Financial Challenges Support Group
This community is for people who are struggling to meet financial obligations of any kind. Financial challenges include everything from the day-to-day challenges of making ends meet to managing credit card debt to bankruptcy. Get support from others who are going through similar obstacles on the road back to financial stability.
Having lived in the UK for the past three plus years, it has come time to cash in my 401K and get the last of my money out of America and get it over here. With the UK trying to leave the EU the British Pound has lost some value, while the American Dollar continues to be "cheap" - so moving it now I won't lose as much money as I would have a couple of years ago.
Also in 2021 I'll have my last Visa to pass, so having all my money here will make the bottom line look even better. Not sure if at that time I'll be entirely retired and living on SS, savings, and my British benefits or still working. Whatever I decide it will be still a nervous time.
My 401K has been the only long term savings I have ever had. With that said, I have been saving regularly since 2010. Between the both of them I have a nice little (and I do mean little) nest egg. Having no debt has helped make this decision easier but it is still scary.
I've been broke a few times in my life and always worked myself out of it and never touched that 401K. It has always been the ultimate emergency fund to avoid bankruptcy or anything else, so now cashing it in, really has unsettled me.
After the money gets here and I add it to my savings it will look like a lot of money but now I know how fast money can disappear without a plan. The ultimate goal is to buy a house boat and live on the English canals, which if I keep working and keep saving will be more of a reality than a dream...
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I invited Bill to have dinner with me last Sunday. He wasn't willing to drive 7 hours to mid Michigan and teased me with his beautiful ribs!!! So, of course I ate alone and had cedar salmon
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check out that smoke ring. It tasted really good. I smothered it with Maulls BBQ sauce which is Local to St. Louis and one of the best I ever had.....
Living on a boat will present new challenges and is why we aren't jumping into it right away. First, instead of paying rent, people pay mooring fees, you do need a place to "park" your home. And it is also subject to property taxes. So just the initial costs are equal too or maybe even higher than rent.
Next are the costs of living in it. You need two batteries, if you can't be near an electrical connection to keep things live. The batteries are for the boat motor and whatever else is on the boat - ie., fridge, lights, TV, heaters...
Boats are run on diesel, which is coming under strict regulations because of Europe going more and more green. While batteries are nice, we'll also look at a generator for emergencies and equipping the boat with solar panels to help keep the batteries in shape and our costs low.
Heating on a boat is done more with wood burners because of the cost of electrical heat. Which means having enough space to store wood. You also have the dirty side of boat care - sewage. You can't just dump it in the canal. You have to take the boat to a site to get it pumped out or have a boat come to you to pump it out. You also need to take the boat out of the water every so often and have the bottom of it resealed.
And very similar to a car inspection, the boat needs to pass a yearly inspection proving that it is safe on the water and safe to live in... it will be a challenge and will keep me busy in my retirement and it is why we aren't jumping into it right away.
We want to know exactly what we are doing before we buy a boat and our goal is spend our nights living on the water by mid-2021.