Irresponsible? Silly? Stupid?

Hi Littlewillow,

Wonderful thread. Firstly I think you are right...most people put off having fun until it's too late, so well done.

Just a few observations:

Regarding renting out your current home, I would be very slow to do this. Tenants are getting more & more rights but landlords are not. You could easily find yourself with a "bad" tennant and this would zap any enjoyment you will have on your tour.

I think I would seriously consider down-sizing if you could get something you were both happy with. An extra 100k in the pocket would give you complete control to come & go as you please. No tennants to wory about, no PTRB, agencies, tax returns, repairs etc etc.

I'm also wondering would the initial thrill of the freedom of a motorhome wear off after a few months? Initially it would be great, but for me, living in campsite / parks after a while would be "samey" and I'd probably miss certain things about home. Also, if you decided to come home during this stint it could start getting expensive and also troublesome storing the motor home etc.

If it were me, I think I would downsize and head away, say in October and plan to come back in March. Then plan the next trip for the following Autumn.

In any case, best of luck. I have a similar plan in mind myself but am too far away to get excited.

Firefly.
 
That's a really nice post, Firefly

The lure of travel that Littlewillow has so ably set out is, indeed, attractive. Reminds me of my dad back in the day - he would oft times break out into: Think I'll pack it in and buy a pick-up, head out to L.A.
 
elacsaplau said:
That's a really nice post, Firefly

The lure of travel that Littlewillow has so ably set out is, indeed, attractive. Reminds me of my dad back in the day - he would oft times break out into: Think I'll pack it in and buy a pick-up, head out to L.A.
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A favourite song (and album) of mine. Think a nice, long walking-lunch is on the cards today!!
 
Leper said:
I am pleased to say that I got that wrong. You can drive your Irish registered vehicle in Spain for six months and there is no issue with having to apply for Spanish number plates. (For the record, I put up a query on another forum and it was answered).

Apologies, for sending anybody in the wrong direction.

Lep
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No problem Leper.

Firefly said:
Hi Littlewillow,

Wonderful thread. Firstly I think you are right...most people put off having fun until it's too late, so well done.

... Regarding renting out your current home, I would be very slow to do this. Tenants are getting more & more rights but landlords are not. You could easily find yourself with a "bad" tennant and this would zap any enjoyment you will have on your tour.
I'm also wondering would the initial thrill of the freedom of a motorhome wear off after a few months? Initially it would be great, but for me, living in campsite / parks after a while would be "samey" and I'd probably miss certain things about home. Also, if you decided to come home during this stint it could start getting expensive and also troublesome storing the motor home etc.

Firefly.
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Thanks Firefly. We will downsize, but it's the lure of the road and different places every few days/weeks is the attraction.

Bronte said:
- We've travelled all over Europe by car. It's generally safe. But you can never be too careful. You don't want someone from the East hightailing it back there with your home on his back !
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Thanks for the info Bronte. Yes we have been keeping up with a number of blogs by fellow travellers and security is a serious consideration.

On a more general note, I've done a fair bit of homework on where to visit/stay, what equipment we need, documentation, etc. It is the financials I'm primarily interested in.
Things like what ARF to choose - if indeed it's an ARF we need? This sounded attractive because of the "passive income" aspect. Things like how much we will erode the smallish pension pot we have now to help bridge the gap to state pensions - and what will be left?
Should we be looking at passive income using ETFs - bearing in mind we have no financial knowledge. Renting out the house is a gamble but hopefully we will be good in our selection of tenants and this ties in with the passive income concept.
Maybe the Moneymakeover section was the wrong forum to pose these questions - although I've gained a lot of knowledge already from the various responses so far.

elacsaplau said:
That's a really nice post, Firefly

The lure of travel that Littlewillow has so ably set out is, indeed, attractive. Reminds me of my dad back in the day - he would oft times break out into: Think I'll pack it in and buy a pick-up, head out to L.A.
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Yes I'm obviously of that vintage and like the song too even tho' I plan to head out for a little more than the weekend, hence my interest in whether it's doable financially.
ARFs, Annuities, Pension pots, passive income, tenancy laws - i just hope my head won't be wrecked. And speaking of pots I also hope I'll have one to do you know what in when we do come back
 
Saavy99 said:
Little willow, have you decided to take the plunge, 2020 is drawing near.
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Hi Saavy99. We are still on track, however, I still have not got a handle on how to deal with the "pension pot". Spoke to a financial advisor, who reassured me he was only acting in my interest, but was extremely cagey with advice. He did outline initial charges for what he called a "financial plan" and said there would be an annual fee of "1.2% or thereabouts" for ongoing admin and advice but neglected to get into specifics without a commitment on my part. I couldn't give this as I didn't know what I'd actually get? I know it's difficult for somebody who earns a living giving advice because they run a risk of a potential client doing a runner with the info but I needed to know what are the typical funds I may end up in and needed to get a good idea of expected returns/losses. Details were not forthcoming. Simple things such as what funds would he suggest for the AMRF, how to explore what level of risk I could/should handle, etc. Also we are going to do a little work on our home prior to putting it on the market in Spring. In the meantime I'm doing a little research (just about to buy a book called Investing Demystified) on investing and asking some honest questions as to how much I could take from my pot to bridge the 7 years before getting our state pensions. But yes we will still take the plunge hopefully near mid-summer 2020 however, we won't rush - Portugal, Spain, Italy, Norway, etc are going nowhere - as I want to ensure it is a doable and realistic plan before execution.
 
This is a fascinating thread. I've a question, rather than an answer. I think most of your points have been addressed quite well already. As you currently have a job, and pay PRSI etc, you are possibly/probably still on track for the full contributory state pension when you hit 66. If you stop working and paying PRSI at 58/59, will this leave you short of stamps, and on a reduced state pension? I recall that they need to see an average of 48 paid up weeks per year, with the average running from your first pay check to age 65 to pay the top amount.
 
Just wondering - If you work until 60 and then retire will your State pension be reduced ? Say you have 30 years public service class A PRSI.
 
You could do an exchange with your house through a site like Intervac or Home Exchange. That way your house could be occupied but not rented so you wouldn't have the complications that you would have with renting out the property. You would have the opportunity to stay in places anywhere in the world. You wouldn't have a rental income though. Some people request quite long swops such as 4 or 5 weeks.
 
I love the fact that your retirement isn't just about sitting at home and growing old. Life is for living :)
 
Littlewillow said:
But yes we will still take the plunge hopefully near mid-summer 2020 however, we won't rush - Portugal, Spain, Italy, Norway, etc are going nowhere - as I want to ensure it is a doable and realistic plan before execution.
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Littlewillow,
Fascinating thread.....good luck with it all
How is the planning shaping up/ is it deferred with covid?
mtk
 
mtk said:
Littlewillow,
Fascinating thread.....good luck with it all
How is the planning shaping up/ is it deferred with covid?
mtk
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Hi mtk, yes Covid 19 scuppered our plans from both a travel and financial perspective. We think travel is out until there's a vaccine and also the pension pot - relatively small that it is - took a big hit. We've decided to wait a while and aim for Sept or Oct 2021. TBH we are more determined after experiencing 'lockdown' - which from a personal perspective was great. Obviously for many it was both awful and tragic but thankfully we were untouched by heartache and sadness and being blessed with the weather we found the time peaceful and productive. Hopefully next year will be better for everybody.
 
Is it really such a good idea to up sticks for a full year and rent out your dwelling .God forbid if either of you or any family got ill .It seems you enjoyed lockdown at home maybe you just need a change of scenery for a couple of months at the time
 
Sorry to hear plans are scuppered, but great to hear you're more determined than ever. Life is for living.

I got a payout at 18 after a car crash. Everyone said to invest. I went travelling for a year at 22 and don't regret a single penny of what I spent.

Hope it works out for you!
 
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