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Enriching your RV retirement

An article in the Christian Science Monitor suggests ways to enrich your retirement in ways that don't cost money. In fact, it could add to your funds. Considering that retirement can last 30 years or more, it's good to think about how you will spend it.

More women than men have thought about what they want to do. Answers for women often include spend more time with family or staying close to friends. Only 19 percent of men say they've spent time determining how they will rest and relax in retirement compared to 25 percent of women. Since many have not given it much thought beyond the financial aspect, this article advises you take a breather but then turn your passion into a new career. O5 find a bridge job that keeps you busy but not involved to the extent of your old career. Lastly, consider volunteering.

Becoming an RVer, whether it is full- or part-time, can offer these opportunities. You can travel awhile to celebrate but then usually there is a need for meaningful activity. Plus some people miss the structure of having a job. Then finding a Workamping position or volunteering while traveling in your RV can add purpose and structure plus some money to your RV retirement. Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

Support Your RV Lifestyle! wins awards

Support Your RV Lifestyle! An Insider’s Guide to Working on the Road, 3rd ed., has won two awards.

The book authored by Jaimie Hall Bruzenak, was named as one of three finalists in the 2012 Benjamin Franklin Awards competition in the Career category. Named in honor of America's most cherished publisher/printer, the Benjamin Franklin Awards™ recognizes excellence in independent publishing. Publications, grouped by genre are judged on editorial and design merit by top practitioners in each field. Winners in each category will be announced and trophies awarded at the Independent Book Publishers Association’s (IBPA) Publishing University in June. IBPA is a not-for-profit trade association serving the independent publishing community.

Support Your RV Lifestyle! has also advanced to the national level in the National Federation of Press Women’s 2012 Communication Contest. As the first place winner in the NFPW at-large Communication Contest in the Instructional Nonfiction category, it will be judged in the national contest with other state first place winners. National winners of each category will be announced and honored at the national convention in September. Jaimie is shown receiving a certificate for winning at the first level from APW members Pam Stevenson and Brenda Warneka.

Author Jaimie Hall Bruzenak is the author of five RV books and ebooks and a freelance writer. Support Your RV Lifestyle! is the result of author’s experiences working and traveling on the road and includes interviews with many other RVers who work as they travel. It has been called the “bible” of working on the road. Bruzenak is a contributing editor at Workamper.com plus writes a regular column for their magazine as well as writing for other online and print publications.

Greers Ferry Lake

Jody Anderson Duquette sent me this photo she took of George on the last night of the Workamper Rendezvous in Heber Springs. He was fooling with his camera, waiting for the sun to set. Nice photo of the sun going down over Greers Ferry Lake. We didn't get out on the lake but enjoyed our evening at the barbeque looking out over the lake. At the Heber Springs end, there are several nice places for RVers to camp. Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

Workamper Rendezvous

Workamper Rendezvous Spring 2012 was a successful event! We had great weather, food, socializing and lots of opportunities to learn from experts and other Workampers. The setting was the Heber Springs Community Center, not far from the Workamper office. We started off with a welcome from Mayor Jackie McPherson. Once again he extended an invitation to attendees to use the facilities at no charge, which included an indoor track, weight room and aquatic center.

The theme was "teach a man to fish and he'll eat for the rest of his life." The classes provided an excellent variety for learning how to "fish" in the Workamper and RV lifestyle. Classes on taxes, RV maintenance, safety, RV driving as well as plenty of sessions on Workamping were offered. It was often difficult to make a choice! In addition there were two separate round table discussions led by a Workamper or Workamper couple and a hot seat session. Dee and Kevin Placzek shared their experiences preparing for the Workamper lifestyle while on the hot seat.

Sewiepigs were a hot item at the Workamper bookstore. Jody and Luke Duquette shared how to make the best use of Workamper tools. The Workamper Class A motorhome and the Cooper's 5th wheel were also open for touring. Wow- they get fancier every year!

At the end of the Rendezvous, we met at the Dam Site pavillion for entertainment and a barbeque dinner. Entertainment was by Strings and Things and included instructors Arline Chandler and Lee Smith. Lovely music!

We watched the sun go down over Greers Ferry Lake and then some of the staff and Workampers gathered for a quick photo.

Bonus Day found some Workampers staying for more education while others headed back to homes to prepare for their Workamper lifestyle or headed to Workamper jobs. We'll be doing this again in October so if you missed this one, sign up for Workamper Rendezvous and take advantage of this excellent educational opportunity. Jaimie Hall Bruzenak  Photos by George Bruzenak

RV retirement - following your calling

An article at Bankrate.com, “Self-actualization in Retirement,” got me thinking. The article was about the author’s reaction to Boundless Potential: Transform Your Brain, Unleash Your Talents, Reinvent Your Work in Midlife and Beyond, by Mark S. Walton. Walton, who had been in business executive development, changed his mind about working in retirement over the course of writing the book. Walton is quoted as saying, “After five years of research on men and women who not only reinvented their work, but are profiting -- financially, emotionally, physically and spiritually -- from this work, well into their 70s, 80s, even 90s, I've reached the conclusion that the very concept of retirement is a dinosaur, an idea whose time has come and gone.”

Walton isn’t talking about meaningless work or even stopgap work like being a greeter at Walmart. It’s spending your retirement following your calling.

How does this mesh with RV retirement? Most Workamping jobs, the seasonal jobs you find as you travel, are usually low-level jobs, earning your RV site and maybe minimum wage. Can you find meaningful work or activity on the road?

I believe the answer is yes, and what it is will lie in what you find meaningful and also the income you need to achieve. Here are some possibilities:

• Volunteering: national parks, other state and federal agencies, humanitarian groups are just a few where your involvement can make a big difference. You can get a number of ideas in this section of RVLifestyleExperts.com.
• Helping a business succeed: It may not be your business, but helping guests enjoy their stay and making it a good experience is very satisfying. You can pick your situation so you only work as much as you want and in the location you'd like to be in while not having the headaches of ownership.
• Taking time for a avocation: Activities like biking, hiking, geocaching, fishing along your RV travels have many benefits like getting you outdoors, exercise and giving you a sense of accomplishment. Better health can also result.
• Get creative: Learn or develop your talents and skills in beading, painting, writing or other creative pursuit.
• Start your own business: It can be very satisfying to run your own company - even if it is a company of one! Setting your own schedule is a big benefit, creating or giving back another.

Get involved as an RV mentor: In RVers: How Do They Live Like That? authors Farrow and Stoetzer found that people who stay on the road get involved in the lifestyle in some way. One way is to mentor other RVers, through online forums, at RV events, RV parks and organizations. Encouraging and guiding other folks in this lifestyle is very rewarding indeed.

Becoming an RVer in retirement opens up different possibilities for a meaningful life than staying in a stix 'n birx lifestyle- including the opportunity to see new places. Not only that, living the RV lifestyle keeps you young! Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

 

 

Three questions to ask before working from your RV

Many people who choose the RV lifestyle would love to earn money in an RV-based business so they could travel where they want and still earn money. For the person ready to hit the road, answering these questions will help determine if it is realistic to expect to earn a full-time living right away.

While this article at TheFreelanceResource.com is aimed towards freelance writers, the questions are still valid. Are you known for your work? In other words, are there people who will pay you to do the work you've been doing because they know what you can do? The second is "Show me the money?" Do you have people lined up who are willing to pay you? Or do you need to cultivate these contacts to produce work? And do you have funds in reserve to cover times when you are not earning money? And third, are you disciplined? You need to carry over work habits you learned at an office or you will probably not be successful.

This is not to say you cannot develop a business that will support your RV lifestyle. But, if you don't have these elements in place, work on them before you hit the road, or be prepared to develop your client base over time. Have other means of supplying a good part of the income you will need until you build up your business. Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

 

North Dakota- land of dreams? or not?

Many people have headed to North Dakota in hopes of making big bucks from the oil boom. While some have found high-paying jobs, others are not doing so well. D-LOnline reports on a family that moved from Spokane, WA to Williston, ND to start a new life. However, with the cost to pay off their RV, their other debts, plus outfit their trailer against the cold, they are going further into debt. Work is sporadic so they cant always pay their bills.

On the other hand, AARP Bulletin has an article about all the good jobs available in the the same area and that workers over 50 years of age are finding good jobs. Here are some resources:

• jobsnd.com Job Service North Dakota
• willistondevelopment.com for a relcation guide
• mercy-williston.org for Mercy Medical Center jobs
• williston.k12.nd.us Check job openings under "district" button. Williston Schools.

All agree on one thing. Even though this has been a mild winter, it is still doggone cold! Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

RVNN.TV Interview replay

This is the interview Jaimie and Alice had with Courtney Wallin and Andy McCaskey of RVNN.TV. We're the first segment followed by RV news and other stories. We had fun. Hope you enjoy it too! Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

Mobile summer camp - great business idea

One couple has found an interesting and profitable way to use RVs to make money. They have a mobile summer camp! American Wanderer Summer Camp uses two RVs as rolling cabins and takes kids to several national and state parks each of four sessions to learn firsthand about nature and history. The two RVs serve as the bunk house and kitchen. The campers and instructor/counselors travel in SUVs to various sites during the day.

In 2012, they have four different camps, each with a theme, visiting parks and completing activities along a specific route.

I think it's a great idea - both for making money and for giving kids a wonderful experience. Hats off to Chris and Lyn Kimberly! Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

 

No retirement- the new model of retirement?

Lots is being written about the changing face of retirement. My Budget 360 states that many people will never retire. Others say the new 65 retirement age is 80.

According to MyBudget360:

We are left with over 75,000,000 baby boomers entering into retirement with very little saved. One out of three Americans has absolutely no money saved to their name. In 1983 over 60 percent of working Americans had some sort of defined-benefit pension plan. Today that number is below 20 percent. With the average worker making $25,000 a year the media designed idea of retirement is largely just another fantasy.

That's a lot of people that have no money saved. And, according to FrugalDad.com, most people are just throwing money at a number, with no idea of what it will take to live on in retirement. He references the ING commercial below.

Frugal Dad says a big problem is determining that number. And, then is it accurate? You may be able to live more simply than the retirement calculators suggest. (One retirement calculator is at ING. You can find others by googling "retirement calculator.")

At the ING calculator, one option is Domestic Traveler, with an estimate monthly spending of $5,600. That is assuming traveling part time in an RV and keeping a dwelling. Full-time RVing can be much less than that, many living on $2K/month or even less. When you add in working or volunteering on the RV road, that can lower your expenses even further.

Yes, articles paint a dreary picture about the future of retirement. I did come across another article in the New York Times money section that has some creative solutions for funds if you are laid off just before you retire and need some money to fill in. Again, RV retirement along with working or volunteering can be a good solution.

Many of us are where we are with not a lot of time to add to funds for the future. Save what you can and remember, we always have choices. There are tons of things to do- to enjoy life and be productive - that don't cost a cent. Jaimie Hall Bruzenak