Zulu

Yep

I'm pretty sure that some of us will end up in a mobile home (park model, single/double wides, etc) after we leave the road. Here's a heads-up from HBO's John Oliver.

If it's a H3 with a Travler, then you're probably using a DPH42 switch also, right? Pull the plug on your H3 and DHP42 BEFORE starting the Travler.

What DISH receiver do you have?

I'm still waiting for the monorails and home helipads I was promised as a kid.

Well, so they say as there's a fair amount of back patting going on here as in "I'm glad I managed my finances well" or "Unlike others, I've done ok". Though few people write posts like packnrat . . . had some money, but it went pop with the housing market years back.but had nothing like some here talk about, like it is pocket change. in 8 years i will be lucky to get (total all sources) $3, grand a month, gross. but hope to manage not having to go back to work just to eat. . . . it doesn't mean there aren't more, perhaps a lot more, people in packnrat's shape. So, Barb, unless you have some compelling data source, I think people on this forum (Escapees, RVers, whomever) trend like any other group of retirees.

Judging from other posts, this seems to be the norm in this thread (good financial planning) which runs counter to the bankruptcy filings trend for our age group:

QED.

I think you would be better served looking at your family's health history and, with provisos, DNA testing.

Look at Bradd & Hall too.

Well, I can see that "Have" and "Have Nots" weren't the best terms to use. However, I don't think anything I said about people with military/government health care & pensions was derisive. I just said some people have these benefits. The rest is in your head. Since I never had any intention of making the military my career, I don't regret that decision at all. Just to be clear, I am a "Have". Between our 401ks, pensions, and annuities, the wife & I are hunky dory financially. So I'm not bemoaning my current status by talking about military/government health care and pensions.

You missed the point. Reread my post: I used "Have" and "Have Nots" to differentiate between retiree's health and pension benefits, not a person's upbringing.

Did you retire with a military pension and Tricare?

First, thank you for your service, RV. Two years as a draftee (remember that time?) was enough for me. Anyway, your "it's not about the money" argument IS about the money. BTW, that's why I asked you if you had Tricare healthcare and a military pension. It's comparing Apples ("Haves") vs Oranges ("Have Nots") again. That is, people with government/employer health insurance and/or pensions vs all the others without pensions and healthcare. So when Haves make the "it's not about the money" generalization, I cringe. Also, for those of you looking at other folks RV budgets, take them with a grain of salt -- one size does not fit all. For example, the multi-year budgets on RV Dreams (Howard & Linda) are very very detailed. However, their early health insurance budgets were incredibly small. That's because they had an employer-supplied Anthem PPO health plan. Now they're on the much more expensive ACA.

That's not true . . . Bankruptcy & Older Americans:

Do you have a military pension & Tricare?

Just offhand I'd guess that most full timers don't store stuff from their former house. I'll also guess that the cost of long-term, temperature-controlled storage would equal the replacement cost of the stuff stored. If you start full timing now at 62 and have to buy your own health insurance, that could be your single major expense. Create an Excel spreadsheet of your current expenses/income. Start from there. Your budget sounds realistic. As you've already read, there are a number of folks who think you can full time for much, much cheaper. Bully for them. Best to determine the budget that's right for YOU, not someone else.

I got on the Purogene train. It's pricey, but I usually just sanitize twice a year, so not a big expense.

I read where you will start full timing next month. In a year or two, why don't you stop back here for a reality check.

Well, you certainly have the job from hell. Fully understand why you want out. Good luck. Sorry about your experience with the ACA. It saved our arse.

So you're in poor health now? Still working?

The $65K was just used as the limit for subsidies to exemplify what someone might end up paying. That's it. My post was an example of what I thought might happen to anyone, not you per se. The best laid plans of mice and men . . . Planning is great. We did it too (even virtual RVing). But things happen that you just didn't foresee . . . that's why I included the real possibility that decent health care for those under 65 may not be available soon. Finally, getting ill before retirement can be a whole lot different than getting ill after retirement. Despite all the planning we did, my wife still got ovarian cancer after retiring. As you know, that puts a major crimp on things.

Good for you, but from what I've seen most RV retirees didn't have this option. For the benefit of others, let's SWAG a current retirement scenario for you & spouse, but without that great university health plan. Now you have to purchase your own health insurance. So, you're 61 and 62 today and you have to buy your own health insurance. Some assumptions: You'll go with an ACA plan. The ACA will still be available in its current form until you go on Medicare. Health care costs will only go up 6% a year. FL will still have nationwide health plans until you go on Medicare. You now domicile in FL, not TX, because you want a nationwide health plan. Your MAGI is $65k (or greater). I used www.healthsherpa.com and found the least expensive FL BCBS EPO plan for a 61 and 62-year-old: $1319 month or $15,828 year. Over 4 years @ 6% increase, that's about $69000 in just premiums, but to be fair let's figure for at least one of those years you had a pay a OOP max of $7350. So, conservatively, that's $76,500 over 4 years. However, if you earned less and had a subsidy, this could be considerably less. On the other hand, imagine the 20-state lawsuit against the ACA successfully repeals Obamacare or the ACA is no longer able to sell heath insurance for pre-existing conditions. Now we're back to the old days -- you get cancer at 62, and your health insurance is cancelled at 63.

This is my Apples vs Oranges pitch . . . What if you were retiring now at 62/61, but without that employer health coverage? Would you still retire?

Who are you trying to convince? It sounds like yourself. You also sound angry at those who decide to retire later. First, both my wife and I did retire before 65 -- she at 62, me at 63. Would we do it again? Probably not in the current health insurance environment. We both retired when the ACA (ie, Obamacare) was new and relatively affordable. Today it's a very different story -- and, sorry, health ministries aren't for us. Yes, as you age your chances of dying increase, but so do your chances of getting ill or getting a debilitating (but not fatal) chronic disease. You're going to need decent, affordable health care that covers pre-existing conditions. Currently, that's Medicare. And for that you have to wait until you're 65. Finally, I think you also need to factor in Quality of Life in your retirement plans. Being alive is great, but in your later years if retiring early means forever stuck in one AZ campground using Hamburger Helper four days a week . . .