To make navigation easier, here is the list of questions so that you can just go to the one you want rather than scrolling through them all.

Direct Links To Frequently Asked Questions Below

Here we go.

1. Aren’t you two just a couple of rich people going through a mid-life crisis?

Well, no one has actually phrased it that way, but often we feel like that is really what some folks want to ask.

Of course, “rich” depends on each individual’s perspective. We were on our way to being rich financially and broke emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Take a look at Question 2 and make your own judgment about our finances.

2. You have talked a lot about expenses, but what would really be helpful is to know exactly how you are going to meet those expenses on the road. Where is your income coming from?

Well, that’s a bit personal, but we haven’t been shy about anything else. Also, we feel that this information might just be what is needed to give others the confidence to change their lives. So hang on – it’s a bit complicated.

We have $100,000 in IRAs from previous 401(k) rollovers. Of course we can’t touch that without incurring significant penalties until we reach age 59 1/2, so we will just let that grow (we hope).

In addition to the IRAs, we have $300,000 in other investments. Of that amount, we have earmarked about $80,000 to get us through as many years on the road as possible.

You see, I did not make as much money on the sale of our company as people seem to imagine - I was a minority shareholder, the company was only five years old, and my partners and I had to pay off some business debt with some of the proceeds.

Though Linda and I had whittled down our liabilities, we did use some of our portion of the business sale proceeds to finish paying off that personal debt. We are by no means set for life.

That’s it - $400,000 to last 40 years more or less. The only other assets we have are our truck, fifth wheel, the stuff we have with us, and a few boxes in storage. That ain’t rich, y’all. :)

So here is the plan. Of course you know we are completely debt free, so we do not have to generate extra income to pay off loans. But, forget the IRAs – they are out of play.

Of our $300,000 in other investments, we will not let that balance dip below $200,000 no matter what. If we don’t earn a dime on the road, we can go somewhere between 3 & 4 years with that $100,000 "cushion".

However, the more we earn during that 3 to 4 years, the longer we can stretch out our funds. Also, those funds will earn income as we go, so the longer we can keep them invested, the more they will earn in interest and dividends.

We don’t want to wait until our “cushion” is used up, so we are working on developing income streams from things we enjoy before we HAVE to workamp or get j-o-b-s. Hopefully, in 3 to 4 years, we will be earning enough income from our website, writing, photography, crafts, speaking engagements, and whatever other hobbies we can turn into cash to cover all of our expenses ($25,000 - $30,000 per year). It’s important that we have several income streams so that we are not devastated if one dries up.

If that doesn’t work, then we will have to rely on a combination of income from our hobbies, investments, workamping, and a reduction in expenses.

Now, in good years (over 10% returns or higher), our investment income will cover most, if not all, of our expenses if we need it. In average years (5% to 10% returns), the investment income will cover a portion of our expenses. In bad years (less than 5% returns), it will cover very little or nothing, so we are not counting on investment income at all since we don’t know which years will be good ones, average ones, or bad ones.

The bottom line is that we will do whatever it takes to avoid going back to a “traditional” lifestyle. Even if we have to stop and get j-o-b-s, we will live in our RV until we have enough to move on.

Now that answer just leads to more questions, so let’s move on.

Note: Go to our 2007 Financial Recap for an analysis of where we were after our second full year of full-timing.

Go to One Year On The Road Recap for an analysis of where we started and we were after the first year of full-timing.

3. So you think you can earn enough on the road or through investment income to cover $25,000 - $30,000 of expenses. But don't you have to earn more than that to make up for income taxes?

Oh boy. That does complicate things and the anaylsis is not easy to follow. So go very slowly or turn this one over to the analytical numbers cruncher in the family. :)

Some folks have questioned (rightfully so) our plan of generating living expenses through our hobbies, workamping, etc. and still paying the taxes that come with earning income. So with some additional painstaking analysis, we have determined that the magical income number for us is $3,000 per month, $36,000 a year.

Update: After one year on the road we are now more confident that the majority (or at least half) of our income will come from investments. The less we have to "earn", the less tax effect we will have to worry about. We now believe our income can be less than $3,000 a month although that is still a goal for comfortable living.

I am convinced that $3,000 a month is a pretty magic number for just about anyone, although there is definitely room to live on less. Furthermore, I am more and more of the belief that it is best if you have at least a portion of that amount in some type of "supplemental" income in the form of retirement, social security, or investments, or something else.

Why do I have that belief? Well, say you have to earn all your income from a $7.00 an hour (plus free campsite) workamping position. Working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, (which no one wants to do) at $7.00 per hour in a workamping position is only $14,560. So if you want to work 40 hours a week for $7 an hour and you workamp for a free site all year, you can get by on the road - but there is obviously less room for enjoyment of the lifestyle and money will be tight.

We don't want to promote living on the road under those circumstances, although it still may be a lot better than what some folks are doing now. :) With that said, many people have busted their tails workamping early on to get to the point where they didn't have to work so much later. We certainly don't want to discourage those that don't mind working lots of hours in the lifestyle. We just want people to realize that earning a living soley from workamping is not an easy road.

Okay, back to taxes. I have done the math based on the 2006 federal and Kentucky state income tax rates. We will need $36,000 in income, but it will be income earned as independent contractors or sole proprietors. Since it will be "earned" income (as opposed to social security, pension, or investment income), we will be subject to Self-employment tax which is the biggest tax problem.

Update: We no longer feel we will need $36,000 in income to cover taxes. With at least half of our income coming from investments, Self-employment tax will not be quite as big an issue. In fact, if we keep our self-employment income down, we can keep ourselves in a lower income tax bracket which will mean our investment capital gains income would only be taxed at 5%. I am now pretty confident that we can have income more in line with $2,500 a month, $30,000 a year. With our standard deductions and exemptions, taxes are just not going to be that big an issue.

We will have to pay 15.3% of self-employment "net" income (actually it is 15.3% of 92.35% of the self-employment net income - gotta love the tax code), so we will need as many legitimate business expense deductions as possible.

You see, for federal income tax purposes, we will start with "net" income earned from a business (income less legitimate business expenses). Then, the federal income tax laws will allow us to deduct 1) contributions to our Health Savings Account, 2) health insurance premiums we pay as self-employed individuals, and 3) 1/2 of the Self-employment tax we have to pay.

So we will have our total income less those deductions to get to Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). After the Standard Deduction (we will no longer be able to itemize deductions) for married couples of $10,300 (for 2006) and the additional $6,600 deduction for our personal exemptions (for 2006), the federal income tax is relatively insignificant. And the Kentucky income tax calculation starts with federal AGI, so ultimately the Kentucky tax is not too big a deal either.

So the goal is to earn as much money as possible, but be able to classify as much of our expenses as legitimate business deductions as possible. That way we keep the Self-employment tax low and can come close to having no federal or state income tax at all.

It's all very complicated. I can assist with your own figures if you'd like.

Are we saying that it takes a minimum of $36,000 a year in income to full-time? Absolutely not! We are saying that is what WE need to full-time fairly comfortably. Update: Not anymore! $30,000 or even a bit less will be just fine. :) But we can lower expenses and live on the road for less if we need to - and we will do whatever it takes to keep the RV Dream alive!

4. You’re supposed to be a smart guy, but it doesn’t sound like you have an exit strategy at all. What are you going to do if something happens to either of you, you just can’t travel any longer, or you just get tired of it?

Ah, the beauty of what we are doing. Full-timing IS the exit strategy.

Indirectly, worrying about how and when we were going to exit the workforce was the cause of all of our stress and robot-like life. We just cannot spend the rest of our lives worrying about the future.

Our IRAs and $200,000 investment threshold are our safety net for something unexpected, but we all know that won’t go very far – especially in 20 to 30 years. What will be will be. We will cross that bridge when we come to it.

If our full-timing is cut short by health issues, then we will take advantage of the Escapees RV Club’s wonderful CARE program. Check it out at www.escapeescare.org.

It is specifically designed for full-timers and delays or eliminates the need for a nursing home. It also is available to just recover from an illness or surgery until ready to get back on the road. If you become a full-timer, this is the one charity that is worthy of your donation dollars.

5. Okay, so you are going to full-time forever. But your RV and truck are going to wear out at some point, so how are you going to replace them?

Again, we will cross that bridge when we come to it. We will see how our IRAs and investments do. If our Merrill Lynch advisors do their job correctly, then we should have enough. If not, we will figure out something. We are pretty creative and resourceful folks, so it’s not a worry.

However, with us being relatively young, that is why we spent a little bit more up front than we originally intended to get better overall construction in the fifth wheel and to buy the big diesel truck. At 1,000 miles a month our truck should last longer than us. And I’m sure we will be able to squeeze enough out of the finances to be able to get a used fifth wheel down the road. Heck, a used fifth wheel in twenty years will be better than anything that is being put out now. :)

6. Was full-time RVing always a dream of yours and how long do you intend to do this?

Retiring early and traveling was always a dream of ours. RVing was so far off our radar we didn’t know a Class A from a truck camper. Retiring to an RV was never even a consideration until we had our “epiphany” that we needed to simplify our lives and get out of the rat race sooner rather than later. Finances then dictated full-time RVing as our best option for the travel/early retirement dream. Thus RV-Dreams. :)

From day one of our decision to full-time, we have considered this a permanent lifestyle change. We knew we had some financial cushion to try it out for a couple of years, but we have never had any doubt that we could full-time forever as long as health and money hold out. Might we change our mind after a few years? Sure. But the original intent has always been together, forever, traveling down life’s highways.

7. You gave up a six figure income, prestige, status, the education and training, an expensive home, and a wonderful life overall. Do you ever have any second thoughts or regrets?

Not now. All our second thoughts occurred in the first three months after we put the house up for sale and resigned our positions (we gave six months notice). But those second thoughts were more about what others would think than anything. We were going against everything society had conditioned us for, and we were still trying to justify to ourselves that we should follow our hearts.

Four things helped us get through the doubts. First, work became unbearable. Second, I found the quote I use on our Home page:

We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us! -- Joseph Campbell

That quote came to us at a very important time in our transition. Third, a friend told us to read The Unmistakable Touch of Grace by Cheryl Richardson. That book, again at just the right time in our lives, helped confirm that we were doing the right thing for us. Everyone, whether you want to full-time or not, should read that book. Fourth, I discovered (according to various polls) that the number one regret of full-timers on the road was “We regret that we did not start full-timing sooner.”

So, we do not have any second thoughts or regrets. Are there things we miss? See the next question. :)

8. What do you miss the most from your previous lifestyle?

This is one of the toughest questions for us to answer. Of course we miss having the money to go to nice restaurants, take extravagant vacations, play PGA Tour quality golf courses (I’ve played a lot of actual Tour event courses), shop without looking at price tags, fly first class, etc. Of course we miss the dishwasher, the icemaker, the big screen TV, the hot tub, the walk-in closets full of clothes, the spacious shower, and a full-size bathroom. But we really, really miss …… big, thick, fluffy toilet paper. :)

Sure we miss all those things. But we don’t miss them nearly enough to go back to the type of lifestyle it took to have all that. I’ve said it over and over and over. Full-timing is about trade-offs and compromises.

Let’s turn it around. If we went back to our previous life tomorrow, what would we miss about full-timing? Are you kidding me? We would miss all of it – freedom, nature, travel, being together, meeting wonderful people, sunrises, sunsets, waterfalls, birds, wildlife, 80 degree February days, 10 mile bike rides through charming towns, canoeing a river surrounded by natural habitat, hiking a forest trail, finding a hidden treasure, fly-fishing in a mountain stream, golf on crappy courses with good people, no alarm clocks, two-hour coffee time, falling asleep beside a campfire, sharing s’mores with the neighbors, helping out at animals shelters, assisting hurricane victims, silence of the woods, anytime naps, freedom, freedom, freedom ....... Get the picture? :)

9. Did you really sell the house and everything?

Yep – the house and everything. We have a few boxes of tax papers, pictures, books, videos, and about a half closet of stuff stored at Linda’s sister’s house. We have a couple of pieces of artwork stored at her Mom’s house. That’s it. Freedom from things.

Check out our page on the Emotional Aspects of the Transition to Full-timing and our page on Selling the House for more details about the transition.

10. Since your RV is now your only home, why did you go with a fifth wheel instead of a motorhome?

This is the most often asked question by far. That one we can answer. The one we can’t answer is “Which one is better for full-timing?” Yikes! No website will touch that question with a 10-foot pole. We all say it’s a personal decision .... because it is. :)

We chose a fifth wheel primarily because we liked the additional living space, the better kitchen floorplan options, and the homier feel (i.e. no steering wheel in the house). Originally, we thought we would buy a motorhome, but it took only a few hours at an RV dealership to figure out a fifth wheel was for us. No one was more shocked than we were. :)

Once we decided on a fifth wheel, I did more research to make sure that was not a bad decision. I found that Class A motorhomes and fifth wheels were about even as the rig of choice among full-timers. Then I researched the pros and cons of both.

The cons of a fifth wheel (including having to use a pick-up to run around and the stigma of “living in a trailer”), and the pros of motorhomes were just not persuasive enough for us to change our minds. We liked the fact that a pick-up/fifth wheel combination was much less expensive than a new motorhome with the same interior features. We liked that we would only have one motorized vehicle to maintain. We liked that major engine trouble would not cause our home to be in the shop.

Update: In August 2007, we made a lifestyle change and bought a used Jeep Liberty. So now we do have two motors to maintain, but we don't have to use the big pick-up to do local exploring. We don't double-tow the Jeep behind the fifth wheel as we just follow the fiver when moving from place to place. The extra fuel for the Jeep is offset by the fuel savings of not driving the less efficient diesel truck for local exploring. We now feel we have the best of both worlds.

But the fifth wheel vs motorhome decision IS very personal. And as with everything RV related, everyone thinks what they have is the best way to go. Our best advice is to talk to those that have owned both, and find out which way they would go and why.

11. Do you have a washer and dryer in the rig and why or why not?

We do not have a washer/dryer in our RV. We have the hook-ups for it, and we would recommend that everyone have the hook-ups, but take your time in deciding on the actual purchase.

Originally, we were going to buy a washer/dryer before we went on the road. We thought it was a necessity for full-timers, but after doing a little more research and getting advice from other full-timers, we were not so sure. So we decided to wait, and we are glad we did.

We have run across many people that say they would never full-time without their washer/dryer in the rig and one even claimed it “saved our marriage.” But many people that have them say they could take them or leave them.

Of course the big reason to have them is convenience. And yes they will save money once you recoup the initial investment.

However, they take up storage space, the loads are small requiring running lots of cycles. Some people don’t mind doing laundry every day for the convenience – another trade-off. Washer/dryer owners tell us that they still use coin laundries and campground laundries for sheets, jeans, and beach towels. They also tell us that they use coin machines when they are parked without sewer hook-ups, so they don’t fill their gray tanks too quickly. And they tell us when they use their washer/dryer, the clothes come out very wrinkled – full-timers don’t iron. :)

Other considerations are how much energy they use (gotta watch that if your electric is metered or you are on 30 amps) and the heat they create in the rig. Also, you have to choose between stackable units or combination units (a single unit that washes and dries) – another pros & cons analysis. Then you have to choose between “vented” and “unvented”. We understand that “vented” units perform better, but that may require having a hole cut in the rig for the vent – personally, I would never mess with the integrity of the rig structure, but that’s just me.

So, for now, Linda has decided that she much prefers to take the laundry and do a few loads all at the same time. She is done with all of it in about an hour and a half each week. Yes it does cost us about $300 a year, but she would still rather get it all done at once and use the space for storage. If she changes her mind later, we have the hook-ups.

12. How did you choose your state of residency and what are the best states?

Go to the Selecting A Home Base page for a detailed discussion of the things to think about like convenience, taxes, insurance, vehicle inspections, etc.

We chose Kentucky to start with mostly for convenience and great insurance rates. However, we may change in the future to a state with no state income tax and no property tax on our truck and trailer.

The most popular states are Florida, Texas, and South Dakota. None of them have state income tax, but I think Florida would probably be our last choice because insurance rates seem to be a bit higher in the zip codes where we would set up addresses with relatives. South Dakota is an excellent choice, but I think we will go with Texas. My opinion is that Texas is a more stable choice for full-timers. Granting “residency” status to people that spend little or no time in a particular state is a very touchy political issue. With the Escapees RV Club headquartered in Texas, they have already battled the issue, and they probably have the best clout of any organization for full-timers.

With that said, the “best” state depends on individual circumstances and a no-state-income-tax state may NOT be the best choice in your particular situation.

13. How do you get your mail?

We have a wonderful friend back in Louisville that has allowed us to use her house as our mailing address. We trust her enough to open everything that comes in. She then scans our mail and emails it to us. We take a look at it and then let her know whether we need the originals. It’s awesome!!

About once a month, she will send us an overnight package to our campground. Some campgrounds won’t accept regular mail for temporary visitors, but we have had no problems getting UPS or FedEx. Of course we always ask to be sure that it is okay and let them know to be on the lookout for it. Often, the packages can be delivered directly to our campsite.

We also use General Delivery for her to send us packages. Local post offices will hold General Delivery mail for 30 days. So we often have mail sent to a location in advance of our arrival if we are positive we won't be changing plans. :)

If we change our mailing address to Texas in the future, we will switch to the Escapees mail forwarding service.

14. How do you handle your banking?

We maintain a checking account through Merrill Lynch. We were not even aware that we could do our banking through them, until the day we went and broke the news to our advisors that we were quitting our jobs and would no longer be socking away huge sums of money. They explained their Beyond Banking account to us.

Here is what we get: