Semi retired lifestyles | Page 6 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Semi retired lifestyles

I think Emirates is no doing that route anymore but could be wrong. Actually no route to Australia but you can get to Auckland if NZ allows you. About $2300 return

I thought about Emirates but my partner was dubious as had a long layover. Not that LAX was in anyway risk free....it was just realllllly empty.
 
One of the better way to head down to A/NZ is via Emirates if you're not on the clock. You can do a multiport/leg itinerary which basically works out to. YYZ ->DBX - SIN ->A/NZ.

You can spend a day and night in Dubai first, which is more than enough for most people. Two days and and nights in Singapore which is also good enough time to take in most of the city. From there you can just hit up any major city in Aus or Auckland. The cost is usually about the same depending on the time of year and all that jazz. You get to see some cool world class cities and take in some culture and sceneries and most importantly, the food; on your voyage austral.

Wow, that's a lot of time in an airplane. When I did it, I just booked thru Air Canada YYZ-YVR-SYD. Return was MEL-SYD-YVR-YYZ.

5 hours to YVR then two hours off the plane, back on the same plane, and 15 hours to SYD was more than enough ...

I was travelling with most of the motorcycle riding gear that I own including both street and track leathers ... the priority was on not having the airline lose my luggage. No plane changes (on the way down) kept that to a minimum. It turned out that there was another minor advantage to doing this when booking travel insurance. They ask whether any portion of your trip involved the USA, I could legitimately say "no" because I didn't even have to set foot in an airport in the USA. (Travel insurance to USA is way more expensive than to Europe or Australia.)
 
certainly Vancover to Brisbane is my preferred route. Shortest air time and usually only 2 hours at an airport. Dallas to Sydney I did once on a 380 ....nice plane ....waaaaay to long in it tho ...nevah again.
The total flight duration from Dallas, TX to Sydney, Australia is 17 hours, 40 minutes non-stop
 
I am 64 and not quite ready to retire, I like what I do and will continue on for a few more years. I bought a condo in Naples Florida during the last financial crisis, house prices were so dog gone cheap. Spend 5 weeks there every year Dec/Jan, except this year due to Covid, and rent it out 2-3 months in winter. When I do decide to retire we will spend 4-5 months down there, we hate the winter. My wife retired from nursing 8 years ago with a good pension, unfortunately she does not ride. My plan for retirement is to continue working part time where I currently work May-Nov and take winter off. We have very little debt, mortgage paid off owe a bit on the Florida condo. My son owns his own condo in Toronto, he is a lawyer so no worries for him. I am looking forward to getting some weekday riding in when I do retire. Hoping to take a week off this summer to ride the Cabot Trail, no vacation to Florida this year so will take some time off in summer, if things get better. I just like nothing better than getting on a bike and out of the city. What a great feeling, I have a group of guys I really enjoy riding with, which makes it all that much better.
 
did YYZ to Dubai a total of once...13 hours

after that I opted for a connection through Heathrow
horrible service and £25 breakfast has never been so welcome
 
:eek: and security almost down to your skimpies....hate the place. Had to go via Heathrow to South Africa....and yeah ....food places claim High Street prices...as if that's cheap. English breakfast is good amd filling and $$$$
 
Not sure you can regardless just now but it is a world of difference being away from Covid, masks , lockdowns.
You should go if the gov will let you. For your own risk management, mental health ( no Covid ) and wonderful place.
Air New Zealand flies Toronto, LAX then Auckland. The flights are on Dreamliners which are very comfortable to fly in.

I'm still adjusting ( happily ) to a Covid free world in Queensland.
My sons in the Canadian military. He’s been posted to Australia. Leaving tomorrow, and of course military is paying for the flight. Cheapest economy fare he could get? $7000. I don’t think many Canadians will be going to Australia, even if they could, while covid around. He has to quarantine for 14 days when he gets there. Hopefully I can visit him in the not too distant future, without having to rob a bank to pay the fare, lol.
 
reading an interesting story yesterday about a couple that decided to slow down
2 professionals, no kids, living in the Bay Area in a million dollar condo

worked their buttskies off and paid off the mortgage way quicker than the 30 years
both took buyouts from their jobs and took 2 years off to travel

got home and started to take freelance assignments part time
the dude was saying he regrets their decision
finds it really hard to stay motivated and complete anything on time
clients are becoming scarce as he's not hungry enough to chase the business

the pressure of making mortgage payments kept them focused
they're too young to retire and don't have enough savings to last

can't say I have any empathy for the plight of upper middle class white people that have made a bad decision
but it is an interesting story
 
can't say I have any empathy for the plight of upper middle class white people that have made a bad decision
but it is an interesting story
Not to mention they're in california and dont ride motorcycles...0 sympathy
 
can't say I have any empathy for the plight of upper middle class white people that have made a bad decision
but it is an interesting story

Its interesting and there story is not uncommon, a lot of folks retire 'early' with no real plan and get bored, and some are just underfunded. If you have an indexed pension fine, but taking the 250K buyout? well if that's 2-3 yrs salary then what? best have a nice car so you can drive Uber or a marketable skill.
 
Its interesting and there story is not uncommon, a lot of folks retire 'early' with no real plan and get bored, and some are just underfunded. If you have an indexed pension fine, but taking the 250K buyout? well if that's 2-3 yrs salary then what? best have a nice car so you can drive Uber or a marketable skill.

I imagine if you're on the road, know how to budget, you can get by comfortably and still enjoy your life on 250k, if needed you can always pick up a part time side gig
 
250K sounds thin. Invested with a SAFE return of 5% nets $12,500 per year. Not going far on that.
 
250K sounds thin. Invested with a SAFE return of 5% nets $12,500 per year. Not going far on that.
yup
if you're looking for security, better have a lot of dough in the account

if you can manage it yourself and know what you're doing
can get by with much less and your gains outweigh withdrawals
 
250K sounds thin. Invested with a SAFE return of 5% nets $12,500 per year. Not going far on that.

Yes, 250k sounds good if you're at retirement already, but if you're young, its not enough, gonna need a side income or something
 
250K sounds thin. Invested with a SAFE return of 5% nets $12,500 per year. Not going far on that.

Moving to a country with significantly lower cost of living (SE Asia, Central/South America) would allow you to live comfortably, though not extravagantly, within that budget.

Not advocating for it, as that really doesn't give you a great safety buffer, but it's possible.
 
Hopefully I can visit him in the not too distant future, without having to rob a bank to pay the fare, lol.
It's $3150 round trip to Auckland my flight last month was about that to Brisbane.
Schedules messed just now - normally it's $2k to Brisbane round trip

Now
Travel 3–14 Apr for A$3,351 but you can't go without an invite.
 
Moving to a country with significantly lower cost of living (SE Asia, Central/South America) would allow you to live comfortably, though not extravagantly, within that budget.

Not advocating for it, as that really doesn't give you a great safety buffer, but it's possible.
it is possible
I'm in Ecuador for the winter
you can live quite comfortably here on 1k/month, rough it and it's half of that
but there are a lot of things someone from NA is going to miss
 
it is possible
I'm in Ecuador for the winter
you can live quite comfortably here on 1k/month, rough it and it's half of that
but there are a lot of things someone from NA is going to miss
pussy and motorcycles, what more does a man need?
 
it is possible
I'm in Ecuador for the winter
you can live quite comfortably here on 1k/month, rough it and it's half of that
but there are a lot of things someone from NA is going to miss
There are lots of places where you can go live on a mountain top for cheap - I'm fine with Big Poppas needs list, although I'd add whisky and beer to complete my list.

To me it's not worth saving $2K a month by living in coffee or banana republic. I'm not interested in free stuff you get in the third world like dengue, malaria, crime, being surrounded with poverty, intermittent services, jungle bugs, chancy health care etc.

I'll take a gated community in Arizona or Florida over one in central America any day.
 

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