Retirement Scenario

pclark

pclark

Well-known member
Here’s my 2 cents, we moved up to MW in 2020 and if it’s up to me I’ll always live here. Great people, don’t care if they are dems or republicans, everyone has respect for you up here, maybe because we are older and Have common sense? I love being away from all the bullshit of the big cities, love waking up and watching the sun rise over the lake. It’s not for everyone so whatever you decide make sure it’s what you want. Isn’t that what we all work hard for? Respect each other’s choices and whatever it makes sense for you. I’ll leave you with what I wake up to every morning.
I hope you all end up with your perfect retirement home. I got lucky!

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goofy600

goofy600

Well-known member
So my scenario, we bought 23 acres in the woods and built a pole barn and put living quarters in it with the idea of building full house at some point. Recession happened and found a lake house with the intention of retiring there. Able to sell camp in the woods luckily. This time frame 2005 to 2015. Mom get sick for second time 2019 and my job is hell so I retire at 51 1/2 to help mom and can collect pension. Mom gets better covid happens and move full time to the UP lake house and never look back. Biggest thing is you have to have a wife that is willing to be up there, everyone that has ever lived up north that moved from big city type area will confirm that. As for part time work if you have any skills there is so much work for you and at a good price also.
 
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wiscrev

Well-known member
goofy600 said:
So my scenario, we bought 23 acres in the woods and built a pole barn and put living quarters in it with the idea of building full house at some point. Recession happened and found a lake house with the intention of retiring there. Able to sell camp in the woods luckily. This time frame 2005 to 2015. Mom get sick for second time 2019 and my job is hell so I retire at 51 1/2 to help mom and can collect pension. Mom gets better covid happens and move full time to the UP lake house and never look back. Biggest thing is you have to have a wife that is willing to be up there, everyone that has ever lived up north that moved from big city type area will confirm that. As for part time work if you have any skills there is so much work for you and at a good price also.
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This+. We are short of contractors, plumbers, electricians, etc. If you are in a trade, there is plenty of work up here. Many jobs are schd for a year out.
 
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rph130

Well-known member
We are fortunate enough to have a place in the Northwoods that we had to stretch to buy in'97. (It took two incomes) We had been vacationing there since we got married in '89 with best friends at their cabin that their family bought in '78. Found a 5-acre parcel with 250' frontage on a 100-acre private lake in Presque Isle with a seasonal 2-bedroom cabin right next door to friends cabin. Offered the owner more than it was worth to give him incentive. Bulldozed cabin and built year round home in 2000. Raised our kids in Park Ridge IL. while we vacationed up north whenever we could get away from city. Daughter moved up to Bessemer after college at NMU and son moved to Desplaines IL after college. Had intentions to move permanently to Presque Isle after I retired 8 years ago but kind of had the best of both worlds with regards to the kids. 1 in IL and 1 in UP. Grandson due in a few weeks in Desplaines so probably no way my wife will ever leave IL. now. Spend about 6 months on/off at each place with each kid so I feel very blessed.
 
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elf

Well-known member
So we are struggling with this plan right now. Plan to retire within the next 12-20 months. Don't know where we want to end up but know its not where we currently live. Got a kid in NYC and one in Montana. Have a cabin up on the north shore in Finland, MN where the sledding is great but don't know if thats the long term spot either. As we will be retiring relatively young, I'll be 58 and my wife 52, we want to be where there is a lots of activity, events, concerts, etc... I want to be somewhere with good sledding, mtn biking, hiking, and breweries! We enjoy the Duluth area because of the activities but we've always had the dream to live in the mountains and have taken a couple of trips out there the last couple years to scout areas we'd enjoy. Everybody who complains about the cost around here for places should start looking out there, wow. So short term is to sell our house and move to the cabin this summer. I can commute back to work and my wife works fully remote. That way if we do decide the mtns are the long term plan and we have to sell the cabin also we can avoid capital gains taxes since it'll be our primary residence for 2 years. Maybe we decide Finland is the place to be and we expand the cabin or build a new place up there. But the lure of the mountains is really strong and i think we'll regret it if we don't take the chance.
 
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Airman68

Airman68

Member
goofy600 said:
So my scenario, we bought 23 acres in the woods and built a pole barn and put living quarters in it with the idea of building full house at some point. Recession happened and found a lake house with the intention of retiring there. Able to sell camp in the woods luckily. This time frame 2005 to 2015. Mom get sick for second time 2019 and my job is hell so I retire at 51 1/2 to help mom and can collect pension. Mom gets better covid happens and move full time to the UP lake house and never look back. Biggest thing is you have to have a wife that is willing to be up there, everyone that has ever lived up north that moved from big city type area will confirm that. As for part time work if you have any skills there is so much work for you and at a good price also.
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I 150% agree with your wife comment! If she is not onboard, with anything, even down to buying a sled, it's an uphill battle. I had a very nice log cabin on 5 acres for about 5 years. Admittedly, it was my dream more than hers and that's why it ultimately failed. I had to practically beg to get her up there. Spent a lot of time there alone. Not really my style and we ultimately sold it. Now we (I) am looking for land to build but I'm afraid I will be set up for the same result. We have our house paid for so going into debt again is not appealing to her.
 
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durphee

Well-known member
My only advice….if you can swing it, don’t wait til you get too old to purchase a place up north. I see so many individuals work then retire to find out that physically they are limited to what they can do/want to do. And maintaining a place can be physically challenging also. Enjoy your time as best as you can while you are able to. My parents have hit the point where I have to do all the opening/closing, launching of the boats, filling them with gas, basic maintenance,
Etc…(I am not complaining on having to do that)..and they both wish they could have spent more time up north while they could physically enjoy their favorite activities. Don’t waste you life just working for money that you might not ever get a chance to enjoy.
 
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elf

Well-known member
durphee said:
Don’t waste you life just working for money that you might not ever get a chance to enjoy.
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Very true. We know if we kept working til I was 65 we'd have enough money saved that we could do anything we ever wanted too but there are things I want to do that I may not be able to do at 65 or may not be around to do at 65. I want to snowmobile in Revelstoke, go on a moose hunt in the Yukon or Alaska, mountain bike in Moab and Bentonville, hike part of the PCT, etc... We might have to plan a bit more but the extra years will be worth it.
 
Airman68

Airman68

Member
durphee said:
My only advice….if you can swing it, don’t wait til you get too old to purchase a place up north. I see so many individuals work then retire to find out that physically they are limited to what they can do/want to do. And maintaining a place can be physically challenging also. Enjoy your time as best as you can while you are able to. My parents have hit the point where I have to do all the opening/closing, launching of the boats, filling them with gas, basic maintenance,
Etc…(I am not complaining on having to do that)..and they both wish they could have spent more time up north while they could physically enjoy their favorite activities. Don’t waste you life just working for money that you might not ever get a chance to enjoy.
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I agree 100%. I am 55 and I see the writing on the wall. Even though my wife is kind-of onboard with the plan, I feel like I'm running out of time to build and then enjoy it. Trying not to overpromise anything. It would be so much easier if she were all in.
 
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rph130

Well-known member
durphee said:
My only advice….if you can swing it, don’t wait til you get too old to purchase a place up north. I see so many individuals work then retire to find out that physically they are limited to what they can do/want to do. And maintaining a place can be physically challenging also. Enjoy your time as best as you can while you are able to. My parents have hit the point where I have to do all the opening/closing, launching of the boats, filling them with gas, basic maintenance,
Etc…(I am not complaining on having to do that)..and they both wish they could have spent more time up north while they could physically enjoy their favorite activities. Don’t waste you life just working for money that you might not ever get a chance to enjoy.
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You are so correct. I was 33 when we bought/built our cabin. 27 years of hard work making improvements and maintaining, but absolute enjoyment and our escape spot from normal work and life. Now at 60 years old, knee replaced, and years of wear and tear on the rest of me, I depend on the kids to do a lot of the "heavy lifting" and yearly maintenance stuff. I'm a happy guy when I get up there and all I have to do is flip power switches, set the clocks, grab a beer and ride around on the lawn mower.
 
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scoobydoo

Member
We will most likely retire to Woodruff sooner or later. Gonna entertain it in about 3 years when im 55. Gonna have to find some kind of job, just dont think i can stop working yet. Wife would move in second i just need to say lets go.
 
Airman68

Airman68

Member
rph130 said:
You are so correct. I was 33 when we bought/built our cabin. 27 years of hard work making improvements and maintaining, but absolute enjoyment and our escape spot from normal work and life. Now at 60 years old, knee replaced, and years of wear and tear on the rest of me, I depend on the kids to do a lot of the "heavy lifting" and yearly maintenance stuff. I'm a happy guy when I get up there and all I have to do is flip power switches, set the clocks, grab a beer and ride around on the lawn mower.
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You have quite a drive up there. How many days do you think you spend a year up there? I was looking to stay within 2-3 hours from our house in Kaukauna. I just figured we would use it more over the years and make it easier to build.
 
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rph130

Well-known member
Airman68 said:
You have quite a drive up there. How many days do you think you spend a year up there? I was looking to stay within 2-3 hours from our house in Kaukauna. I just figured we would use it more over the years and make it easier to build.
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From Park Ridge to Presque Isle is 380 miles. Good drive up there is around 5 1/2 hours with one stop in Westfield for gas. Bad drive is around 6 hours. We try to leave PR around 5 or 6 am and we are north before lunch and still have day in front of us. I try to keep it around 75 mph in the 70 zones and 60ish+ in the 55 zones. Learned a painful, expensive lesson, (twice) courtesy of the Wisconsin State Patrol on Hwy 51 nearing and north of Minocqua. We spend almost exactly 6 months on/off at each home.
 
Airman68

Airman68

Member
I give you credit, that's dedication. I think my wife would get burned out after a 6 hour ride each way, she's not a car traveler. When we had our old cabin, it was only 90 miles one way. Looking back, should have just held onto it. Would have been worth a lot more today, thats for sure.
 
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Magnumb

Member
Ease of maintenance in a home/property is something i need to consider and to have a spouse who is willing and able to follow in whatever i decide to do. I dont need much, but i do need peace and think it's true when they say a man's dissatisfaction stems from feeling trapped in life and the women from feeling unloved/unseen. I'll need the freedom to retire somewhere peaceful for sure! I think that's why i always looked up to John, because he seemed to always choose his path and in turn it resulted in him being a great father/husband.
 
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Airman68

Airman68

Member
Magnumb said:
Ease of maintenance in a home/property is something i need to consider and to have a spouse who is willing and able to follow in whatever i decide to do. I dont need much, but i do need peace and think it's true when they say a man's dissatisfaction stems from feeling trapped in life and the women from feeling unloved/unseen. I'll need the freedom to retire somewhere peaceful for sure! I think that's why i always looked up to John, because he seemed to always choose his path and in turn it resulted in him being a great father/husband.
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I agree. Maybe why things don't seem right these days because it seems like our freedom to choose is slowly slipping away. Probably why I'm drawn again to the Northwoods, for peace.
 
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