Make sure you have a fall back position if this doesn't suit you.

dazren · Guru

I agree with all above comments, you don't have to travel in a rolls royce, so think long and hard, Travelling is fantastic, but so is the comfort of knowing that you have a home to come back to,

Is it possible for you to downsize from a house to a unit ''maybe'' as once you leave the housing market, and spend the money, it will be very hard to re-enter the market, Nobody here knows your situation as much as you two, so good luck with whichever way you choose to go Dazren

gst · Senior Member

gst wrote:
Well If you don't own your home then your van is your home so long as you can pickup work then go for it if you don't like it then find a good caravan park and settle down till you can rent a home and sell the van.

Best of luck safe travels

-- Edited by gst on Friday 11th of May 2012 08:05:02 AM

Cowboy7307 · Senior Member

The last thing i would do is sell your house, that is always there if traveling does not work out, you could rent it to help pay some bills while you are a way, you do not need the biggest caravan in the park ot the biggest TUG

Just a caravan with some space , lot of money in vans today is taken up with showers and toilets (hell you have legs walk to amenity block) or a pop up toilet tent .Also if your working i would recomend a good anex for van great for getting out from under each others feet we have our tv in ours and we also cook in it no cooking smell in van

Landfall · Guru

The short answer is NO.

I first retired at the tender age of forty five, struggled to last five years. Money not the problem boredom was.

At that point in time, we were traveling around the east Coast of Australia and the Pacific region in our yacht. Who would think we would get bored?

Next adventure was turning sixty, sold our main residence. Purchased a new caravan and 4x4 with all the bells and whistles. Plan was to travel around Australia for a couple of years.

Lasted four months, hated the caravan, disappointed with our choice of 4x4, but sort of liked the travelling and meeting people.

Revived our business and it is only in the last couple of years that we have taken to liking the caravaning again. More suitable caravan and vehicle.

Fortunately we had kept our unit and had back up plans.

At fifty two, you will need a pile of money to survive for any length of time.

I would suggest that your super would need to be earning at least the equivalent to your present wages.

The previous advice is spot on.

Is it possible to take long service leave and "try before you buy?"

Dusty

deb-gary · Senior Member

just to clarify we have already bought a van (pick it up in a cpl of weeks) we have a loan to pay for it ,which is what i meant by we have the van to pay for,we dont own our house so keeping it means we cant pay o our other bills hence cant travel anyway,so what im saying is sell ,work and travel.

jonathan · Senior Member

.. age is not relevant .. health and attitude is .. lots have sold and happy with life as I am, but equally so there are many who have chosen to retain their 'digs' ..

.. all very much a personal decision and what you wish to achieve as your goal ahead.

Jon

robkim · Veteran Member

We are 54 and doing the same thing geting the 4x4 and van at the end of June. We hope, But we do have some investments. we plan to stay at friends and family as much as we can. And travel in beetween. And yes we might work. We just want to make life a venture ...... SO do what ever you want to do ... LIFE can be short robkim

gst · Senior Member

Well If you don't own your home then your van is your home so long as you can pickup work then go for it if you don't like it then find a good caravan park and settle down till you can rent a home and sell the van.

Rip and Rosie · Guru

From my experience, you need a good financial planner.

You will outstay your welcome with family and friends unless you have an exceptional family (and/or pay your way).

robkim · Veteran Member

Rip and Rosie wrote:
From my experience, you need a good financial planner.

You will outstay your welcome with family and friends unless you have an exceptional family (and/or pay your way).

Every ones circumstances are different .. So its hard to give advice .. AS i said LIFE CAN BE SHORT.. we can worry aboutthe future to much..

Yuglamron · Guru

Rich and sad or broke and happy?

If you can work and can travel too ,to me that's the best of both worlds.

I am on a disability pension and just have to survive on it.I won't starve and I have a roof over my head and I can have a new view when I wake up every morning. There are tens of thousands of people out there travelling making new friends and seeing this great country.

There are tens of thousands would love to do what you want, but the fear of the unknown stops them.

Go for it,if it doesn't work out for you at least you have tried.

I can't take anything with me when I fall off the perch and as long as I can manage my bills,well I'm happy.

Safe Travels

blaze · Guru

We left tassie in 2011, had our old camping van and a discovery 1, destination was pert to see my daugter grad from uni. Then it was unknown. Had a little in the bank but only a little. We headed to albany on both had jobs as soon as we felt the need, spent te winter in albany ten headed to perth, again both found jobs as soon as we wanted. Went back to tassie for 2 months over the chrismas (stored van) period and will head back in june for a week, just replaced our 16 foot van wit a 23.5 foot van wit ensuite (still an older type van, but I like older). We are having a lot of fun, meeting people tat have become friends for life, some nomatic, some not. Check our blog (asnt been updated for a while). We havnt sold te house, (my son lives there and pays a token rent), we still ave bills from home (might ave to put sons rent up), got less money than wen we left but there isnt enough money in the world to pay for the memories we have. I am 51 (if I remember right)
cheers
blaze

deb-gary · Senior Member

long service not an option as i am self employed,i am a licenced motor dealer so i will have no problem getting work and my wife has lots of skills such as office work,computers,has worked at woolworths in the insurance industry etc etc so i suppose one question is if people travelled around australia and wanted to work for say 6mths of the year in all types of occupations is there plenty of work around?i wouldnt have thought it too hard for 2 capable people to earn $25000 to $30000 between them and this would be enough to support a nomad lifestyle.i have never believed in unemployment just unemployable people who dont really want to work.

deb-gary · Senior Member

blaze you guys sound just like we want to be except to keep house and pay mortgage would be a bit hard thx for your story.

blaze · Guru

hard at times guys, but have no regrets. We reckon at the rate of travel it will take us about 15 years to finish our trip. We are probaly working for 9 months of the year ATM but hey thats better than 12 months.
cheers
blaze

Cowboy7307 · Senior Member

.i have never believed in unemployment just unemployable people who dont really want to work.

This remark is not correct

as an ex employer of part time labour there is a lot of people out there want to work and work hard but in our area there is only seasonal work,

and thay all do what thy can , but when you get to your mid 50s your no longer wanted,

so when people paint every one with the same brush it gets up my nose ,it like saying every one who does not have a boat car caravan a few hundred thousand in the bank and a large super fund has failed in life

Just my 2 cents worth

barina · Guru

I live in melbourne and do not want to retire here, looking at clouds day in day out, freezing winters, high gas and electricity bills....My plan is to sell my unit (I own it) and send only the stuff I want to keep to my son's (NSW) for storage. I would like to buy an all in one van to have some short trips and get used to the driving and camping side of life and then when I retire approx. 5yrs head off on bigger trips and look for somewhere to live perhaps in one of those relocatable home parks on the NSW coast. I do have lots of relatives NSW and QLD and plan to do some family history searching.. I think the vans seem to hold their value and the housing will be cheaper so if the travel does not workout then I will just settle somwhere.....all dreams at the moment but I keep thinking.......

Gerty Dancer · Guru

Would renting out your house give you enough to pay the mortgage and anything left over? Personally we have discussed this, and we are both very reluctant to sell up completely, although downsizing is attractive.
Each to their own, best wishes whatever you choose.

scotia59 · Senior Member

I say - go for it, what have you got to lose?

We are in a similar situation to you except we own our house (morgaged) and when we sell it we hope to have enough money to buy a plot of land for somewhere to park up when we come home. Maybe one day build a house on it. We are restoring an old van which is what is keeping us here!

We plan working our way about too, have looked into jobs around the place and don't think we will have any trouble, hubby's a carpenter and I do office work, or anything I can get. Our ages are similar to yours too, so we are not ready to retire as such just not work quiet so hard!

Good luck with your decision, which ever way you go be happy and don't have regrets.

Landfall · Guru

Cowboy7307 wrote:
.i have never believed in unemployment just unemployable people who dont really want to work.
This remark is not correct
as an ex employer of part time labour there is a lot of people out there want to work and work hard but in our area there is only seasonal work,
and thay all do what thy can , but when you get to your mid 50s your no longer wanted,
so when people paint every one with the same brush it gets up my nose ,it like saying every one who does not have a boat car caravan a few hundred thousand in the bank and a large super fund has failed in life
Just my 2 cents worth

I trust that was not a cheap shot at me?
I treat everyone as equal regardless and was merely pointing out at the age of fifty two, you should consider a life span of another thirty plus years.
That's a considerable amount of financial planning required to achieve in an early retirement.
Selling up and travelling is very alluring, a vast number do it and do it well. But when the health problems kick in, and eventually they do, that's when forward planning pays off.
Public health care, waiting lists, living on a pension below the poverty line? Sorry, not my scene.
I like the sound of working nine months and travelling three months, with the residence in the background. Or something similiar, that's planning.
The OP asked for input, I gave it, we are all different, I did not expect a cheap shot.
Dusty

Landfall · Guru

HI all,

I have since had a PM from Cowboy7307, explaining his remarks, not aimed at me and I apologise for my remarks to him.

All is well here in freezing cold Tassie.

Dusty biggrin

Cowboy7307 · Senior Member

landfall where in tassie are you

we are in the latrobe area

Landfall · Guru

In the best part biggrin biggrin biggrin Hobart.

Good to see the sun shining this morning, but a top of 11degrees confuse

Are you touring?

Dusty

neilnruth · Guru

Good to see that a misunderstanding was cleared up quickly and everyone has moved on. That's the way it should be done. Well done!!

Cruising Granny · Guru

To do the nomad lifestyle, whether you work your way around or live on savings and investments, you have to have a plan.
You have to plan how you're going to spend your time, what you want to see and explore, what sort of work you'll pursue, if you're going to work. You also have to plane what direction you're going to travel in and around.
There are no rules. Everyone is different, have different values and priorities, have different needs and lifestyles. There are no rules for these either.
Discuss with each other, family and yourself. Weigh up the pros and cons. How much to you want to do this?
How long do you want to do this? Where do you want to do this? How do you want to do this? Why to you want to do this?

deb-gary · Senior Member

sorry didnt mean to offend anyone with unemployment comment it was too much of a sweeping statement i apologise.