Rolling on into retirement
- Laura Moore: Housebroken
- August 1, 2023
- 510
We know several couples who have planned their retirements very carefully. They have carefully thought-out plans, and most of them are staying on course with their plan.
Several of them will have their home mortgage free by retirement. Not having to make a mortgage payment every month sounds wonderful. However, freedom from mortgage
payments does not provide freedom from property taxes, nor from utility bills and insurance, and there is no freedom from upkeep.
Years ago old friends of ours retired in their mortgage-free house. They looked forward to traveling, playing golf and just relaxing. Those plans had to change when the roof on their house began leaking and the result was a new roof. Then electrical problems surfaced, followed swiftly by plumbing problems.
Our friends rebelled from home ownership and sold their house. Their desire to travel led them to buy a motor home, not realizing a house is a house, whether it sits on piers or rolls on wheels. They escaped one house to jump right into the clutches of another.
Motor homes have tires that can go flat, engines that can overheat and roofs that can leak, systems that fracture one way or the other. However, our friends could leave it in a repair place and pick it up when all the repairs were completed.
Their motor home was big and very comfortable. Our friends began to relax, and when they decided to visit friends, they just drove off in their house. The problem is they never got away from their new place, and too much togetherness can kill a relationship — not theirs, but with their abode on wheels.
In less than a year, they were living in a very nice apartment that comes with
a landlord who handles all necessary upkeep. They take vacations in their motor home, but they no longer live in it. They are playing golf, visiting friends and taking lovely vacations. They seem happier than they have ever been.
I do hope Taller Half pays attention to our old friends’ experiences. He has exhibited a very unhealthy interest in living in a motor home, and I'm afraid that's just not how I roll.