Picked this up on facebook

[Simi 60]

Not a position I would like to be in later on.

Last week, the financial services giant Northwestern Mutual released new data showing that 1 in 3 Americans has less than $5,000 in retirement savings.

It’s an unfortunately familiar story. And Northwestern Mutual’s data is entirely aligned with other research we’ve seen in the past, including our own.

The Federal Reserve’s most recent Survey of Consumer Finances, for example, shows that the median bank balance among US consumers is just $2,900.

There is a balance.

[1Sunseeker]

On an ancient wall near Cairo
Where a dusty Pharaoh blinks
Deeply graven is the message
It is later than you think.

The clock of life is wound but once
And no man has the power
To tell just when the hands will stop
At a late or early hour.

Now is all the time you own
The past is but a golden light.

Go cruising now by brother
It is later than you think.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Not a position I would like to be in later on.



There is a balance.

Yes, very sobering numbers. Feel very fortunate that I was able to strike a "balance" early in life.

[limte]

Although sailing has been associated with freedom from the onerous aspects of modern culture, I am beginning to think that it entails most of the negative aspects of consumer and capitalistic societies.


Cruising, for most people entails purchasing and using high-tech equipment; using toxic and highly polluting chemicals for maintenance; relying upon the ecologically unsound practices of marinas and boatyards, flying back and forth (for some cruisers) to visit family, etc.


I suspect that freedom can be sought in all manner of lifestyles, including living in a modest home and traveling as little as possible, and consuming in a moderate and careful manner. This sort of life does not project the drama and romanticism of the cruising life, but it appears to me to be no less "free:.

[Carl-T705]

Originally Posted by powsmias

splains it all..
Life is incredibly short.
We take everything we were born with to the grave, i.e. nothing.
All the houses/cars/money/social position we covet and struggle and waste our lives for mean zip at the end, which comes all too soon.
WTF do you want to do with your life?
This is basic philosophy 101 and to me it means live it to the fullest, every day an adventure.
Security is an evil illusion that does not exist except in the profit margin of those who sell it to you by exploiting fear of death and the unknown.
'Oh, you need a house, and home insurance and life insurance and health insurance and a better car and new clothes and a bigger TV and a more impressive job title' and on and on and on so get to work to pay for it!
Go ahead, sell the short hours of life to the bankers, landlords, car dealers and profit takers, or wrench it out of their hands and spend it in your own joy and amazement in our wonderful world.

Not for wimps...

A sailboat is a subversive thing, and offers true freedom, with all the uncertainty and self reliance and potential for daily disaster that come along with same.

May have been true in Joshua Slocum's time and maybe up to around 1960s but I don't see it true today. Even with a very low low comfort level and a free sailboat, life is expensive. on land and sea

[Mike OReilly]

Yet another oldish thread (2018) resurrected from the dead. Smells fishy, but I can play.

Living on a modest sailboat offers a lifestyle that lends itself to being inexpensive and relatively free. Nothing is ever 100% free, but it doesn’t have to be expensive, or restrictive, depending on the choices one makes. Critical choices revolve around levels of luxury, type of boat, how one cruises, and perhaps most importantly, location. Just like there are locations everywhere which are more, or less, expensive, so too with cruising grounds.

If you want to spend buckets of money on this, or indeed ANY lifestyle, it’s certainly easy to do. But you can also make choices so that your expenditures are small. It’s all up to you.

[Dave9111]

Im 66 and I'm semi retired. We put away a lot of money and we are cheap. So no worries financially.

However,
I have several friends who either didnt have the opportunity or made bad decisions earlier in life and are now looking at declining health and older age (Im still young, ok, at least in good health) and are seeing the cost of living rising quickly while their income stays flat or declines. Im worried about them. Nothing in the bank, minor pension, big mortgage or loans. Their only significant asset is their house and many have mortgages of 50% or more. They are considering liquidating their houses to get their money out and then live where?
How does this work out?
Worse, I live in a rural community next to a small town of about 1500. More than half the people there are in the same boat.
Their is a very active food bank here.

Social Security is going to be cut back in 10 years or so if no
changes are made.
Then what? A lot of baby boomers are going to go bust.

Getting on a boat wont fix this.

[Dave_R]

I'm sure some of us on the forum are religious, and believe in life after death.

For those, I heard a sermon many years ago that changed the way I live.

The subject was Matthew 6: 19-20. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.

The speaker was clear that he was giving his opinion on what some of those treasures were.

The first was knowledge. Whatever we learn, we retain when we pass.

The second was memories. We also retain our memories when we pass. Happy memories--happy life. This is also true in old age!

Last was relationships. My faith is that the same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us in the next life. Said differently, he who dies with the most love/friends wins.

One of the reasons my wife and I began the (seasonal) cruising life was that it created many of all three! We love to learn things, create memories, and gather friends.

[Dave9111]

Im not religious in the sense that I dont believe there is an afterlife.

For me, this is it. It wont get better or worse after Im gone.
Ive seen a lot of death close up and its like going to sleep and not waking up. Nothing to worry about. My life is significant to my wife, kids and friends. Thats pretty much it. Im ok with all of this.

But that means, this is it. Make the best of it. Help who you can. Be kind. Its not about me. Share. Enjoy it while you can. You live for a short time and then you're dead forever.

[Tillikum]

Originally Posted by Dave_R

I'm sure some of us on the forum are religious, and believe in life after death.

For those, I heard a sermon many years ago that changed the way I live.

The subject was Matthew 6: 19-20. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.

The speaker was clear that he was giving his opinion on what some of those treasures were.

The first was knowledge. Whatever we learn, we retain when we pass.

The second was memories. We also retain our memories when we pass. Happy memories--happy life. This is also true in old age!

Last was relationships. My faith is that the same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us in the next life. Said differently, he who dies with the most love/friends wins.

One of the reasons my wife and I began the (seasonal) cruising life was that it created many of all three! We love to learn things, create memories, and gather friends.

Not sure who the speaker was, but sounds like a Unitarian.

It could just be that life is not all about "me, myself and I", the holy trinity of the modern age.

As for health matters, there is a vast amount of information available on what a person can do for their own health relatively cheaply and easily. It does require some time, effort, study and thought however.