Smitty77_7

Remember a cartoonist "Smitty" from those days (Hard to see his work, as I was 'averting my eyes' from other visual stimuli, and it was easy to miss his cartoons! But, for artistic reasons, I tried...). Me posing? Sure, and the Cubs will win a world series someday...

One of the best ways to get a feel for ongoing operational expenses, is to adopt a current owner for a year. In the SKP's spirit of helping each other. I volunteer to let anyone pay for the maintenance of our coach for 2017. It's what we all do for each other, that makes SKP's unique. Please note. This is a first come first served offer, and limited time remaining. Best to all, Smitty (Good post Biker56!)

My bad, I made the assumption that A, B, C, D, .... were the flow of water... And note, I'm really trying hard to figure away to do the RO back into the water tank, in our coach - sure understand it... Thanks for the response, Smitty

Zulu/Tom - A question on the location of the Water Softener. You have it after the Carbon Block. Is this because your drinking water is reverse osmosis via the under the kitchen sign system? And does not the whole house B, C, F not already feed the full house safe and good drinking water? Is the reverse osmosis redundant in some ways? (Asking, as we've been working with Rick to come up with our final solution. I'm jealous of the space you have for all of this gear:)! And I have more of a challenge, as the lightly used and now re-resin stocked On The Go is the double unit - taking quite a bit of space... I had planned don the 1 milacron filtration prior to the softener then to the whole house carbon filter. We do have an under the counter 10" filter, using the Doulton D-UC ceramic carbon and sediment filter. ( https://www.rvwaterfilterstore.com/RCSpecialtyCartridge.htm ). Great for drinking and cooking water.) Good and timely thread for us, though we've run out of time to do a complete system before heading out, we have at least got to a point where we'll not be lugging the 2 1/2 gallon waters in from the store:)! We'll wrap up the final filter installs in our down time in November. And RV, I understand your logic on keeping the water chlorinated in the tank and water pipe, and then 'finishing' it before the drinking faucet. But don't you still do an every 6 months or yearly sanitization spike of your system? We do that usually yearly, though I slipped up and went about 15 months this time for some reason. (No known problem from doing so, but I do try to do it yearly, at the same time we swap out the filters. Sanitize the system with the old filters in place, then rinse and flush well, and install the new filters.) As we've just installed the under the counter ceramic filter, I'm going to take a look at the filter at 6 months and see how things look. Expect to also be able to go to a year cycle on this, and will be removing it prior to yearly watery system bleaching. Really neat to see how others have approached this... Best to all, and TIA for the ongoing info sharing, Smitty

And scotch too, the inhumanity of it all... (A little secret. If you let a Bota Cab air for about two hours - it still tastes like a Bota!!) We're getting by, Smitty

Pre 65 without on your own Health Insurance, has become a much larger slice of the budget. I know Jack mentioned that it is their single largest item, or maybe it was 'insurance' all up:)! We are at $19.5K just for Health Insurance, without seeing a doctor, or paying for our medicines.... That's a pretty good size line item on any budget sheet:)! I've coined us as 'Permanent Full Time Part Timers'. Due to family situations, we're what I call Hub and Spoke travelers. (Hub is our Vacation Home in San Diego, where my MIL lives. Spoke(s) are our trips away from that Hub, and then returning periodically to check on things. My wife's brother and his wife also live in the San Diego area, and both are still working. We've coordinated our travel plans with them, to be sure one of us is always in the San Diego area to monitor MIL. (She is doing great, now, but we almost lost her two years ago... So, a real ongoing concern to monitor things closely.) We therefor travel for usually 2-3 months trips, before running back to the Hub. We'll be doing a month trip this year, as we'll running to see the Indy 500's 100th running, then on up into the New England states for the first time. Returning West thru the Great Lakes regions, and then onward just South of the Canadian border. So our 'full time budget' needs to be factored, as with many of you here to. Our's will seem a bit high, as I include RV related upgrades to. And this list still has a few big ticket items ahead over the next two-three years. 2015, with 7 1/2 months of travel, we spent $42-45K. (The 'fixed costs' for many items carry over the other 4 1/2 months of the year. (RV/Auto/Health/Life/Long Term Care Insurance, Food, Wine, Medicines. Not included in this number, are our S&B related mortgages and insurance and maintenance costs. Nor another vehicle we leave at the S&B home.) And as mentioned, much discretion in how we all choose to spend our funds on both food/wine/entertainment/etc., etc. We know we have scaled back our travel plans, stay in more National Parks and Passport America Parks. We have rented a site in Yuma for two months this year. We have gone to Bota Box wine during the week, with 3 bottles of $9-12 range glass bottle wines on the weekend. Much fewer lunches and dinners out. As we have diverted those funds from other parts of the economy, to help offset the higher costs of Health Insurance for 2015, and also this years 2016 big jump too. It is the way it is... So, all of us have different perspectives from where we're coming from when sharing. Some of us are Pre 65 with no help on Health Insurance. Others are Post 65, or have full Health Insurance. That makes these numbers on the poll interesting to see, but without the additional notes by those that shared more specifics. Hard to make any conclusions from:)! Always enjoy these threads, as great to learn how others have done things. I know in our 'Can We Do It?' planning phase, this site's members were very generous in sharing their experience with us. Always appreciative of those that take the time to do so... Best to all, Smitty

It's a grand time to have had a 'stash of cash' parked and waiting to invest... Maybe not today, or next week, or next month - but as the market usually only 'taketh' for some undeterminable time period, the market also then 'giveth' as the climb back up begins again. We still have some of our retirement portfolio invested in longer term holds, and will continue to hold, as the these stocks are in DRIP's, so leveraging back in on some solid stocks these days. We also always try to have about 20% or so of our 'investible bucket of funds' parked in cash, for 'buying opportunities'. Now, the timing on 'when' to ratchet these in, is always a fun part of the process. I'm now in a holding period, but suspect in the next week or two, I'll ratchet a percent of our available funs in. Not overly worried on hitting the 'rock bottom' as the investments will choose will become 'long time holds'. So OK to be close to the bottom, or even on the shallow side of the way back up. We'll then wait a bit, and then 're-allocate' and harvest some of our older holdings, to replenish our 'stash of cash' bucket... And all, I know many of my friends and family are very nervous about what has happened the last few weeks. I understand this, but feel this is a great opportunity, especially for the younger set that are in their 'building of retirement phase'. And yes, as the rates rise and the money that was printed off with such wild abandon over the last 7 years is pulled out of circulation, toss in a ISIS or other world event from time to time, and China this, or France that - and this cycle could be different. Probably a slower climb back up in values for many of the segments of the markets. Best to all, Smitty

On investment tools. Was wondering if anyone has run across and have opinions on David Woodyard? http://www.rdwoodyard.com A fellow RV'er has been funding their travels and maintenance by using his, I'll say system, but it's really just harvesting data, and looking at the numbers to make investments. Note: I've been off and on looking at his site, and have no first hand experience with it. So, not endorsing, or saying to to use - I have formed no opinion as of yet:)! Anyone ever follow and use David's data? Best to all, Smitty

Should I have stayed 'all in'? Or, should I have 'parked it all'? Or, should I have done a mix of both? Those are the questions that come up in conversations with friends, and on forums like this. And, being a bit of a Smart Arse myself, I quite often reply 'I'll let you know next year!':)! Many of us on this board are no longer in the major 'accumulation' part of our financial earning lives. We're in the 'preservation and harvesting' phase. All of us have different levels of comfort for investment risk. Thus we see such wide swings of opinions. Doing what you and your significant other, if in the picture, feel comfortable with - is always appropriate. In this thread back probably 25-20 pages ago, I shared that my wife and I shifted into a retirement mode. As part of this, and the 'buy in' of my wife. I parked the great majority of our accumulated 401K's Roth 401K's and about 75% of our Trading Account into a mixture of vehicles with the key goal of very conservative preservation. Even put some hunks into different forms of The Much Dreaded and Sand Kicked its faces - Annuities... And, a hybrid cash accumulation life insurance policy too. On the small amount that I left in our trading account, I harvested 75% of the gains over from January thru March, parking those funds. I have been moving about 50% of those parked funds, back into specific stocks that I felt were attractive for the long haul. Another 25% I put back into stocks that I expected to see bounce back quickly, with sales orders placed to jump back out and take the short term gains. (13 out of those 20 stocks, have already sold and yielded the returns I had wanted/hoped/expected t receive.). I do not 'day trade', but I do 'swing trade'. I do not try to time the bottom to jump in, or the top to jump out - I try to time the swings, and get somewhere close to those bottoms and tops. And all of this, is with funds that though I'd prefer not to lose, would not jeopardize our retirement if all of it were lost. So what? Doing what is comfortable for you and what you are trying to achieve, is I feel the key to sound investing. This has been a fun and informative thread, with a vast group of knowledge and different perspectives on how to, or not to, invest:)! Great group of members sharing their thoughts. I thank you all, as it always good to read different opinions, especially from varying backgrounds. My best to you all, Smitty

Hey Karen - Congrats to you and Roger for getting to where you are on the financial front. And please thank Roger for serving! I'm an odd bird (The DW would be nodding her head on that comment!), where we too have kept investing in a steady process over the last 20+ years. And as Jack did, this included keeping a 'bucket of cash' funds (above and beyond our emergency stash) to allow leveraging in when buying opportunities present themselves. When we shifted to retirement mode, I did end up with about 3/4 of our overall retirement savings moved into a managed series of investment with a Financial Planner. I stay very involved, and also our FP and I have an agreement on our desired level of risk while still remaining in the game as is required to allow growth. On edit: I thought I'd share that on the 3/4 of the funds with the FP, these along with a pension and future SS are our mainstays to fund retirement ahead, we keep mix of about: 40% Equity, 20% Bond and 33% Fixed Income, and the balance a mix of Commodities, Cash and Others. The other 1/4 varies between 7 70-85% Equities, with 15-30% in cash for 'buying opportunities'. None of this 1/4 bucket, are required to support our retirement living. We use the revenues from this to support fun things, and misc upgrade projects on the RV and around the home, and currently to fund our Daughter's marriage at the end of September. Still On Edit: The key to this mix, is we can first cut out the 'fun things and upgrades' from the 1/4 I control in TD Ameritrade. And, we can also dial back the drawdown from our 3/4 retirement funds. too. We have a fast experience coming up on two years for me, and a year and a half for the DW, so far we've not needed to trim anything -we've had a pretty good ride!. We are drawing down a bit more until I start taking SS early next year, but we were prepared to nip/reduce that as needed based upon over all performance. One thing we have agreed to between myself and the DW, is during the downturn cycles ahead, we'll shift more of our withdrawal from our 'cash side' of things, so as not to get hit too hard on the investment vehicle side. --- End of Edit --- We, well specifically I, went with the managed investment approach because the DW does not like to be too involved in our finance side of things. (She cares, and yes she does sit down with myself and the FP on a regular basis as we review things.) It is in case something happens to me, that we both decided to start a relationship with a FP. This way she will have a rapport built up with an individual we both trust. The overhead costs of his assistance, is something we can afford, and it gives peace of mind to the DW for the future. In general, I've enjoyed this thread, and pop into it every few months to catch up. This group has a very broad background of knowledge, and I sure enjoy reading and seeing different perspectives. I'm in the camp that really feels it's important to do what YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE doing. Sure, always keep your guards up, and keep an look on the horizon at what you think maybe coming towards us on a financial front - but I always recommend to friends and family if you're losing sleep about this side of your lives, reevaluate what you're doing. Best to all, Smitty

So RV, that battery of your's is half charged, not half empty:)! (Oh wait, that glass of your's is half full...) I was very pleased to see Space X success... It does show what we can do... Skunk Works was a good way of explaining the 'mental culture' of what a group of people with leadership, and in this case - good leadership, was getting out of the way and enabling, can do. You know I recovered, and then a bit more, of my Tesla. Two times in, and two times a shuffle of position out. I retain a long position in Tesla with the balance, glass half full you know... You mentioned what was going on in the world economy, and until this equalizes to a clearer calm - I'm sitting our a few of the trembling cycles ahead... Sure, money could be made. And sure, money could be lost... I just know enough to know I don't know - so will keep the moth's in my wallet well fed for a period ahead... So, while I'm a battery, glass, is half charged, full, kind of guy - for now I'll be a fence sitter!!! That's me, and means nothing to anyone else, as we all have different needs and perspectives - and that is not only OK, it is as it should be:)! All my best, have fun, Smitty

Hey Derek - Mr Tesla:)! Nice run up over $36 today. I took half of mine off of the table, with a Short 37% gain. I've also reposition my Market Stop point. This is not a reflection on Tesla in general, I have a rule that I've followed for several years, that no matter what (well, almost no matter what) - whenever I get above a 35% gain, I take some off and pocket my gains as a bird in the hand. I do feel Tesla has lots of opportunities ahead, as well as many short term risks - thus the reason I changed my exit point for the balance of my holdings. Nothing wrong with jumping out while the jumping is good, and then ratcheting back in if a good jump in point presents itself. For any stock, not just Tesla... So, per the normal Golden Rules of Smitty Trading - you should see one heck of nice bump soon:)! Best, too all, not just Derek, Smitty

So Derek - Did you ratchet a bit more into Tesla on today's activity? I've enjoyed popping into this thread, as it covers from sunny days ahead, to baton down the hatches doom and gloom... And, that is what makes this board, you get multiple experiences and opinions... Best to all, and happy coffee can burying to those it applies too. And may your stocks/bonds/ETF's/DRIP's soar, for those whom remain in... Those of you that play short, may the dips ahead bring you tax paying rewards:)! TGIF! To those whom remain in the work force, I know I'm pleased it is Friday... Smitty

Different answers from different life cycle perspectives. Like many, we've had out home values drop. We're lucky, as we're in a location-location-location sub area within San Diego, so our values have dropped a little less then 15% from the top. LOL! As I had felt for several years 'before the top', that the home vales were not in touch with financial reality. So, I feel we've actually come back down to an area more in line with reality. On where we are now, my wife and I are still 'in', by about 65% of our funds. Those funds are a mix of 401K and individual investment accounts. We had companies that provided Roth 401K options early, and shifted all knew 401K's contributions over to this. My belief was that taxes would never be lower, and this last big nest egg of American funds, would be hit over the next few decades. We hope the Roth 401K's, will be harder politically to go after. We shifted about 75% of our 65% still 'in', over to large companies with higher dividend paying history. And like Jack, large international foot prints. This is via a mix of DRIP individually owned stocks, and a ETF blend. We did this to primarily offset the devaluation of the dollar we saw ahead, and the compounding of future inflation we felt was coming too. Historically, these kinds of companies 'revalued' to the adjust for the changes in dollar value, and inflation. Sometimes it takes a trailing 12-18 months for the values to readjust to compensate. (Sort of like our view on RV's: Quality lasts in RV's, and I feel the same with with companies. The balance of our 35% funds I've kept parked, with occasional 10% jumps into short term investments. Not real day trading, but I've been in and out of several short term investments in less then a month. Next few weeks/months/years will be interesting, stressful, hopefully inspiring to get control, and probably down right scary for many. We've just crossed over a bridge to the wrong side, and one that is new to America and also the world. I'm going to keep my eyes open, and look for solid investment bargains, and jump in cautiously. The dollar just sitting in the bank is losing more then I care to afford to lose. We are both working, after my wife was 'on the beach' for 9 months in the local tech industry. I'm pretty stable in my job, her's is probably at a bit more risk. We'll move out retirement if needed, and ride things out until the waters calm. We were at about a 1 1/2 to 2 year retirement window. With some thoughts of me retiring now, and double dipping as a contract work. I think we'll just hunker down for awhile... In??? Where else would you go? What other country has the ability to do what we do in this world economy? It is a world economy now, and we need to level the playing field to allow the middle class manufacturing base to slowly (decades, IMO) rebuild. Let's hope we can set aside all of the politics of the past, roll up our sleeves as a nation - and get it done... Again, we are all in different spots in our life cycles, so different answers from different perspectives. Best to you all, have fun, be safe, Smitty