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| Summer Lily Pad |
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| Roadtrek - our travel machine |
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| Mondo-Condo |
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| Our winter lily pad |
Finances and related decisions
Nothing in planning is automatic. When we began designing our plan more than two decades ago, we had to put together "the framework for the plan" and we had to determine how to finance it. We also had to pay the bills for the two decades in the interlude before we could hone and execute the plan.
There were all kinds of constraints. Income limitations, work, kids college, paying off debts, saving, and so on. We had obligations to meet, and that included retirement financial planning.
To meet all of the obligations, it did require that we take steps to live below our means. The financial obligations were at cross-purposes. So G and I lived for a time in a small apartment at about $650 per month; we then went "upscale" at about $770 a month; heat included. We then bought a small condominium which was half the price our "friends" were buying. WaHoo! Living Large! But we also had lower debt, lower real estate taxes, lower heating and cooling costs, lower HOA fees, and so on.
We did want our own place (my home was surrendered in an earlier, nasty divorce, and it was promptly sold at a large discount and then torn down to make room for two homes). But, there were the current realities to deal with. We scrimped and saved so we could buy a small, inexpensive condo; we needed somewhere to live for 10-20 years prior to retirement. That decision allowed G and I to devote a substantial amount of our time to productive, income producing work with minimal time devoted to home maintenance and related expenses. When the children graduated from college I gave each a $5,000 "grubstake loan" to get them started in their road to independent living. G and I continued to work, and save and plan.
13 years after beginning the formulation of our plans G and I had began putting the major pieces into place. That included 1) What we were going to do, 2) How we were going to do it, 3) When we were going to do it, 4) Where we would do it and 5) How we were going to pay for it.
Some of our friends and acquaintances were quite surprised by our speed, once we began to execute. But because of the years of planning the gun was "cocked and loaded" and in December, 2013 when we pulled the initial trigger, the pieces fell rapidly into place.
Looking at Costs
Here are the 2020 numbers. The costs of each of our "lily pads" is in percentages. These numbers don't include health insurance, cell phones, website fees, etc. which are not directly attributable to any specific location.
Each year we live about 6 months in Arizona, 5 months in Michigan and a few weeks at the condo. Our contractual agreements allow us to live up to 6 months each year at our site in Michigan, and 12 months in Arizona. Keep in mind that we maintained the condo as our legal domicile and primary storage location. We are fully aware that it is time to jettison it. We could rent it, but I've had previous experience as a landlord and I am not inclined to take that path. Local and our national governments, and the courts tend to manipulate landlords, to the disadvantage of the landlords.
The numbers for each location include any real estate taxes, fees, rent, utilities, insurance and repairs attributable to each location. The numbers do not include the cost of purchasing the abode, be it the purchase price of a condo or RV, or any condo mortgage. For the Roadtrek, it includes repair costs and insurance, but does not include gasoline which is dependent entirely upon miles traveled. The Roadtrek costs include new tires purchased in 2020 as well as other maintenance including oil changes.
These are rounded numbers which will not add up to 100%:
Condo 38.9%
Arizona 38.7%
Michigan 13.5%
Roadtrek 9.0%
If I were to ignore the annual costs of the condo, then this is the actual distribution of costs for the lily pads we visit via the Roadtrek:
Arizona 63.2%
Michigan 22%
Roadtrek 14.7%
It is obvious that we can reduce our annual "out of pocket" location living costs by more than 38% if we jettison the condominium. Which is exactly what we intend to do.
We are currently looking at which state we will "domicile" in. So long Illinois!
Original material http://roadtrek210.blogspot.com/
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