When to Retire

QUESTION: WOW!!! Thanks for the Vanabode manual! I am 55 now and may wait until I am 65 since I love my job but this is definitely something I want to do. Am I waiting too late? I feel like I want to do this for YEARS. I have $350,000 in my retirement account and a house (that I currently rent and make about $1000 a month on after all expenses) that is worth about 300K. I was wondering if I still wanted to do it on the cheap like you did. Given I should have a bit of money behind me I am wondering if I should stick to an Class B and go with campgrounds (but you’re right… I probably would want to be in cities and a bit more discrete. Did you try the Class B / campground way? I had a LARGE Class A and HATED it.

MY ANSWER: If I had that budget and your level of experience (beginner) I would IMMEDIATELY:
1) Purchase a fully outfitted class B van/rv that you can comfortably sleep in (you MUST lay down on the bed and make sure it fits you good) in the $25,000 to $45,000 range.
2) I would test it out over a couple of weekends and once successful I would leave my job and never look back. I would continue to rent out the house to pay for the journey, keeping the other money you have saved in the bank.
3) After one year of successful travel I would switch to a Vanabode to lower cost, and give you more options for camping and parking free IF you were worried about the budget for some reason. You should be able to sell the class B for about what you paid for it.

You will never need a house or job again. Your life will be your own. You should REALLY read the chapters in Vanabode that deal with the issues of house ownership/working a long time and retirement as it is clear you may not realize how little time you may have left. Also see this article I wrote before leaving NASA in 2005 - the longer you work the sooner you die.