Barbaraok

When we first started fulltiming we also that that we would utilize a lot of state parks.  Turns out that can be down right expensive, especially with a motorhome, since a lot of states will charge extra per night for your tow car.  Plus with online reservation systems, most state parks are reserved for Thursday through Sundays from Memorial Day through Labor Day - - we just gave up on them.    We do like COE (Corps of Engineers) parks in the midwest and they can only be reserved 6 months out and tend to have more open spots that you can get into without reservations.   

As to why more than one membership, it is because every membership park will set aside a certain number of sites to be used by each affiliate system they belong to such as RPI, C2C, AOR, ROD.   So if C2C has 10 slots at park XYZ and you want to stay there during a certain time frame, those 10 sites may be booked.  However, AOR might also have 10 slots at the same park, but because it isn't as well know as C2C, it has fewer members and there might be a site available.   We go with ROD first because there is a $0/night fee with them, but they also are booked out first, and then C2C or AOR will almost always have a site for us, but at $10/night or so (most parks now add on a surcharge for 50 amp).    

Takes a little practice to get in a rhythm with membership parks, but if they are in areas where you will be going (PNW if full of them) then you can save a lot of money using them.   This week we are staying under AOR, it costs us $70 for a 50 amp pull through site with full hookups and a view of Mt. Baker.  This is the ONLY nightly fee we will pay until the middle of August, all the rest of our time will be under TT and ROD, as will most of September.   Works for us. 

What other memberships will you have.  Remember, C2C is an affiliate and you should really have more than one to ensure you get into parks that you want to stay in as you travel.  All affiliates have a certain number of sites at each park and when those are reserved you are out of luck, but with more than one membership you may be able to get in during the time frame you want.

If this is part of the negotiation for a membership at a home park, make the Deluxe part of the package.   We get by with the Classic, but we also have AOR and ROD which both have 2 week stays (as well as TT) so the C2C is usually our week out somewhere.   BTW, if the park you are interested in is a Classic only park, you still only get 1 week and it is 60 days out to reserve.  

Pack rat, in your planning remember to subtract Medicare Part B from your SS each month.  

3 hours ago, Kirk Wood said:

If you wait until you are near the time that you want to retire before you begin to prepare there are few who can do so comfortably. Both Barb & I made the decisions to work where there was a strong early retirement package as a part of the benefits. I'd bet also that just like me, she could have made a higher salary in other positions, but without the retirement benefits. If you begin to plan for retirement when you are 30 or before it isn't that difficult to do by way of job selection and savings. Every year that you wait to begin the plans to provide for an early retirement, the more difficult it will be to achieve that goal, whether the action is in job selection or in savings and financial planning. The best route is to do both. 

Agreed.  We had my folks as an example, so we started our retirement plan when I was 35. 😉 They retired early and though Dad’s health wasn’t great, it was good and he lived 17 yrs.  My FIL kept working, high stress job and dropped dead never getting to enjoy a retirement.

Zulu, where did you get your hypothetical income level from?   We would make sure to structure retirement income so that we would qualify for subsidies since we would know ahead of time what we would need for those three years until Medicare kicks in.

Again it comes back to planning.  We planned for years on early retirement, worked numbers every year, made decisions on purchases with eye towards how things would work with retirement in the future.   Since I had a whole year before my SS started, we had that amount in a saving account 3 years before we retired.    We knew in ‘93 when I had ovarian cancer surgery/chemo this is what we were going to do at 65, and when Dave had his stroke moved our time table up nand adjusted our plans.  All about planning.

I should also add that we CONSCIOUSLY made the move to Texas for our jobs there  (UT Tyler) because of their retirement package.   We had other offers from universities to consider, but the health care portion of the retirement package was the deciding factor in our going to UT Tyler; and the reason it was included was that UT had years before found that including health care coverage for their retirees was a good benefit to offer to get faculty from around the world to come to one of the UT campuses.

Zulu,

The answer to your question is YES.   Having once faced near death, the idea of waiting was not something we would do - - we know that we only have a finite time to enjoy retirement.   If it were today that might mean buying a less expensive DP in order to have funds to purchase heath care until Medicare kicked in.  

In our case we both had survived life threatening medical issues (ovarian cancer/stroke) and once you face the fact that you are that close to death, you want to make sure you get to enjoy what ever time you have left.   As it turned out, not only had Dave survived his stroke, but just before we retired we found out he had blockages in his coronary artery, so 6 days after retiring he had three stents (longest 2 1/2 inches) inserted to break up 5 blockages.  We have viewed all of our time on the road as a gift and I know that if he had kept working another 3 years he would have died before we got to retirement.   Retiring removed him from the stress and lengthen this life.   Not to mention being able to ENJOY all that fulltiming has to offer when we were healthy enough to get around.  12 years later, we have slowed down because our bodies are not as limber as they once were and other aliments are showing us that we are aging.   Had we waited until now, we would have missed out on so much.   

We retired early at 62/61 and have never regretted it.   We were lucky in that our previous employer included in our retirement benefits health coverage until Medicare kicked in at which time the insurance became our supplemental coverage.   One of the things we did not do at the time was touch our IRAs, which can be left to our kids, SS can not.  So now we take out our RMDs each year, but the IRAs keep growing and should we need extra beyond our SS and pension we have it available. 

5 hours ago, eddie1261 said:

Just so I know I am up to speed, this entire 3 page thread is about somebody concerned with getting local channels so you can see news about a city you don't live in anymore?

Wow....

You really need to critically read what was posted.  The thread is about SO much more than just local channels.  

 You keep mentioning truck.  Is the generator tied into your truck, not just your trailer/5th wheel?

Well that sure doesn't sound great.  Like everyone else, I was thinking about giving Escapees a try, but since we KNOW that Coachnet delivers as promised, I think we will stay with them next fall.   Yes, more expensive, but reliability is crucial when talking about road side assistance.

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Barbaraok,

while Livingston does sound nice, the 460 mile round trip doesn't.  That being said, I've already invested more time trying here than that would have taken....living and learning.    Thanks

Just saying, if you want to know, they are the people to call.  

The BEST place to take the test is Livingston - they do Class A and Class Bs all of the time because of Escapees being located there.   

2 hours ago, edatlanta said:

X2.  I have had DNS and my home base locals since 2010.  I NEVER change my service address and get local news and weather via the internet.  I don't want to tease the DirecTV Gorilla.

Agreed.  We were grandfathered in with both east coast and west coast feeds and there is no way I want to upset that system.   For local channels, we just use OTA channels.

The REGULAR handbook, not the CDL, has appendices.   For the exempt Class A and B, one needs to review BOTH handbooks.

We also have no problem with Vanguard and our Livingston address.  

Yup, single family home.  

Our groceries went up because we are always in different areas, different store layouts, different local items to try.  By contrast, our dining out expenses went down.   Wine costs went up because we are able to visit the wineries in person, try and buy vintages not available in stores.  

Mid 70s here in Mesa, AZ.  Lows in the mid 40s.   Definitely the area to be this winter.

The absolute best place for info on licensing for full timers in Texas is Livingston.  Most of us say that over and over, but not everyone gets the info in a timely fashion.

1 hour ago, docj said:

Definitely sounds too restrictive for us!   But what do we know; we're folks who think that the "higher quality" box wines at ~$15-20/3 liters are good enough for us!

Our problem with wine isn't a question of making it through the winter; it's the fact that we like to spend the summers in Canada and the amount you can bring across the border without very large duties kicking in is rather small.  Even with the current exchange rate, paying Canadian prices for alcoholic beverages will most certainly cause you to cry in your beer! 

Since we normally travel with 8-12 bottles of wine ($25/bottle) Canada is usually not a consideration for us, sigh.  

15 hours ago, eddie1261 said:

OH - IO

When you say 55k, is that what you have to spend or what you spend? You must work to have 55k available or have invested well in your past. 

That is not an unusual retirement income. If you consider 2 ppl who worked for 30+ yrs at reasonably good paying job,  Both receiving SS and having to take RMDs, 55K is on the low side.

We're running out of white but have good stock of red left.   Had to many friends over this fall who were white wine drinkers.     Might have to pick up some white at Costco in March to make it through before we leave.