Making progress...

[madmitch]

Yes I’ve learned a lot since retiring nearly 8 years ago. I worked part time at first for a car builder friend in town. It was my dream job.
I’ve also learned not to spend much of my 401. Too much has to go to income tax. SS barely pays the bills and it’s getting harder with inflation.
Can’t wait to get finally moved out of cA and work in my new shop.

[Skidmark]

I have been number crunching for at least the last six months leading up to this. I think we will be fine. I will have (at a minimum) a 1000 sq/ft shop/garage to tinker in. No plans to sell stuff, just putter about on my own projects. I refuse to (more like can't afford to) retire in California. It just doesn't make financial sense. Not only the income taxes on the IRA's, but all the STUPID tax increases Moonbeam is pushing through. The traffic, the crowds, the poor air quality, the gas prices, the list just keeps growing. All you have to do is cross the Nevada border and gas drops $0.50/gallon. Besides, my wife and I have a soft spot for Lake Tahoe since we were married there. The new homestead will only be a 30 minute drive away from south Lake Tahoe. And 1000's of square miles of BLM land to the east. Less people, more room, I could go on forever... my wife even suggested getting a small boat to go fishing with! It's no wonder why we just had our 29th anniversary!

[dustymojave]

Gardnerville is quite close to Bodie, where I met up with the gang doing the trans-Nevada offroad trip last year. The day we left, there was a family who brought tamales to sell. They were from Gardnerville. And we needed a locksmith that morning too, the nearest was in Gardnerville. There is a guy on the Burro Buggy group who lives in Gardnerville.

Congrats on your 29th. We passed our 35th in August. And retired in late 2015. Actually stopped "working" in late 2014, but made it official a year later to the day.

We'd be looking at moving to somewhere around there too if we had not fallen into a great deal on a home here in the SoCal desert.

Just heard about upcoming tax increases from our fair-haired govvy poo. I still approve of the line I read in the 1960s. Can also reflect on California water shortages..."If it's brown, flush it down."

SS just changed their rules too. While early this year, I was told that I would become eligible to start drawing my SS this month (just turned 62 2 days ago), and would get my 1st payment the 3rd of the month that I turned 62, I just last week received a letter from SSA saying that I would become eligible the 1st "WHOLE" month that I'm of age, and I would receive the payment for that month at the end of the following month instead of at the beginning of the month that it applies to. Pushed back the start of draw by nearly 3 months. This is apparently a change that was made during the previous administration, but started in the latter half of this year. We'll make it through, but a new engine for my Baja will have to wait a while. So will some other things.

[Skidmark]

Well, it's pretty much official now. Went into escrow a week and a half ago. We close on Dec. 21st! I won't be fully moved in until mid to late March of next year (gonna carry two mortgages for a few months). My last day working is March 2. Ended up buying a new construction home on an acre of land in Minden, NV (same valley as Gardnerville). It is 2288 sq ft, 3 bdrm, 2 bath, w/ an office. 3 car garage, and one is a 10' door and 33' deep for an RV. My toy hauler will go on the side of the house, and the RV garage will be my temporary shop while I start construction on the real one in the backyard. Woo hoo! No more slaving for da man!!!

[no1clyde]

Minden is a nice area and out Johnson Lane to the east is the Pine Nut Mts that have great riding for both dirt bikes and off road cars. For many years we would go to Yerington twice a year on big dirt bike rides and that is close too. You could easily do our Nevada trip from your new area

I love Nevada and the deserts we have and someday we should do a north western Nevada ride up into the Black Rock area. I hope you enjoy living here as much as I do

Ed

[madmitch]

Congrats Skid!

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Skid, I'd like to say "rest in peace" but that could be misconstrued so I'd better say an early "congratulations' on making it to retirement".

Its been a long haul but be careful with spending until you know exactly what is going on. I've seen people accidently go through everything they had saved within just a very short time by taking 'I've/we've always wanted to go there' trips or other things like that. The other thing is people buying motorhomes or trailers and by the time they got to where they were going to stay for the season they were so disenchanted with the hole (the spelling thing intentional) thing and sold out for a loss and flew home.

Lee

[Skidmark]

Not going to enter retirement spending like a drunken sailor... We plan on hunkering down for a year or two, getting our yearly expenses figured out, and finalizing our budget requirements. I may have been born at night, but it wasn't last night! LOL!

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Good plan. Your use of the word "drunken sailor" is just about what some of the retirees did (stories of "drunken sailors": the stories I could tell about them and I was not in the service either)!

[CentralWAbaja]

Super happy for you Skid. Been following along on other social media but yeah man, Great deal!

[nevadattype]

Hi Skid,

I rarely post on STF (or anywhere else for that matter) but as a Minden NV resident for almost 20 years wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood! I first 'discovered' Minden/Gardnerville/Carson City in the mid-80s when I was starting to race AMA D36 stuff (motorcycle). The riding in the Pine Nuts range was and is some of the best I've experienced and the ability to access it right from our driveway just sweetens the deal!

We are on Lindsay Lane (east end of Stephanie Way) and I'm guessing you probably are building not too far away. Feel free to contact me at 775-790-2787 or at [email protected] if you need anything or simply want to BS about the 'hood. Can I say I'm insanely jealous about your retirement ?!? I've got about 10 or so years until our numbers make sense.

The only complaint I have about Northern NV is it is a long way from parts of Baja. My wife and I drove straight through from La Paz to Minden and that was 29 hours of misery after this year's 1000 (we chased for a motorcycle team). Divorce was narrowly averted!

Anyway, congrats!
Matt Wright

[Skidmark]

Matt - I look forward to meeting you! One of my cardinal rules is never go wheeling alone. We are off of Stephanie and Gordon, so very close.

[bajaherbie]

Great! I have always wanted to vacation in Minden. Sounds like you will have plenty of room for us, the dogs and the 3 grandkids......

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk

[dustymojave]

When we met up with the STF trans-Nevada group at Bodie last year (2016), we were camping at a motel/RV place on Hwy 395 5 miles south of Bridgeport, CA. The following Monday before we headed for home, a couple stopped in selling tamales and such. They were from Gardnerville. Can't be far away. We needed a locksmith (I lost the car key) and one of the 2 closest was in Gardnerville. Our favorite commercial salsa is called Killer Salsa, it's from Gardnerville. We send our house payments to a lovely lady who lives in Carson City. I'm beginning to feel as if we have some sort of magnetic attachment to the area, even though we've never been quite there.

[Skidmark]