Less than a year and counting down!

[CWinLV]

We finally set a retirement date: 6/1/2015! We have a lot to do in the next year and can use some advice. We plan to full-time for about four years, maybe more. We don't have the rig yet but are looking hard at a 42+ foot Newmar or Country Coach. We plan to list the house next spring and sell off the furnishings so we don't have to deal with storage.

Questions:
1). How far in advance did you purchase your coach?
2). Did you liquidate your furniture or store it?
3). Did you have definite plans on how long you would FT? Has that changed?
3). Any tips/advice about getting ready?
4). Tips/advice about establishing domicile? We are looking at TX or SD.

We've done our research and feel prepared to take the plunge...just wish it were happening sooner, but I have a feeling the next year will fly by!

Thanks for your input in advance!!

[bobandshaz]

Have fun enjoy!!!

[cucotx]

Originally Posted by CWinLV

We finally set a retirement date: 6/1/2015! ,

I got 5.5 years to go. Counting the days as well ...

But, instead of selling, I'm thinking of renting our house out while we fulltime. The rationale is that we will eventually have to give up the lifestyle and move back into a house again. So, keeping the house around is already a better investment than selling and then hoping that we're wise enough to invest the money to buy later.

[Stickdog]

We had to make a quick decision do to an unplanned early retirement. We had been planning for about 10 years to fulltime so we knew what we were getting into. Made the decision in Dec put in for retirement, brought a TV as DW preferred a fiver more than a MH. We knew what brand and length but were open to floorplans. I retired March 1st we purchased our coach March 19, picked it up April 19 and moved in and became camphosts May 1 about 30 miles from the house.
Spent the summer ridding the house of stuff and minor prep for marketing. Gave a lot of stuff away DD's took what they wanted. We left the house minimally furnished to have a lived in look. Good thing we did it took 3 years to sell and we did stay there when passing through for visits. We headed south in Oct for another camphosting gig.

Not wanting to put extra work on DD we got a SD mailing service. We did become SD residents because it works for us, we like the state, no inspections and DL is good for 5 years.

Our plan was and is to fulltime as long as we both enjoy it. Now on our fifth year.

My only tip is don't over load, and if you don't use it or wear it get rid of it. Scan all of your photos and family recipes and put them on CD's.

Good luck, see ya on the road.

[Selah]

We purchased our first coach not too long after retiring. Picked up the coach and didn't go home for four months. A few more trips and traded for our current Phaeton. At this point we decided to go full time and sell the house.
We used a consignment service to sell everything the kids didn't want, every piece of furniture, dish, towel and bed spread. We only have a 5x10 climate controlled unit for some art work and a few other items.
We have no definite plans on how long to full time. Well go until either we can't or it no longer becomes enjoyable. Then well get another house or condo or?
Set up you mail service a few months before selling your house. Start changing all your addresses, get new checks, etc. You will need things like utility bills with your mail service address to claim residency, hence setting it up months in advance. Many mail services have all the information you need to claim residency. If you have all the documentation they say, it's a piece of cake. Do t forget if you change your domicile you will need to re do things like wills, medical surrogate, power of attorneys, etc.

[Davdeb1]

Originally Posted by CWinLV

We finally set a retirement date: 6/1/2015! We have a lot to do in the next year and can use some advice. We plan to full-time for about four years, maybe more. We don't have the rig yet but are looking hard at a 42+ foot Newmar or Country Coach. We plan to list the house next spring and sell off the furnishings so we don't have to deal with storage.

Questions:
1). How far in advance did you purchase your coach?
2). Did you liquidate your furniture or store it?
3). Did you have definite plans on how long you would FT? Has that changed?
3). Any tips/advice about getting ready?
4). Tips/advice about establishing domicile? We are looking at TX or SD.

We've done our research and feel prepared to take the plunge...just wish it were happening sooner, but I have a feeling the next year will fly by!

Thanks for your input in advance!!

1 you should get it beforehand, and get the repairs or bugs all worked out, before you get out of the house.

2 We sold Everything except dishware and cooking utensils.

3 We are planning to go until we can't.

4 Just keep working at it. Do research on unit, buy unit, get unit ready, get rid of most of stuff in house, list house, sell house, sell rest of stuff. Then go have fun.

5 If you have generous pensions or a steady business income and your state has high taxes, then maybe look at Florida. No state tax, great health insurance options, cheap registration for home. You will have to establish residency. Easier than you think.

[Krashqueen]

Read blogs and check out RV-Dreams website and rallies!

[myshaggydog]

We have been fulltiming for about 6 months. We sold our house before we purchased the Motorhome.

We started down sizing about 3 years ago. Donated used clothing and other articles, had yard sales and the rest of our possessions went to out kids. They came down to Florida from New York and we rented a truck to take back with them.

Our plans are to remain fulltiming indefinitely. But you never know.

We started scanning all of our pictures and documents and saved on a USB key. I would recommend you start doing that. Look into a mail forwarding service, fulltimers insurance, do not buy anything for the MH until you make the purchase of the MH (you never know how much room you will have), If you are going to tow a car (toad) be sure your vehicle is 4 wheels down towable or you will need a dolly, you will also want a roadside assistance for any breakdowns, try and do as much on-line banking to reduce bills via snail mail. I would recommend to purchase a book(s) on fulltiming. There will be a lot of good advice and suggestions in those type of books.

Domicile in SD or Texas are good places. Since we were already residences of Florida we set up our mail forwarding service in Florida. Basically so we could receive our vehicle registrations and drivers licenses.

Any way best of luck and the year will fly by and before you know it, you will be on the road enjoying the good life.

Happy RV'ing

[Serengeti]

We did things a little different, actually a lot different. Before Dec, we never thought of fulltiming, and my only experience in RV'ing was growing up and my parents had a RV that we used 3 or 4 times before I left to join the Navy. Our lifestyle change started this past Dec, when our daugther and her family rented a cabin in the mountains of NC near Ashville and brought us along. Afterwards, I started thinking of buying a small RV just to travel on vacations, but as I was researching I learned about fulltimers and how nearly all of them love it and wished they started fulltiming years earlier. By mid-Feb we were serious about full-timing and learned an amazing amount about RV's, and decided on a 5th wheel (new Heartland-Landmark) then bought a new GMC Denali 3500. Researched and found a fantastic dealer in Knoville. Drove there at the end of March to get our new 5'er. Put our S&B up for sell at the beginning of Apr and have been either selling or giving away nearly everything we own since then Our home closes on the 18th and then we will start our full-timing life. Since we are residents of Florida, will got a mail forwarding service out of Crestview, FL.
I am retired military (57 -wife is 62, married 34 yrs), but I have been teaching middle school for past 8 yrs. How long will we full-time? I don't think that a full-timer has any idea since the whole object is to relax, slow down the pace of life and go where ever the wind takes us. We are excited and truly looking forward to "Mike and Alice"s Excellent Adventure". The world is way too fast paced, stressful and materialistic. These last few months were like waiting for Christmas as a kid, I cannot imagine planning for, but waiting years to fulltime, but if we can do the entire process in 6 months, anyone can do it as long as you do extensive research.
Wish you the best, and hope to see you at a campsite or boondocking somewhere in this beautiful country.


Sent from my iPad using iRV2 - RV Forum

[Gordon Dewald]

Originally Posted by cucotx

I got 5.5 years to go. Counting the days as well ...

But, instead of selling, I'm thinking of renting our house out while we fulltime. The rationale is that we will eventually have to give up the lifestyle and move back into a house again. So, keeping the house around is already a better investment than selling and then hoping that we're wise enough to invest the money to buy later.

Make sure you get good renters. We let our son in our house for one winter when we were away. He treated it like he was still 12, and I spent the next summer fixing stuff he had neglected or broke. (eg brought his snow covered quad and skidoo into the garage to thaw them out - then opened the window to dry the floor up. The result - freeze thaw caused spalling over several different areas of the floor - 2 days to repair)

During your travels I am sure you will find many places that are better to settle in once your full timing days are finished.

Sell your house, invest the money. You will not miss the renters woes and worries while you are trying to relax and enjoy yourselves.

[itgeekgal]

Originally Posted by CWinLV

Questions:
1). How far in advance did you purchase your coach?
2). Did you liquidate your furniture or store it?
3). Did you have definite plans on how long you would FT? Has that changed?
3). Any tips/advice about getting ready?
4). Tips/advice about establishing domicile? We are looking at TX or SD.

1. We bought a year in advance and kept it in storage for awhile... it was hard but we understood that getting financing was much easier while still working and still being home owners than as a retired full timer.

2. We got rid of everything

3. We planned to full time for 20 years, we re-evaluate this annually but after 4 years the plan hasn't changed yet.

4. SD is very RV friendly, has no income tax and requires no special license to drive an RV. Terri Lund at mydakotaaddress.com does a great job

Congrats on your upcoming retirement... Hope all goes as well as ours has!!

[twogypsies]

We made the full-time decision in six months and sold everything including the house. If you add up storage fees you will find that's a big chunk of money for storing things you don't need at present. More than likely, your tastes will change and you'll probably buy a much smaller place. Appliances will be outdated. Our kids didn't want much of our 'stuff'. They had their own. We sold big items individually then had the garage sale. What was left went to charity and to the dump. We had absolutely no regrets. It felt like a big weight being lifted from our shoulders.

We had no idea how long we would full-time and did it for 16 years with constant travel and volunteering along the way. Volunteering is highly recommended. We picked our place - national and state parks - and what a wonderful way to help the parks and explore the surrounding area. We joined the Escapees RV Club in Texas and through them have many new friends.

We chose Escapees for our mail service and they will give you a real street address unique to you. We've had absolutely no problems getting our mail.

One very important thing you should look into before chosing your domicile is your medical insurance. You didn't state your age. We've heard that South Dakota has limited plans to purchase and you'll definitely want a PPO plan where you can go to any doctor in the country of your choosing.

Have fun getting ready. It all seems to work out.

[Bullitt]

Originally Posted by CWinLV

Questions:
1). How far in advance did you purchase your coach?
2). Did you liquidate your furniture or store it?
3). Did you have definite plans on how long you would FT? Has that changed?
3). Any tips/advice about getting ready?
4). Tips/advice about establishing domicile? We are looking at TX or SD.

We've done our research and feel prepared to take the plunge...just wish it were happening sooner, but I have a feeling the next year will fly by!

We plan to FT after my wife retires in a little over 2 years from now.

1) Hoping to purchase our coach next year so we have a year to work out the inevitable "bugs". After 10 years of looking at motor homes we have narrowed down to 3 models.
2) We are selling our VC home in AZ after summer and will be selling our home in California. Except for a limited number of pieces, we will have an "estate" sale and sell most everything in the house. We will be storing some custom pieces, collectables, pictures, and such in a smaller climate-controlled storage unit (unavoidable).
3) Will not know how full timing will effect us, so the plan is to do it as long as we enjoy it. Ultimately, we will purchase a smaller (1-story) home in AZ and travel part-time. Again, it will be whenever.
4) Other than getting rid of most worldly possessions you realize you really don't need, we're pretty much set to leave it all behind. My credit union does everything that a major bank does and we have Blue Cross PPO good nation-wide.
5) We have chosen America's Mailbox in South Dakota as our new home. My research has led me to believe that SD has least amount of hassle (IMO).

Clancy