Madison MoneySports - Personal Finance Thread

[Kaan]

I think we want to still "own" home base... without a payment (outside of taxes). I call it home base, because we want to travel as much as we can while we can (even in retirement) but its got to hold most of our normal stuff... single level, smaller (under 1500 sqft), etc.

Our plan is to downsize dramatically and live with only stuff we'd be willing to move around. My dad was renting houses six months at a time in retirement and just moving with the seasons. I'd like to adapt that and move to a new country/city every 2-3 years.

Owning a house could be a nice safety net, but I definitely don't want to have one as a place to keep my things. If we did own, we'd very likely rent it out.

All that said, are you factoring in excess equity after you downsize? I gotta think by then you've got at least six figures in excess, if not more.

We are not taking into account the equity in the home (or what is left over when we downsize) AND we are not accounting for my "pension" in our overall planning. It might be ultra conservative to do so, but we think of those things as a "bonus" and possibly a potential hedge on another market swing (which will happen).

we will be "fine" with just what we are putting away in the traditional 401k/TSP/IRA side... the rest is gravy.

We would likely not rent our place out and wouldn't be doing "long" trips away... 2-3 weeks per quarter is what we are estimating. I need a place to keep my boat, rifles, etc.

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That is a tough question. My parents are looking into downsizing now. My mom is a couple of years away from retirement and my dad plans to continue to work. He would like to move from Maryland into DC to be closer to his office, but even physically downsizing will cost them either the same or more than what their current house is worth. Seems like a very hard thing to account for especially if you do not know where you want to be in retirement.

the "best states" to retire changes regularly. Obviously it depends on your health and desires, but we are looking at Tennessee ... over FL, TX, etc.