rpsinc

Or find something in between that can work for you. I just visited with a dear friend who is in the seemingly best health at 79. All his screening results come back each year just great, but last week, he experienced a mini stroke due to 79 year of plaque, common for all of us, and now he realizes that he needs to change his lifestyle a bit. He isnt going to sit on the couch and RELAX, just allow others to help him with things he has typically done himself. Certainly a lesson for me but I am only 60, although learning new things is a life long pursuit. Glad to be able to learn from those here too.

Yep, what he said!

I agree. I made the choice to be self-employed and in that lifestyle, work was/is VERY different. Our customers affect/effect our schedules, prices, results, etc. We do not usually get to control all of our life activities as we have those customers. By the same token, we get to generally make more that if we had chosen a 9-5 JOB, although sometimes that means leaving for work at 4AM, driving 3 hours, working a 10 hour day and driving back 3 hours, then doing something similar the rest of the week/month. No 401K, stock purchase, bonuses etc. We then have to find a way to educate ourselves in the ways of savings, overhead reduction, investments, retirement planning, tax efficiencies, finding a team that we can trust to surround us with technical expertise to help us in the above noted endeavours. Its been a lot of work so far but the challenges are from what choice I made for us and I am so grateful that I could make the choice that I thought best suited us. Other countries and places dont have the same freedoms.

And a choice was made.

I appreciate that you are providing hope for the SE.

Nicely laid out Todd.

As a follow up to Kirk, yes many companies have changed significantly the benefits packages they offer, esp. as it relates to after retirement. I think that a large part of this is cost, probably the biggest, but also the trend that people dont stay with companies for a career. My Father worked 43 years in his industry and for only 3 companies. Now, many work for that many in a few years as that is a common way to progress up the corporate ladder. So many things have changed.

I have used AmericasMailbox for several years and they are very good at their customer service business.

I have tried and used UShip before and the trick is to be patient. The last time I used them, the first quote was $899 for a truck bed shipped 175 miles. I was patient and the prices came all the way down to $245. That was worth the wait.

Dont forget to replace the CO detectors too. Or you might get a rude early morning awakening.

Sure, order a 12VDC motor that is intended to be used in that application, as you would order a spare. The a couple of sprockets and some chain, a fuse protected power source to a switch, and that should do it. I've even seen these motors on CL sometimes.

Kind of like www.flavortownusa.com??

Congratulations on your accomplishment. Enjoy your journey, it appears to be a nice one in progress.

Thank you for your perspective. This is a pretty personal issue and having the opportunity to have your experience shared with those of us(me) in a place in life that we are considering this type of decision, is very generous.

Well, that just goes to show you, that when you get there, there ya are! We each have different circumstances and have to make decisions that work for us, and I am grateful we each can do that. We seem to all enjoy the journey rather than the destination, and its the journey that offers up the experiences we can later reminisce about.

I was not expressing an opinion, but sharing what I have learned. I am not retirement age, in fact only just 60 and SELF-EMPLOYED. I have had to find a different path to invest in for retirement. So glad that some of you have jobs/careers that allowed you to experience the fruits of your labors. My Father retired at 59-1/2 from a Fortune 50 company and lived to 81 & was SKP. His net worth increased each year and he did not collect his SS benefits until he was 70, he didnt need it, he told me. He left my Mother in a good position, financially. Some of his teachings I have been fortunate to be able to apply as well as some of my own. He was never self-employed so that is unique in my and DWs case. We are working on reducing working time for more time off, off course in our RV, which is why I come here to learn from many of you, and for that, THANK YOU FOR SHARING. IRAs and real estate continue to fuel our plan and we hope that the plan will come to fruition for us.

Keep in mind that full SS retirement is going to likely be at age 66+ some months depending on the year you were born. For DW, born in '56 its 66 + 4 months, for me, born in '58, its 66 + 8 months. Yes Medicare can be gotten at 65 but SS is another deal. Now if you can afford to wait on SS, for each year beyond your full retirement benefits time, you will get an 8% increase up to age 70 when no more increases are available. At least that is how I understood it after doing some research and attending a SS benefits luncheon with an "expert" sponsored by my CPA and an insurance company.

You always get what you pay for. HF has made claims about their stuff for years, yet they are still looked at as a BUDGET brand. There is a reason why. Honda or Yamaha or even Champion are much better options. And consider buying a propane kit so you can avoid the dreaded bad gas problems. The kits are available on line for a few hundred dollars, which is about what a replacement carb is gonna cost you, once. Cant beat a Honda genset but yes, you are gonna pay for it. But if you want it work when you need it, then buy quality. I earn my living with tools and that has served me well. I never buy HF welders because they dont hold up. The only tools I buy from there are wrenches and impact sockets and hammers but never electric or air powered tools. And almost all of those have gone into trucks that dont get used every day. Tools that work every day come from name brand companies. Spend more but they work when needed. Not sure if that is your need but its just my input.

As a contractor, I have seen some places where someone replaced a rated receptacle that was properly sized for the wiring and the breaker, with a different one that was suitable for the purpose that they intend to use it for. When loads were encountered that were beyond the rated wiring/breaker, a failure occured. Some were in that the wiring burned up or melted due to excesive loads, some caused the breaker to trip. Sometimes the breaker had tripped and a larger breaker was installed without replacing the wiring sufficiently. That is a real problem. The wiring will melt or burn up or start a fire. The NEC exists to provide guidance for these situations and to prevent them. But not everyone is aware of it of understands it. Electricity is a unseen element that is sometimes comprimised to the users detrement. Be careful!!! Wires that are getting warm or hot are telling you something important.

A couple things I have learned about RV roofs. The spray on bedliner materials do flex but not like the EPDM elastomeric. I was doing some RV roofs for a bit and product had +800% elasticity as part of the product profile. The spray on product has to be done in a shop and those are in FEW places, that means for those any repairs or warranty work has to be returned to that shop. The roll on types, thickness is dependent on how much product is applied, meaning if you want more mils then add another coat. The EPDM elastomeric I was doing was generally 2 ~30 mil coats(remember this in coating not PAINT) so when wet totals ~60 mils then upon full cure, reduces to ~50 mils. Totally sufficient for an RV roof as well as a commercial building, which is where this product has its roots. Want more, then apply another coat before full cure. The repairs or rework can be done later and still provide excellent bond and a monolithic roof. Not necessary to return to shop for repairs etc.

I was able to get the paint info for our 2004 Newmar. Its a KA and full body paint. I have the paint already and some clear to do touch ups and resprays. I will be using some commercial EPDM roof coating that I had tinted to the base color of the trailer, which will go on the roof down to the trim/gutter. Then will also do the entire front cap and the front area which will be behind the truck when towing, to reduce the effect of chips etc.

Then let me add some conditions: These results are not based on any technical or scientific procedures but rather based on a personal experience, which is what is shared here. Your results will likely be different. No oranges or apples were harmed in the process of this experience. LOL

That efficiency is based on actual use. My Dad was living in an Alfa 3 slide 5er and when using the RV furnace he was using around 3X more propane than when I took him my ceramic brick heater. He was struggling with leukemia at the time and so was pretty thin and frail and had the heater going most of the time in the winter. Granted it was winter in So Cal, but the periods and conditions were pretty similar.

Heating your trailer should be considered with the following info. RV furnaces are VERY inefficient. In the order of ~35%. So to the poster that is using LOTS of LP, and the OP try this. Buy a sufficiently sized ceramic brick heater, which operate more on the order of +95% efficient. No fan running because they dont have a fan. They are ventless and many have oxygen depletion sensors for safety. I always leave a window slightly open just in case though. Remember to consider that you dont have a cold weather package in your current trailer and so will need greater heating capacity. But when you upgrade to a possibly larger trailer, then the heater should be sized sufficiently for your rig. But get all the insulation you can when you buy another. It will help for HOT and COLD. I bought a Procom.

I have done a few RV floors. First one was with Pergo in a Dolphin. I went OK. I agree with your comment about walking away when frustrated. I actually built that into my schedule. I would do a couple hours each day after work and while waiting for dinner. That way it was not too much at once. I am a contractor, but this was a job on my stuff. Harder to get around to doing it, you know the mechanics cars are always last to get serviced. The most recent, which I plan on redoing, is on a Newmar 5er, and I used 13mm laminate. It looks to be too thick for the slides to work right. I will re-evaulate this when I have time to get back to it. I do like your choice of material. It looks GREAT. A small area is tough to do right, SO MANY CUTS. A captured areas too. Good tools are definitely a benefit. GREAT JOB. Now enjoy it.