Michael: Home versus Home Base

The intense gray skies
Cry out in low primal screams
Right before they weep.

October 10, 2015

With the process of obtaining our visas well underway along with our planning to build a home here, it would seem I’ve made a firm decision to retire in Panama. But I don’t see it that way.

Kimme likes to think of it as home versus home base. Panama is going to be our home base while we explore and travel, but it’s not necessarily going to be our permanent home. We just don’t know at this stage of the game where we’ll eventually end up, though we both feel we’ll return to the U.S. at some point.

I also think of it in terms of a resource allocations decision. If I take part of my retirement savings now and invest it in a home here, I will dramatically decrease my costs of living and free up my financial resources to use now as opposed to later. I’ll use some approximate numbers to demonstrate. Rent cost $750. Let’s say I build a home here for $90,000. Over 30 years that’s a monthly mortgage of  about $300. That’s an annual savings of over $5,000 per year. That’s money we can use to travel or invest or buy shoes.

And since I’m loaning the money to myself, in 30 years that money will all be there waiting for me as I’m about to turn 90. I know, if I invested that money wisely now, I’d probably have a great deal more of it as I neared my 90th  birthday, but I’m not so sure I’m going to care all that much then. I feel a far more younger chipper me, would enjoy the money a bit more now, and I’ll let the old man me curse the younger dude making these decisions when he gets there and wonders why he can’t buy that yacht he’s always dreamed of.

I figure at the worst, in a few years we decide to move elsewhere and sell our place. We may not make money, but I don’t anticipate we’ll lose either.

In the meantime, we’ll be living and working in a beautiful home in a lovely part of the world with resources to travel and visit the people we love and care about.