Thinking of Full Timing It, But have Questions and Doubts

[ultraglide]

I do believe that most people might have had doubts about full timing when they first start. As I do at this point. I am 60 yrs young and my wife is 58. We have a great house and 7 grand kids. I have recently become unemployed and can't find work. My wife has a job but is a little tired of it. Is there an books that we can read ? Financial books to read? Anything that will help,

[djpauls]

I was an RV dealer for 20 years, have been a financial advisor for the last 21 years and my parents were full timers for 18 years and I helped them through all of the decisions that you need to make. If you haven't spent a lot of time with your spouse in close quarters you might want to "test the waters" before going full time. My wife and I just completed a 10 week trip to Alaska and our 38' motorhome kept getting smaller and smaller (my psychology degree helped with our coping skills). Consider renting or leasing your house until you are convinced that full timing is best for you. Don't underestimate repairs and maintenance. Consider working with a financial advisor to help you figure out if you can do it financially (obviously I am biased). You likely would have to interview several advisors before finding one that is experienced with this type of planning. Visit a FMCA convention and take advantage of their very well done seminars. You can learn a lot from the seminars and visiting with those attending the convention.

[itgeekgal]

I agree with everything djpauls said... we spent 5 years going to RV Rallies and renting various RV's before making the commitment to sell the house & hit the road. Our test runs allowed us to see if we could be compatible in a small space, if we liked the RV crowd, if we were up to the lifestyle & if it was really something we wanted to do. Also consider how much you want to travel & how much you're willing to be away from the grandkids. We've been fulltiming for 2 1/2 years and love it, but it's not for everyone and would be costly if you jumped in & changed your mind.

[ultraglide]

I do apperciate the advice. My wife and I already own a coach class A and we have been out on many trips. We have talked it over and have settled on the fact that if we like a city better than ours right now , we will stay there. I guess that I will have to find an estate adviser some how . But thank for the advice

[kimsells]

Dear Ultraglide,

Everyone's situation in life will not be the same as yours, but we can share experiences that will help.

My wife and I started full timing july, 2012. Our situation is a bit different as we both work full time. We are not retirement age yet, but getting closer.

So far, we have found that our RV expenses are much less than living in a house. We rented out our house in July to see how we would like the RV lifestyle and put some furniture in a storage unit, the rest went to family and Goodwill.

We wanted to give this lifestyle a test for one year, then evaluate. It greatly helps to have the most livable RV space possible with two TV's. Our home on wheels is a 41ft. Class A Motorhome. We tow our get to work and around town vehicle behind the Motorhome like you see others driving down the freeway. Not all vehicles can be towed with four wheels on the ground.

We have two small pets that need to be cared for just like two toddlers. Both come to work with me everyday. They seem to adapt well.

So far, we've noticed that an RV is not insulated like a house. We use the propane heater and a small space heater for winter months. I'm very thankful that we don't live in an area that has harsh winters. I think the wife has learned to layer and she is doing very well in a small living area. To date, I enjoy living this RV lifestyle and would like to become a snowbird someday.

Several Books to read that might help are;

1. RV Living in the 21st Century, by Peggi McDonald

2. Support Your RV Lifestyle, An Insider's guide to Working on the Road, by Jaimie Hall

3. In Search of America's Heartbeat, by Robert H. Mottram

Hope this helps in your decision to be a "Full Timer"

[ultraglide]

Thank you .. Kimsells.. what you have said I truely agree with. As we are in the position of trying to figure out if we will sell or rent our home out. I will be retiring next year andwe are making sure all of our so -called ducks are in a row. We too have pets . I thank you for the names of books to read, I will be looking into getting them. Thanks again

[medico]

I might suggest also Retire to an RV