A possible retirement plan (trailer, park, fulltime, bed)

[Coldjensens]

Our five kids seem intent on scattering across the country. We do not have a lot to hold us here once they move on. My father will not be around by the time I retire, it is impossible to contact my local brother, the other one lives in Germany and my sister no longer speaks to us. We have only lived in our community for 12 years and while we have some roots, I think people would mostly forget about us within a year after we became inactive. Many of our friends will not likely be around in 10 -15 years as well. We have friends scattered about the country too, so we could visit them.

So, I am developing a possible plan for retirement. Sell the house, buy the fanciest fifth wheel we can find and a nice truck, maybe a couple of acres with a little building (storage, shower, extra bedroom and garage) for a home base and just travel full time. Spend a couple of months at each child's location and a couple of months at the home base location. Or cut back on some of that sometimes and just explore the country. For at least a couple of years, I would likely want to move around every month and get out in some remote places - I want to see everything.

I have ten years or more to think about it, and we should probably rent an RV and take a long vacation to see what we think if living that way. It will be hard to get rid of basically everything we have but also freeing I think. Also good for the kids when we die. It is a PIA to deal with parent's hoard of stuff I am told.

Anyone older do this full time? Plusses and minuses? What do you do when you get sick? Do you often take your kids/grandkids along on trips? (considering whether we want more than space for two people. One 5th wheel I saw claimed to sleep 11 people, although it looked pretty much the same at most of the others). What is the cost? Is it more or less expensive than living in a house? How do you find a good doctor, dentist, mechanic etc? Do you get sick of being in such tight quarters? Does it strain your relationship? Do you miss your community? Do you even return to your community?

I find we now seem to use mostly our bedroom, kitchen and the library (for computers). We use the other rooms occasionally, but not really all that much. I think we could do fine in a really nice RV, especially if we chased warm weather so we can be outside more.

So far, my wish list includes: at least 100 gallon water tank plus grey and black water. Solar panels and a small generator and lots of batteries. Lots of storage. Automatic leveling system. Probably an outdoor kitchen. Better insulation. Walkable roof (can you stick some chairs up there for a nice evening view?). Heavy insulation. Double pane windows. Lots and lots of storage (I would home to bring two kayaks, two bicycles, atlatl and axe throwing gear and targets as well as the normal stuff for camping - can we put stuff on top or a bike rack ont he back?). I am thinking 35 - 42'

Other questions:

At those awnings useful? One big one or several smaller one better?

Are the washer and dryer and the dishwasher options in these things of any use?

The bedroom in the rear seems to be preferred although not that common. Any comments on this?

One of them that i looked at had a trailer hitch on the back of the 5th wheel. What woudl that be for can you tow a boat, car or small enclosed trailer behind the 5th wheel trailer? Seems dangerous.

Are the beds and furniture as comfortable as home?

Do you get sick of driving?

sick of moving around?

Miss your stuff?

Miss your community?

Your long showers? That might be the toughest thing for me of all.

Any reason to buy a new fifth wheel rather than used?

Are pets a problem? We would likely have a dog and a bird.

Thoughts on a 6.4 bed with a sliding hitch rather than 8' Is the medium bed really that terrible? (I really like my Ram boxes and they only come on 6.4 bed at the largest).

Should we consider buying a spare truck so if our primary one breaks down we are not stuck?

How long (to what age) are people able to live that nomadic lifestyle? At some point I expect getting up on the roof to re-seal or repair anything will become impossible. Maybe not.

Thanks.

[Hemlock140]

I wouldn't want to go full time, but we just bought a trailer last fall, and I can give my ideas on some of your questions. My parents recently sold their older 5th wheel (late 80s now) and they spent a lot of time on the road with it. First, do like us and buy it 2-3 years before retiring. We plan on taking many short trips from late spring-fall to become familiar with living in it so we are better prepared for longer, sustained trips when we retire. In addition, we can pay it off before the coming reduction in our income. Also, go look at them before you are ready to buy and take notes. We went to 6 different RV centers and changed our mind 4 times on our favorite as we discovered others.

At those awnings useful? One big one or several smaller one better? We find one long one (that expends most of the door side of the trailer) to be great.

The bedroom in the rear seems to be preferred although not that common. Any comments on this? Not for us. We have it in the front, but then it's not a 5th wheel. We wanted a rear dinette. There are large windows on both sides and a huge back window, so plenty of natural light for eating or other activities at the table.

Are the beds and furniture as comfortable as home? The full queen bed in ours is not bad but not like our home double-sided pillow top. As long as the size is good, you can always get a better mattress or use the one in the house for the trailer. Some of the chairs and couches we tried are more comfortable than those in our house, with heat and massage even.

Do you get sick of driving? No, in fact Thursday we'll be spending 10 hour on the road.


Your long showers? That might be the toughest thing for me of all. Yes, get the biggest water heater you can.

Any reason to buy a new fifth wheel rather than used? Trailers require more maintenance than a modern car. Winterizing, seals, weatherstripping, brake and bearings all require attention. Buying used, you don't know how well it was maintained. Also, some parks will not allow trailers over a certain age, so the newer you start out the better.

Are pets a problem? We would likely have a dog and a bird. The dog can ride in the truck but I'd wonder about a bird, with all the swaying and turns.

Should we consider buying a spare truck so if our primary one breaks down we are not stuck? Some dealers offer free road service for a year or more, and you can pay a couple of hundred/year to extend it. My parents have broken down, and the road service was able to pull their truck to a shop to be fixed and the trailer to a park. There are many RV dealers that will service your trailer when you can no longer climb on the roof, but it might cost $400-1,500 for an annual service that covers everything.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

First, do like us and buy it 2-3 years before retiring. We plan on taking many short trips from late spring-fall to become familiar with living in it so we are better prepared for longer, sustained trips when we retire. .



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Thank you for your helpful responses.

At first I thought the information quoted above was impractical. We will have to sell the house to buy a 5th wheel and truck. I do not have an extra $120,000 laying around (or more if we buy new). However it may make sense to finance it and practice for a while get the bugs worked out etc Then if it looks good we can sell the house and go full time. If not, we can sell the 5th wheel and keep the house, or sell it and buy a smaller house. So it does make a lot of sense to buy one ahead of time. I struggle with buying new. It could cost us $50,000 more for essentially the same thing. However the maintenance is a good point. There is probably no way to know whether they resealed the roof and windows as needed without any water ever getting in. Well I have ten years to figure that part out.


If we do this, we will likely buy a small house or at least a building with storage etc on some land where we can park the RV for a few months and change out our seasonal clothing and gear. No point in carrying kayaks around in the winter, or coats in the summer.

Also why don't they have tankless water heaters? It would not work when you are boondocking (I think that is what they call it). But when you are hooked up it would solve the shower issue.

[Hemlock140]

Though I haven’t seen a tankless on a trailer, it seems quite possible, and it can be run on propane when boondocking. Ask an RV dealer. You may be surprised to find that the loan on a trailer can be stretched out, even at low interest for small payments now, then pay off when you sell the house. Use a credit union, not dealer financing. Trucks are currently being discounted greatly with the competition between companies. Ours had a sticker of $46,800 and we got it for $36k. We hope to pay it off before we retire, and still have under 40,000 miles on it.

I just found this:

http://www.campingworld.com/blog/rv-...-water-heater/

[johninvegas]

I have a friend who is single and retired. He sold his house last year and lives in his trailer. He likes it well enough, but he does get tired of traveling so much. He has a friend who lets him use his hunting cabin for extended periods so he can get out of the trailer for a while. But remember, even a huge 5er is only about 300 square feet. If you are living in a sizable home, it can be quite a change to move down to that size. You say you only use the bedroom, kitchen and library. Take out a tape measure and find out how many square feet you are using now. It could be that you are exceeding 300 sq. ft. by quite a bit even in that small of space.

He still has a storage shed that he keeps stuff in, and looks longingly at it from time to time. Best bet is rather than selling and dumping all your belongings right away that you think you don't need, put them in storage and a year later, assess what items you really miss and discard the rest. That way, if you decide you don't want to do the full-time thing after a year or so, you won't have to repurchase all the things you sold or gave away.

[AlaskaErik]

Tankless water heaters for RVs are readily available. If your trailer doesn't come with one, you can always upgrade. The downside is that they may not be dual powered. The ones I've seen are gas-fired, which means you'll go through propane much faster if you take long showers. I'd be surprised to find one that's electric, as they would require a much larger generator than most RVs have. My travel trailer has the typical six gallon heater, but it's gas and electric, and you can use it using gas only, electricity only, or both. Using both gas and electricity gives you a much faster recovery rate.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by johninvegas

I have a friend who is single and retired. He sold his house last year and lives in his trailer. ...or...hunting cabin ...

He still has a storage shed that he keeps stuff in, ...

here is one of our 'cabins' ("BEFORE" pic ...it's much nicer now(pic from when we bought this mini-farm (original 'farmstead' of larger farm) / main house is rented out Full time)), )
//www.city-data.com/forum/membe...n-frt-side.jpg
and our outdoor community kitchen
//www.city-data.com/forum/membe...se-outdoor.jpg
And an RV 'storage shed'
//www.city-data.com/forum/membe...6345-rv-b2.png
this is a smaller one...(minimal size I prefer) 40x60 with (2) 16x60 covered areas for RV's
(3) RV hook-ups + interior Bath, Showers, laundry, kitchen, rec room (Add a heated / conditioned space for your furniture / 'home-base' layout) it won't hog too much of your 'space'

(2) 16x14 doors on sides and (3) man doors

My neighbors have "REAL" storage / RV buildings (One is 120' x 240' x 22 ft tall) sized for a few semi-trucks! INSIDE! We set up an indoor MC "stadium observed trials' course inside during winter. (Was a passion / national sport when living in Spain) Also has a 3 story apartment inside and a 20'x120' steel deck overlooking a canyon and river.


A few friends have truck / RV hoists,
one place has a 'pit' (for oil changes and such)
All have welders / machine / auto shops (a couple have 'paint booth's for car restorations)
several friends are expert woodworkers so have seperate woodshops (so the community space does not get dusty or noisy). Some places we will have 'craft rooms' for the more calm activities.

will be adding 'community garden' and greenhouse as we stay longer.

[johninvegas]

Wow, looks like a great place to hang out! If you don't mind, how much did it cost to put up the rv "storage shed"? When we move, we want to build a combo garage and rv storage (not sure I'd need one that large:-).

[rtandc]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Our five kids seem intent on scattering across the country. We do not have a lot to hold us here once they move on. My father will not be around by the time I retire, it is impossible to contact my local brother, the other one lives in Germany and my sister no longer speaks to us. We have only lived in our community for 12 years and while we have some roots, I think people would mostly forget about us within a year after we became inactive. Many of our friends will not likely be around in 10 -15 years as well. We have friends scattered about the country too, so we could visit them.

So, I am developing a possible plan for retirement. Sell the house, buy the fanciest fifth wheel we can find and a nice truck, maybe a couple of acres with a little building (storage, shower, extra bedroom and garage) for a home base and just travel full time. Spend a couple of months at each child's location and a couple of months at the home base location. Or cut back on some of that sometimes and just explore the country. For at least a couple of years, I would likely want to move around every month and get out in some remote places - I want to see

I'm not even going to answer your long list of questions. All I am going to say is.....forget the plan you have in place.......

You are setting yourself up for a huge financial failure....sorry to be so blunt but your post is a perfect example of why so many fulltimers fail. Think of it this way, would you sell all your stuff to move to Antarctica to live in a igloo, or move to the deserts of Africa to live in a hut without learning everything there is to know about those lifestyles first by experiencing it first-hand before making those decisions.
Rving full time is the same way. Unfortunately you are only going to learn so much (very little) by asking questions, you have to get out there and experience it first hand by rving "part time" as much as you can.

I have seen so many people fail because they sell their home, give 90% of their stuff away, go out and spend a couple hundred grand a on a new " fanciest fifth wheel you can find and a nice truck" which they know absolutely nothing about and hit the road. After a very short lived "hey this is cool" honeymoon then reality sets in and they hate the lifestyle because things are breaking down and the campgrounds are full or everything cost twice as much as expected etc. Now they own a really fancy 5th wheel that when they try to sell is only worth pennies on the dollar from what they paid for it, they miss all their stuff they gave away, including the house they sold etc etc.

It's simple, if you think you are interested in this lifestyle and want to do it in ten years, great you start today not ten years from now. Go out now and buy you a truck. (one ton or bigger, class 8 would be best) and a 5th wheel. Camp in it as much as you can in all kind of conditions (bad weather, when your are sick, when you and your better half are mad at each other, tow it though a large city in rush hour traffic, back it down a long narrow winding road etc).

Bottom line is.....You should not even think about going full time until not only can you personally answer every question you have asked here plus thousands more. I mean sure many of us can answer all of your questions because they are easy questions. The problem is many of the questions you ask can have multiple answers so again the only way YOU can personally get the correct answer is experence it yourself

[PNW-type-gal]

Also drive around and take a look at the kinds of places available to stay in with an RV. A lot of the private RV parks have very small spaces and are a lot like a large parking lot, where you sit "slide to slide" as they say. The more upscale private parks are not all that cheap, either - we stayed at a KOA in a "snow bird" town that was nice, but it was also $65 a night. Of course it would have been more than that to rent a house, but once you add in the sunk costs of the rig, it's not much cheaper.

The RV market is booming, with bigger and bigger RVs, but the number of places to stay haven't kept up with the sales and a lot of the older public parks (like state parks) just don't have space for the new gigantic trailers and the 50 amp electric circuits that they require.

You can rent an RV (not a towable as you don't have a truck) and see what you think of the lifestyle. Renting is usually pretty expensive but at least you get the idea. There are several sites that have reviews of rvparks (both public and private) and you can get an idea of what is near where you want to be.