A couple wanting MUCH needed info and opinons on moving

[whtviper1]

You have very vivid dreams.

[davephan]

Jus10X, you said that you and your partner are both factory workers with no specific job skills, both near the age of 30. I don't live in Hawaii, but from what I have read, you may be setting yourself up for minimum wage jobs, maybe two jobs each. You probably won't make enough money to save any money in Hawaii, and may end up consuming the 30K for incidental unexpected expenses, such as car repairs or health care expenses. You might give some thought about getting some training that would allow you to become employable at more than the minimum wage. For example, if you could get the skills to work in IT, you might be able to get a job in the mainland and work remotely in Hawaii, which would help offset the higher living costs in Hawaii with the higher mainland pay, and position yourself better to save for retirement. If you delayed your move for 5 or 10 years, you and your partner could possibly double your income from your current 75K income level allowing your to save for retirement and have a much better living standard in Hawaii than you would if both of you were struggling to make ends meet, each working two minimum wage jobs. You may think that 40 is really old, but it isn't. If you invest in yourself, your future may turn out much better.

[Mikala43]

And now back to your previously scheduled topic......

[aqua0]

I don't know why people are arguing back and forth about this. Everyone's advice is perfectly valid.. Yes, when you are 30 years old, you don't want to wait till 50 to move to Maui and live your dream. So you throw caution to the wind. That is part of being young(ish) and feeling like you don't want to waste time slogging away at some j-o-b when you could do the same j-o-b in Maui. Might as well be in paradise, right?

Then when you come here and see some of the retirees or tourists, some over 60 and some under 60, who have a lot of extra money they made over the years and saved to spend on living well, with free time to travel and enjoy their time off, you wonder if it isn't such a bad idea after all to work hard, put away money, and retire comfortably on Maui without having to work 2 or 3 jobs if you're lucky.

People with that many jobs don't get to enjoy the Maui life they had in mind. I mean, who wants to live on Maui with 3 other roommates and all their boyfriends or girlfriends who sleep over?

Everybody is different. What frightens some people isn't a concern to others. There are people who live on Maui and can't get by without spending $5000 a month on living expenses alone. There are also people here who manage to get by spending under $500. They live simply and put up with a lot.

It all boils down to how you want to "get by" and what risks you are willing to take in order to fulfill a dream. When I moved here, I felt I had nothing to lose. It never even crossed my mind to consider anything except I just needed to do it. It took me 3 months after one single visit to Maui to move here. It was my first time to the whole state of Hawaii. I just didn't require much information. I never bothered to ask anybody about this place. What could be so hard about moving from A to B? If you make sure you have enough money to send yourself back plus re-settling expenses, then there is nothing to lose or fear.

Life should be an adventure. Unfortunately we are living longer and longer now and we have to essentially work most of our lives to support the years of our lives when we are too old, tired, or unable to work.

Of course there are folks who live simply and don't need much, who are enjoying themselves because they manage to find a way to make it work. So it really is 100% up to you as far as what you can tolerate and are willing to do.

If worst case scenarios don't faze you, go for it.