I'm suffering from "upgrade fatigue".  

Sometimes people write using stream of consciousness and don't use a thoughtful filter on what they write or how it might be interpreted.  That would be me only speaking after a few drinks.  Fortunately, I haven't been punched out yet.

On 4/20/2019 at 11:45 AM, Roadtrek 1 said:

So, tell me...are you full time or just a part time person and I hope you enjoy whatever experience you've chosen.

What do you think... majority of people are full or part-time in the Escapees Club? 

 

Two questions;
1) Part time RVer.  Our properties own us.
2) I don't think about it. Or care.  

Opinion:  I suspect that a few full-timers are in good financial shape.  And others are financially precarious but are "livin' the life".  I'm very careful about forming opinions without more information.  I simply don't know.

Well, that last post sparked sadness.  They (usually motorcyclists) say that the difference between wearing a helmet or not is whether or not the funeral is open casket or closed.

Caretaker.org : This might be useful for travelers that like to park themselves for any period of time and collect pay.
Advertisers usually seek full time caretakers for wealthy individual properties, lodges, ranches, etc . 
The most recent one is for a ghost town. 😊

I follow them on Twitter as the Caretaker Gazette (@Housesitter).  

Eagle Cap / Adventurer located in Yakima, WA.

We have the old unlimited Verizon plan and have used PdaNet for years.  
But no longer.  If you're a Costco member, take a look at the Moto G8 phone.  I have an older Moto G4 phone and it has built-in wifi hotspot (free - nada - no charge). 
It's simple as pie.  If you have the Verizon unlimited data plan you can simply activate the Moto G hotspot and presto! - you've got your wifi hotspot.
(Of course you have to set up your wifi password first.)

I've been using this system for about two years with my older Moto G4.
DW purchased the newer Moto G8 phone and it works the same (the phone itself has newer and some better features though).  There maybe other phone  manufacturers that provide the same service provision, so it's worth a look.  PdaNet is dead.

Correction:  PdaNet is not defunct.  It's only dead in the sense that there is no need for it on newer more capable phones.

13 hours ago, telcoman said:

I wagon master for a company that does caravans. San Miguel is a stop although I much prefer nearby Guanajuato.  Caravans de Mexico is the only company running english language caravans deep into Mainland Mexico these days. You can safely RV in Mexico on your own, but a caravan the first time is not a bad idea.

I've known this guy (telcoman) for almost 14 years and have "caravan" traveled with him on his first Mexico tour about 5 years ago (or was it longer)?  He knows travel and I would recommend his expertise.  He probably hesitates to capitalize on this forum for commercial purposes, so let me do it for him.

The organized caravan seems expensive but it is a good value.  All the work is done for you except the driving.  The Mexican Auto Club (called Green Angels) accompanies caravan travel - providing emergency service if needed, and blocking traffic in the more urban areas to allow passage of the caravan.   

While one cannot pick the group that travels in the caravan, everyone is like-minded when it comes to RV-ing, exploration and adventure.    It's a lot of fun and the more I think about it, I might do it again next year.

Here's the website: https://www.mexicorvbuddies.com/index.php
See you on the road. . .

10 hours ago, Barbaraok said:

Look at getting an annual site at Tall chief in Fall City.  Lake Pleasant in Bothell and Lakeside in Everett have annual sites, but also have a waiting list. 

As to land, you will be will be way out from the city.  

Finish your degree than see where you are.  A lot can change in a few years, including where the jobs are going to be.

I think that the above is good advice.
There's plenty of land available in Washington but it's expensive.  Low cost land will be far from where the jobs are. 

Build a house?  So you want to become a "developer"?  
The hated word "developer" is how you will be viewed by most municipalities - if what you want to do is clear the land and build a house.  (been there, done that).

Be aware that in Western Washington, most raw land is covered by forest.  You would have to cut down the forest. If you leave trees standing, your house would soon become mildewy, moldy or covered in leaves or needles.   

Eastern Washington is developing rapidly and may have jobs.  Land is cheaper and flatter - more desert like with blazing hot summers and freezing winters.  You would find living in an RV very expensive due to heating and cooling expenses.

I'm sorry, but your proposal question is a bit of a fairy tale.  Unless one has a ton of money, real estate knowledge and desire, it's not a good idea to become a builder/developer.  Focus on your profession, keep expenses low as possible, and save for the future.

On 10/29/2018 at 2:02 PM, Kirk W said:

Don’t cheat yourself with the 4% rule !

Your article quotes Michael Kitces, a widely respected guru to the financial planners.  Kitces further writes on his own blog additional supporting evidence (with more in-depth analysis than most are willing to read):

Quote

....the bottom line is that when a retirement spending goal is tied to a 4% safe withdrawal rate, the strategy effectively is a floor-with-upside approach – and one where the odds are overwhelming that the client will preserve all of the original principal, and potentially several multiples thereof, which will be available to either safely raise retirement income further some number of years down the road, serve as a contingency against unexpected longevity, or leave a substantial legacy. 

In other words. . .you'll could be leaving a lot of money on the table by strictly adhering to the 4% rule.

If the home is paid for and one intends to keep it, it might be worthing look at a reverse mortgage.
The reverse mortgage could pay the maintenance, landscaping and property taxes.
Careful structuring of the RM and tax planning might let one have their cake and eat it too.

MJ did and does hold Tilray - Tilray is one of MJ's top three holdings.
I don't get excited about these things, unless they totally dump and all the money goes away.

None-the-less, I believe that the marijuana industry is a lot like Facebook in the early days - a lot of people don't believe that it's more than a passing thing - I think not.

There is one ETF available in the US, symbol: MJ

8 hours ago, rynosback said:

You go also go with a marijuana  ETF.

There's only one pot ETF so far as I know: MJ

Solar power is marching forward too.  Up to 22 percent efficiency test and easily applied to mass production:
https://samueli.ucla.edu/dual-layer-solar-cell-developed-at-ucla-sets-record-for-efficiently-generating-power/

On 8/20/2018 at 5:12 PM, RV_ said:

OK now I am looking at Canadian cannabis companies because they are nationally legal and can bank unlike the freak show here in the US

https://www.canopygrowth.com/

https://thecronosgroup.com/

https://www.tilray.com/

I am thinking that there will be some big winners. But no sure thing like Elon on my radar yet. Once moved I will be able to visit some US cannabis company farms.

Apparently one major liquor company (Constellation Brands) purchased Canopy Growth and other big alcohol companies are looking into buying the other weed growers.

Part of the expense for the drive-away companies is getting their driver returned home.  You, the owner, will bear the expense of getting the driver back home - an expense that is built into the cost.  I spoke with an owner of one drive-away company and learned that that particular company did not have a return route that would pay them - thus the driver's return to home was part of my cost.

I did not pursue the matter.  (I was trying to get my garden tractor shipped to Arizona from Washington.  Still haven't done it.)   

On 6/12/2018 at 5:23 AM, offroad said:

 

*****************

Am retiring early with significant cut in pension, but SS at 62 will cover that mostly.  Please comment about your perception.  Can see living day to day, and just rolling the dice; but best to get out and starting living that RV life now.      

 

  

 

Retired at 62, DW at 57 - both in pretty good shape - nothing to slow us down.
We've always been worker bees.  Can't seem to stop doing projects, saving and investing.

But finally did a detailed analysis of our financials; expenses, income and projected income.
The outcome was that our modest lifestyle will probably never eat through our incomes/savings . . .short of a devastating illness. 

The advisor to the advisors posted this article:
Retirees Aren’t Spending The Way They “Should” - It might help with your decision.

On 12/26/2017 at 3:00 PM, Larry said:

. . .  My first option is a motor home and a toad.

The motor home and toad would be my first choice.  Save harder though. . .my research points toward a diesel pusher - and the newer ones with more horsepower ain't cheap!
I had the truck camper for years and bought the toad in preparation for eventually getting the motorhome.  (I haven't made that leap  yet.)   We still like the truck  camper for  just the two of us and rarely spend much time inside of it.  The  toad is now "essential" to our travel explorations.

We like to cook by grill, oven or stove top and rarely eat out (except for the occasional Subway sandwich stop during travel).
My budget killers when we are home are Home Depot, Lowes & Costco.  It's amazing how much we save when traveling and not buying "stuff".  I'm pretty sure that I could keep it under $2,000 if traveling by myself - maybe even with two of us.  (Health  insurance costs are a bit higher since wife is still not yet Medicare eligible.)
Just be sure not to  be attached to an HMO as they are a hassle when "out of territory".

21 hours ago, Jim Gell said:

cold brewer

Good to know.    Cold Brewer search.

And found this just now:  
Science takes on coffee - from the University of Oregon:  https://around.uoregon.edu/drcoffee

CNET had this interesting post about "paper filters vs metal filters".
We've used the Aeropress for boondocking for close to 8 or so years.  Purchased at Amazon.  
But when possible, we prefer our Keurig machine for ease of use.

The french press (no longer used by us) requires too much water to clean - but produces a great cup of coffee.

The Target store in Scottsdale had the Aeropress on the shelf in the coffee machine department.
Keurig and Aeropress - probably the best two in-home coffee machines.

How timely. . .Bitcoin dropped more than 30-percent today.  https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-much-has-been-lost-in-fridays-cryptocurrency-rout-nearly-150-billion-2017-12-22

I sold all my individual stocks and went to all mutual / ETF funds a few years ago.  Jack Bogle and Warren Buffet are my preferred authors.  

The economic rebound is due to just one major thing; the decline in oil prices.  Oil prices were a major blood-sucking tax on our economy.  With the advent of shale oil production and new drilling, oil got killed.  Our current economy is mostly due to energy costs decline.

That said, I see no immediate threat to the economy other than temporary flights of panic.  More serious events that could occur might be war or a 1917 type flu epidemic.  Or perhaps a run-away stock market?  Business is good, help wanted signs abound and the major news headlines carry sexual harassment stories.  How bad can that be?

If one's entire retirement is in stocks and bonds (without annuities, rentals, pensions, social security or other stable income sources) then I would be very concerned.  Diversification into less market dependent income streams would be my personal preference.

The "survivalist"; these people don't have a firm grip on reality.  
The neighborhoods I live in and the people that I know would band together and organize very quickly.  "Cooperation" is our strength.  Loners are just that - loners.

One last thing of possible interest are the "Lazy Portfolios" : https://www.marketwatch.com/lazyportfolio

And a helpful resource for testing an analytics:  https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/

Aside from one-off stocks such as Amazon, Apple, Google etc, I think the question now is about the market in general.  Many folks don't play individual stocks and are focused on the broad market - which as we know is at all time highs.  

The lurking question is, should we try to time the market and take some money off the table?

The answer, I think, is in Asset Allocation and diversification.  

It is said not to buy that which one does not understand.  And I don't understand it.
And by now the speculators have robbed any intrinsic value that it may have had.

Still in? Yes, my goodness!

As for an EMP pulse, mother nature can do that.  Google: carrington event 1859 solar storm
And for this reason I always get paper statements.