preparing for retirement (long distance, states, years, wife)

[sweetana3]

Have mental stimulation to keep your mind active.
Have volunteer activities to give back.
Have social activities to be around people in some form.
Have physical activities to maintain your body.

Balance in life.

Try to plan on doing new things every day, month, quarter or year.

We are going to make a new recipe each week, a new activity and restaurant each month and a new place to visit each quarter. We do not want to end up like our parents.

It will make you more interesting and interested.

[Tek_Freek]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Tek_Freek -



That can be a lot of fun.

I find it weird to reply to a post of quotes....

Designing a house is fun, I agree. Once we are done the drawings will go to an architect to be torn apart and done correctly. All we are trying to is get the floor plans.

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

By "Geo-thermal" I assume that you mean a heat-pump. Keep in mind that these do not work well in all climates. You need to check in your area to verify that they work in that area.

Central Tennessee. They work quite well there.

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

"the savings realized can more than offset the increase in a mortgage ..." Are you sure that going into retirement with a mortgage is a good idea? Many folks would advise paying off your mortgage and going into retirement without that added expense.

It's already built into the retirement plan so having a mortgage is not a concern. It won't be that large.

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

"after that it's actually an income generator since you're not paying those high energy bills" could you explain how a heat-pump generates income for you. You have to run the water pump, and the Freon compressor; which both require power. How is this going to make money?

The operating costs of a heat pump using electricity to do the entire job of heating and cooling is higher than the cost of pumping the water out of the ground and changing it's temperature to do the same job. Since the water is approximately 55 degrees year round you are only changing it's temperature by 20 degrees or so. An added benefit is that you can store warm water from the geo in a tank and feed a tankless water heater from it. The tankless then heats water from 55 degrees. Since tankless heaters only heat on demand you are not keeping 40 or 50 gallons of water hot 24/7.

Once the cost of the geo system is paid for the amount you are not spending on conventional heating and cooling is money in your pocket. Some estimates are up to 60%, but I base my calculations on 30% using the calculations on this page ($820 vs $640).

energy right: Geothermal Heat Pumps

If I get better than 30 I'll be pleasantly surprised. That to me is income generation. Even with the mortgage payment being higher the difference in it compared to the difference in paying for geo vs conventional is more, so the combination of heating/cooling and mortgage payment is actually less even though you paid more to build the house.I apologize for this confusing sentence structure, but I'm not sure how to fix it.

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

As compared to woodstick, yes, ICF can be quieter. Though most any uber-insulated home will be quite.

ICf is not fireproof. I have seen them, and I have not heard of any lower insurance premiums from using this method.

I built a steel building, which we insulated at R-40. Being steel it is 'nearly' fireproof.

As for the 'safe room' idea, have you considered a 'Faraday Cage'?

I did not state that ICF is fireproof. It is fire resistant. I'll take it over wood any day, especially in a tornado or hurricane.

I don't need a faraday cage, I'm not concerned much about lightning, more with tornadoes or forced home entry. I'll have a 12" reinforced concrete room in my basement poured monolithic with the structure.

Here is a page from a company in Texas mentioning insurance rates, etc. I don't ever take things I read on a commercial web page as gospel, but most of what I read here is pretty close to what I've learned over the last few years.

ICF - Insulated Concrete Forms

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

... Central Tennessee. They work quite well there.

That is neat.

In this area, we constantly see folks who read about heat-pumps and want to use them. There have been many companies who have built heat-pump systems trying to tweak them to work.

... It's already built into the retirement plan so having a mortgage is not a concern. It won't be that large.

That is wonderful!

It has been my observation that many folks [myself included] focus on low-cost lifestyles in our retirement. So having a mortgage would be ill-advised in that case.

... If I get better than 30 I'll be pleasantly surprised. That to me is income generation. Even with the mortgage payment being higher the difference in it compared to the difference in paying for geo vs conventional is more, so the combination of heating/cooling and mortgage payment is actually less even though you paid more to build the house.I apologize for this confusing sentence structure, but I'm not sure how to fix it.

Perhaps it is our vocabulary then.

To me "Income generation" means to generate income, to make money, to show a profit. As distinct from "to spend less".

... I did not state that ICF is fireproof. It is fire resistant. I'll take it over wood any day, especially in a tornado or hurricane.

We are agreed in that most anything is better than wood stick

Steel buildings are designed with tornadoes, hurricanes and snow load in the math.

... I don't need a faraday cage, I'm not concerned much about lightning, more with tornadoes or forced home entry. I'll have a 12" reinforced concrete room in my basement poured monolithic with the structure.

'Faraday cages' and lightning? I had not thought of that. I have seen grounding rods up on phone poles used to keep lightning away from a structure.

'Forced entry'? Does Tenn really have that high a crime rate?

Ouch. I have lived previously in areas where the crime was high. I am so sorry.

If you must be in such an area, then yes the 'safe' room' makes sense.

[Tesaje]

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

I don't need a faraday cage, I'm not concerned much about lightning, more with tornadoes or forced home entry. I'll have a 12" reinforced concrete room in my basement poured monolithic with the structure.

You should be concerned with lightning. Lightening kills more people every year than tornadoes and is second only to heat and cold for weather related deaths. Anyplace that gets tornadoes gets more lightning. Tho I'm not sure a faraday cage is the answer. Best place for the reinforced room is the southwest corner of a basement for tornado protection. Odds are the storms will come from that direction and you will have 2 walls of earth to help protect. The southwest corner is the best place to run to even without a safe room.

I once had a geothermal - well water heat pump. It worked very well and was relatively inexpensive to run. Not inexpensive to build, tho...

[Tek_Freek]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

That is neat.

In this area, we constantly see folks who read about heat-pumps and want to use them. There have been many companies who have built heat-pump systems trying to tweak them to work.

Same here. Heat pumps really don't work very well in Iowa.

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Perhaps it is our vocabulary then.

To me "Income generation" means to generate income, to make money, to show a profit. As distinct from "to spend less".

Vocabulary, yes. I look at money not spent as income because it comes in from pensions, etc and doesn't go back out for expenses: income. Sneaky, but it helps explain the reason I want to use geo and ICF to others.

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

'Forced entry'? Does Tenn really have that high a crime rate?

Ouch. I have lived previously in areas where the crime was high. I am so sorry.

If you must be in such an area, then yes the 'safe' room' makes sense.

No, the crime rate where we are going to retire is very low. It's a holdover from where I grew up. Something that is always in the back of my mind, whether the actual threat is there or not.

[Tek_Freek]

Originally Posted by Tesaje

You should be concerned with lightning. Lightening kills more people every year than tornadoes and is second only to heat and cold for weather related deaths. Anyplace that gets tornadoes gets more lightning. Tho I'm not sure a faraday cage is the answer. Best place for the reinforced room is the southwest corner of a basement for tornado protection. Odds are the storms will come from that direction and you will have 2 walls of earth to help protect. The southwest corner is the best place to run to even without a safe room.

I once had a geothermal - well water heat pump. It worked very well and was relatively inexpensive to run. Not inexpensive to build, tho...

I've lived in Tornado Alley my entire life and I agree with you 100%. I've sat in that corner many times. Twice while tornadoes tore roofs off the building I was in.

I pay attention to tornadoes, but I don't worry too much about them. I do, however plan on not letting them ruin our retirement home or hurt us.

Nice to know that you liked the geo. I'm not too concerned with the cost as I expect a very fast payback.

[emilybh]

As an independent insurance agent who has specialized in health insurance for most of 20 years, if you plan to move to another state find out BEFORE you move what your health insurance options and costs will be. If you want to move to the northeast you will find nothing that is affordable and next to nothing that is even unaffordable. Unfortunately, with health insurance, you are limited to choices and rates available in the state you reside in.

In Rhode Island there in only one insurance company with four plans to choose from, the health insurance laws are so TERRIBLE there. No insurance company in their right mind wants to sell health insurance because the state legislators have done such a good job of mucking up the legislation and regulations. Once upon a time it was a normal state with dozens of carriers and hundreds if not thousands of choices. Now they are down to only one carrier for individual and family plans and a second carrier has plans for businesses only.

Massachusetts is also REALLY BAD. There are a few more options but it is more expensive than Rhode Island. Expect to pay a rent or mortgage payment for your health insurance for a plan with a $5000 or $10,000 deductible! If these states aren't bad enough, NY and NJ are even MORE expensive.
Florida also is not a great state for affordable health insurance nor is California but they may not be as bad as the northeast.

[rferd]

emilybh,

I will be moving to SC 1st. Qt 09. Do you know where can I find information as to what is available in that state? I am presently living in NJ.

Thanksl

[1967hammer]

[QUOTE
'Forced entry'? Does Tenn really have that high a crime rate?

Ouch. I have lived previously in areas where the crime was high. I am so sorry.

If you must be in such an area, then yes the 'safe' room' makes sense.[/quote]


It's not so much the high crime rate that you have to worry about. It only takes one knucklehead to ruin your day. If you are out in the country, you may have a lower crime rate, but you will probably also have a slower response time from law enforcement. As a police officer I am fully prepared to defend my family. I do realize however, some folks are just not comfortable with firearms or with taking another person's life. I think safe rooms are a great idea for those people. Just make sure you can access a phone so that you can call for help. Cops hate those whispered calls where the homeowner is pleading for help while hiding under the bed or in the closet. It seems like no matter how fast you drive, you just can't get there fast enough. A safe room gives us those needed extra minutes to find your house and clear the threat.

[forest beekeeper]

I find it difficult to imagine any home in this area that does not have a firearm.

I would wager that every home in my township has meat from at least one moose in their freezer or pantry, and various amounts of venison, bear and beaver.