But do you want to wait? Are you young and have time to be patient, or is your boating going to age limit out in a few years? You can lose a lot of fun time waiting but maybe can get a better boat by waiting.
If you don't need the money for all you're other expenses, what good is it sitting in your pocket?
Fair points all. I am 54 and doing everything I can to jump out early...FIRE=Financial Independence Retire Early. I would add: FIREGB = Financial independence Retire Early and go boating.
So I can wait...but I don't want to. Health is never guaranteed.[/QUOTE]
I get you on the FIRE. Did it first at 36 and then again at 56 when Globalist corporations did not believe individuals have the sovereignty to choose the best medical practices for themselves? But I digress and tread on thin ice on a forum highly censored.
I believe tangible items will retain value as inflation or devaluation of the currencies of the West continues. Not to say I would put it all in gold and silver, perhaps brass and lead would be a safer store of wealth. Having been in the aluminum and steel industries it is a sure thing that those would have been excellent performers since the Great Crisis of global concerns has impacted us all.
A well-designed and built vessel, that has been maintained, and would assumably be maintained after purchase would likely be a safer haven for funds than the DOW or S&P over the coming years. The aging out of boomers as well as the failure of the powers in charge (Fed & IBS & WMF & WEF) to learn anything from the economic collapse of 2008/09 has brought us to the inevitable outcome of foolish behavior. A Great Reset or a Revolution may be in our not-too-distant future and a capable vessel may be both a metaphorical and literal "
lifeboat" to escape an escalation of unintended consequences.
These are Apolitical evaluations, so
please resist censoring civil discourse.
My promise to myself after retiring to do the Great Loop on my Grand Banks 42 Classic and maintaining and improving it for almost 17 years was this:
"I will NOT buy a boat too big to trailer and store in a garage until I am ready to live aboard and cruise again" was originally intended to prevent me from buying a
big financial alligator that I dreamed of using, but rarely fulfilled those dreams. It just seems to happen more often than we care to realize. Remembering one of the worst things you can do to a boat is to NOT use it.
Now, I have found myself with a happy medium. I, nor the admiral (wife) were quite ready to cruise full time, but were ready to commit to half the year, have once again bought a boat that is well suited for PNW and even Alaskan cruising, being away from docks and cities for many weeks at a time. It fits our desired lifestyle for now. But after 3-5 more years of this nomadic lifestyle, we will likely couple another region to our November through May regimen SOB, South of the Border. Maybe the Med, maybe another round of the Great Loop, or a Caribbean jaunt. I would be up for a partial circumnavigation including Down Under, New Zealand, and the South Pacific, but the admiral says
no way.
In any case, my vote is
go for it if it matches your desired lifestyle. It is NOT all sunsets and margaritas, and I hope you are aware that being a responsible boat owner makes for a busy and disciplined life where you either have a large and ever-expanding skillset or will become a major contributor to the commerce of the marine industry from a financial perspective. Most of us are a mixture of the two to varying degrees. The main point is to enjoy every day and night. Meet the challenges with the best of attitudes and be grateful for the chance to meet and get to know some rather amazing characters brave enough to also, throw off the reigns of a
"more conventional life".
Sterling Hayden quote -
"In the worship of security we fling ourselves beneath the wheels of routine-and before we know it our lives are gone."
and my favorite by him -
"To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea 'cruising' it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about."
Possibly my fav because it most assuredly applies to my 2nd act approach.