[The Big Question]

Non pessimist or is that an optimist around.

 

Yes and Yes

 

Seriously, I think you have your head screwed on the right way round and are weighing up the options very sensibly.

 

I just think you need that push.

 

Push !!!

 

 

 

I nearly went in then Bottle?

[The Big Question]

Hi all

Many thanks for the replies to date I could do with many more views on this issue if possible?

 

Many thanks for the PM also Bottle I do understand and thank you for your comments, whilst I am comfortable at the agents rental projections and costs leaving 10K clearly the property needs to be rented to achieve that? I laboured this point specifically with both agencies and will investigate further to be satisfied though they both appear to have customers waiting for 4 bed detached in this location, and both feel that they can have a let within 4 weeks of going on market? However this is a risk as always and I suppose that is where we will have to evaluate the risks after our friends on here point the potential pitfalls out to us. As well as the rental income we will as noted earlier have a reserve of cash that we can draw on in times of need and in truth it is difficult to know whether it is a good idea to announce these details in an open forum? should we need to also spend 2-3 k pa we would be ok for 8 to 10 years. Currently they tell me my state pension is due to start at 66? God knows though, I do also have a small private pension that I can draw on at any time preferring to leave that where it is as part of our backstop when and if we return and sell up to move down.

 

At 56 yrs old (not wanting to upset anyone here) I figure on 10 to 14 years of time in which I should be able to cope well with life aboard! I am aware many can do so longer but many cannot so I am taking a pessimistic view here with my family health history not being a great positive influence. Therefore every year we wait is a year we may not be able to replace? having worked for 40 years (Left school at 15 in them days) and bringing 3 great children all in good relationships and settled got them through universities, foreign holidays bought cars and helped them get their own houses and all of that as many others have done - is it time to escape will funds permit?

 

David and Doreen

[The Big Question]

Sorry, pessimist around.

 

You may well be able to live and pay for the boat on £10,000 per annum but will you actually have £10,000.

 

If you do rent out the house do not expect to get anywhere near the quoted figures from the agent, for the income..

 

The house may not and will probably not be occupied for twelve months of the year, work on six, out of that income the house will need insurance (landlords), regular maintenance, safety requirements (gas etc.) and horrors of horrors the tenants wreck the place and it is out of commission, even more rent loss.

 

Wife's salary will pay for the boat annual costs, probably, but is the work and her health guaranteed.

 

You are 56 so, I believe, your state pension will not be at 65 but a lot nearer 70 can you wait that long.

 

Pessimist has left.

 

One thing you mention, living of your capital, I do hope that was a typo and you meant interest from the capital.

[The Big Question]

I would say that provided you do not have expensive tastes (eat out a lot etc) and depending on the cost of your mooring, that would be quite comfortable on your rental income. Think of that as living money and your wife's wages for mooring, licence, insurance etc.

 

Thats kid of how we see it at the moment with the use of a bit of the reserves as and when needed? our friends seem ok as cc on his pension which is a similar amount. I suppose it is a bit of the luck of the draw re equipment failure and the odd unforeseen expenses cropping up?

 

David and Doreen

[The Big Question]

Hi all

I would like some opinions from members, in particular those who currently live afloat regarding the cost of living aboard under the following circumstances?

 

My wife has a part time job that we would keep for a couple of years so marina based initially? (salary minimal £5,000 pa) also to stay closer to grandchildren and I will also look for part time work. (Honest)

Then we want move out to CC the system for a few years?

 

I have copied our prior post below as background information, though we seem to be leaning towards buying a NB 57ft from the sale of a small house valued at £75-£80k which will also enable us to pay off the balance of our mortgages assuming £50k for the boat and £25k to pay of outstanding mortgages. We have a small amount of capital around us, and will look to rent our main home out and have been told by two agents to expect £1,000 per month as rental. (After costs etc assuming £10k net) When in the marina I am assuming that we would need to use our reserves to pay mooring fees though the part time work will help in this respect? and of course diesel costs will be far less if not cc. I suppose if we cut to the chase we need to know if the £10k pa will be enough to fund our lives without eating to quickly into the reserves particularly when CC the system? If and when we decide to move back we will sell and move down releasing capital along with our small pensions to retire?

 

Its getting scary now as we move closer to the actual time to do this! your comments will be welcome as always.

 

David and Doreen

 

 

"Hi All

We are at the point of decided whether time is right to now move onto a boat, and then the next decision to buy a narrow boat or a wide beam boat with a view to living aboard, We expect initialy to be marina based around the greater Warrington, Cheshire area but with a view to continuouse cruising for a number of years. I am or have recentley been made redundant though fortunatley with two properties, one large 4 bed detached and one small two bed terrace which will have to fund our potential escape and retirement? We owned a 57 ft David Piper narrow boat for 4/5 years a long time ago when our children were to young and as they do the kids found it boring and we sold it assuming we would return once ready to retire. As you would expect it would be great to keep the house or houses and own a narrow boat for extended cruising as and when we wished, but an ideal world this is not. So we will propably sell one rent the other out or sell both and have to live of the capital until my small private pension kicks in (anytime i want in reality) and eventually our state pensions (Currently 56 years old).

 

I am sure there is a great debate about narrow boats v wide beams for this purpose and would be grateful for any advise and views regarding the restrictions of available travel and cost differences between the two?

Would be great to make contact with people who are doing this now!"

[Living on the canals into older age]

If you own a boat it isn't going to pay for any other sort of accomodation for long. A house will pay for care for quite awhile plus you may be able to downsize

[Canals suitable for wide-beams in UK]

Its no wonder people are confused, is there such a thing as a definitive and true guide to these things every post contradicts the last? surely you would think at least the people that own it know its actual limitations!

 

David

[Living on the canals into older age]

Hello All,

 

Well, I posted this yesterday, and I went out, woke up this morning and saw 17 responses. Thanks to all of you. First, let me say that my wife and I are not invalids. We're quite active. We live in mid Wales, in a gorgeous location, but our property (ca half an acre)is on a ca 30 degree slope, and on this, we cut down trees and chop wood on a regular basis. We also manhandle bags of coal. We also do the required DIY, though we'd rather not - mainly because of our personal inclinations. We haven't led a conventional life. Our work has taken us to much of the Arab world where we've lived for considerable lengths of time in very rough conditions in the middle of nowhere (and even, at times, without vehicular transport), and I'm still doing fieldwork in a rather wild and desolate part of N. Africa. We can cope in small spaces and without modern conveniences. Our impetus for living on a narrow boat is mainly based on the fact that we'll have to sell our house to increase our income in 'retirement'. We've always liked canals, and the boats, and since we live in a beautiful (and underpopulated) part of the UK we can't imagine ourselves moving into a semi in suburbia if we need to 'downsize', or to ensconce ourselves in another part of Britain which is obviously overpopulated. Also, we probably couldn't get a place as cheap as we would need it to be (eg, our present mortgage is only ca £220 per month). We think that the canals are the only viable way with which we can keep our quality of life - and we're attracted to them. In short, we are two people who have tried (though we've failed at times) not to betray our dreams. We are not pining for some idyll. We already live in what can be described as an idyll (and I don't mean to sound smug), so we just want to continue to do so.

 

So, your opinions are all worthwhile, and thanks. We're mainly concerned that if our backs give us a bit of gyp now, how will we cope in the future on the cut? Are there ways of making life easier? How have other people coped into their older age? There's been reference to people living until they die on the cut, but are these apocryphal stories? And it's not just backs, what of people who've developed heart conditions and the like. Can, and do people go on to the bitter end? I for one, don't want to end up in some old age home where the staff play horrible 1970s teeny bopper music telling me that 'that's from your times - you like that kind of music, don't ya...' A real fate worse than death!!!!!

 

Sal

 

Great responce I know exactly where you are coming from and hope that you make the right decision for you two.

Very encouraging to see that you have identified a way to keep your lives as you wish them.

 

 

David

[Decisions Narrow or Wide beam]

A minor slip of Blackrose's typing..........try Jenlyn.

Roger

 

Many thanks

[Decisions Narrow or Wide beam]

Black rose I have looked for Jenyln but unable to find that username have I spelt it correctly?

[Decisions Narrow or Wide beam]

Thanks for the messages all

Had a long chat with our friends re their experiences to date and thoughts regarding continuos cruising etc in a narrow boat, which was very useful and helped to paint a picture. We have a lot of thinking to do to arrive at the right decision and it seems more about a mindset and determining a way of life if you go in that direction. The broad-beam option seems more of an alternative to living in a house in the same way a park home may work for some? ideally a dutch barge on broad canals that can also be taken across the channel would be the dogs doins but afordability raises its ugly head. This is about being able to afford to opt out early if necessary and with limited resources the nb option seems tried and tested (As we will be if we do it). Met a few other live a boards on the canal while with our friends, who all seemed quite happy with their lot? is there anyone out there continuos cruising with a wide beam that can shed some light? We would love to chat with a couple if possible?

 

Many thanks Peggy where about's are you at the moment? it must be a work of art with 4 of you on the boat! although Arthur and Anne our friends also have two very large dogs on the boat with them which makes it interesting.

 

 

 

David and Doreen

[Decisions Narrow or Wide beam]

I am meeting up later with a couple of a similar age who have been cc for the last six or seven years on a nb so that will be interesting? Many thanks for the replies and I know that there is no simple answer to this question as a lot will simply depend on us as a couple, but I would love the chance to speak with people who are living aboard to gain as much info and views as I can?

 

David

[Decisions Narrow or Wide beam]

Hi All

We are at the point of decided whether time is right to now move onto a boat, and then the next decision to buy a narrow boat or a wide beam boat with a view to living aboard, We expect initialy to be marina based around the greater Warrington, Cheshire area but with a view to continuouse cruising for a number of years. I am or have recentley been made redundant though fortunatley with two properties, one large 4 bed detached and one small two bed terrace which will have to fund our potential escape and retirement? We owned a 57 ft David Piper narrow boat for 4/5 years a long time ago when our children were to young and as they do the kids found it boring and we sold it assuming we would return once ready to retire. As you would expect it would be great to keep the house or houses and own a narrow boat for extended cruising as and when we wished, but an ideal world this is not. So we will propably sell one rent the other out or sell both and have to live of the capital until my small private pension kicks in (anytime i want in reality) and eventually our state pensions (Currently 56 years old).

 

I am sure there is a great debate about narrow boats v wide beams for this purpose and would be grateful for any advise and views regarding the restrictions of available travel and cost differences between the two?

Would be great to make contact with people who are doing this now!

 

David and Doreen