Re: Dirt Cheap retirement FERS at 55
Offroad, can tell you've put a lot of thought into this already. You speak of boondocking the next 7 years, paying no rent. That is theoretically possible, if you already own the land and county ordinances allow for "camping" on your own land (I just read where a CO county is trying to change ordinances to stop people from indefinite "camping" on their own land-even though many county residents have been doing it for years). The boondocking could also work if you are willing to serve as a USFS volunteer campground host for different forests around the country through the year and do the snowbird thing.
One question I'd have for you: Apt. rentals are hard to come by now and rents keep screaming up because nobody can afford to buy given their low incomes so the pressure continues to build in the rental markets. What do you envision doing for affordable housing when you're done with the boondocker phase? If you become a property owner beyond land and RV, you have prop taxes and maintenance costs, even if the property is paid off. Do you have cost of future rental or prop ownership fully figured into your calculations?
I get where you are coming from, I'm close to being in your boat retirement timewise if I wanted to go low-end retirement, although I'd be able to keep my FEHB into retirement, myself. But I'm also looking at a longlived family history on both sides so running the math well beyond the average life expectancy-another difference for me, which also means I choose to carry LTC insurance as well, family is small and I may well outlive the others in my generation due to their life stresses and current health relative to mine. I'm including LTC insurance costs to avoid the nursing home, Medicaid both as long as possible.
So 2d question I have for you. What kind of family history do you have in terms of longevity? No need to answer that in detail, just something for you to add to your calculations if you haven't fully considered the possibilities and the odds...
SS has been warning that around about 2040, SS will start running deficit, and payees can expect 25% cut in payout. If you expect to live that long or beyond, you'll want to take a hard look at how you would or wouldn't be able to make up that difference in income and whether you could still cover basic living expenses if that cut came to pass.
I have visions of doing retirement lifestyle a little differently than you, but still fairly simply. to do that, I need to stay a FED for a few years past eligibility to fulfill that vision. Fulfilling that vision will take every ounce of savings and account(s) buildup through conservative management I can manage in the meantime-and relocate post-retirement to an area with lower state and local taxes and housing costs relative to current location.
"life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards" - soren kierkegaard
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