Full-time RVing before retirement used to be unheard of. But not anymore. The full-timers demographic is changing and now many modern nomads like myself are working through the critical years that are supposed to fund our retirement days. We all earn money on the road in different ways, but can these nomadic jobs actually fund our golden years? The answer is: maybe.
First, The Bad News About Full-time RVing Before Retirement
Can you overcome these hurdles to full-time RVing before retirement? Image: RVIA.org
If you’re thinking of permanent travel during your working years, you might want to consider how full-time RVing before retirement can impact life after 65. First let’s start with the bad news.
Your RV Home Is A Depreciating Asset
American society wants us to be home owners. If your name is on a piece of real estate, you get all sorts of perks including tax credits and easy access to loans. But if you’re a full-time RVer who doesn’t want your name on a property title, you’ll miss out on this conventional wealth-building tool. RVs just don’t appreciate in value the way real estate does. Your RV won’t build equity and you’ll have one less tool to boost your retirement savings if you don’t own any real estate. The question to ask is: how will you make up for this deficiency in your retirement fund portfolio?
You’re Probably Making Less Money Than Your Peers
If you’re younger and full-timing, you already cherish “experiences” over material possessions. I know I do! We understand one of life’s biggest keys to personal happiness, and although I’m the first to admit that there’s a lot of cred in the old saying “Do what you love and the money will follow”, I’ve discovered there are a few money challenges of younger full-timers. For instance, I’ve noticed that my sticks-and-bricks peers who put their nose to the 9-to-5 grindstone have risen in their ranks and racked up incomes that outpaced my own ability to earn money as a nomad. I’m OK with it though, since I’m having more fun than they are. But the next question to ask is: if you continue full-time RVing before retirement, are you comfortable making less money as a nomad?
The Bright Side: You Can Save More Money
Being a working-age full-time RVer isn’t all gloom and doom when it comes to preparing for our golden years. Overcoming the two aforementioned hurdles isn’t too difficult because full-time RVing actually enables us to save more than our peers. That’s because when we live on the road, we just don’t have many of the expenses incurred by people living a traditional lifestyle. Home maintenance bills are usually cheaper when you live in a RV. Also, if the cost-of-living goes up in one area we can move to another more affordable one. Our lifestyle provides extra opportunities to squirrel away cash and build our retirement fund. The key thing to consider is: are you disciplined enough to do it?
Never let anyone tell you that being a nomad is a bad idea. Having a good life before and after retirement is totally do-able as long as you are smart enough to overcome the few disadvantages of full-time RVing before retirement.
Rene Agredano and her husband, Jim Nelson, became full-time RVers in 2007 and have been touring the country ever since. In her blog, Rene chronicles the ins and outs of the full-timing life and brings readers along to meet the fascinating people and amazing places they visit on the road. Her road trip adventures are chronicled in her blog at LiveWorkDream.com.
As a one-time full timer, saving money is just not a part of the picture…you can if you sit still and and capture the longer term lower costs of being in the same RV park.
I often was paying $40 per night but could have stayed there for a month for about $400. In our time at FT, we rarely stayed in a place much longer than a few days. To get even a week rate generally calls for a a stay of 7 full days.
We THOUGHT we were going to save $ but it did not work out like that. Fuel costs for a big diesel at 6 mpg gets expensive fast as the miles rack up and staying in one place longer than about 5 days, made us ask the question of: If we did this to TRAVEL, why are we sitting here? So rolled we did and certainly enjoyed it.
Well, boondock more and stay out of those expensive parks. I do not RV yet, but it’s less than a year away for me. Smaller rig as I am single (me and a dog!) and with no mortgage and car payment, as I will buy the used RV for cash, that will free up the half of my fairly comfortable retirement income that has been going to house and utilities. In my case, I’ll do well.
I vote a big YES for full-timing before retirement, especially if you have a job or business that can be done on the road. I just wish I had had that kind of opportunity when I was still working! I say, “Go for it!”
I began living in an RV full time in 1992 and, incidentally, was one of a very small percentage of people with only a cell phone at that time. I was still working full time, so I couldn’t travel much at first; but I’ve made up for that since my retirement in 2004. I don’t miss all the “stuff” that I used to have.
I think people on you tube paint a rosey picture of rv’ing.It is alot more expensive then people let you believe. Boondocking is nice but its an aquired taste.Also what about your retirement are you putting money away is there a 401k plan if your working on the road.
What I see see is an oversatuation of these you tubers trying to make money on the road with advise and selling products.I think it will dry up after a while with to many people doing it.
We retired when we had enough money to afford monthly expenses and it would’nt be a struggle.