Quote:
Originally Posted by BoneLakeBennie
We're kind of hijacking the thread, but... everyone is entitled to their opinion. So, would purchasing a weekend getaway place be "such a waste" because it is only used 2 days a week?
For us, the reason we purchased a retirement home in FL and snowbird is to avoid dealing with the cold winters in MN and basically having to be inside all winter. We kept our house in MN so that we don't have to deal with the heat and humidity of the FL summers. If a person can afford it, why not have the best of both worlds?
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Not only do I agree with this, I don't see it as a "waste" ever. While one might ride the ups and downs of short-term transiency, one is not really "Spending" the money or "buying" a home.
IMHO, what one is doing is simply parking the money while still able to use it and enjoy it. While the overall rate of return may not be what one may get in other investment vehicles, there reaches a point in one's life where that is no longer the end game.
My life's job is neither to create wealth for children I do not have nor to give it to nieces or nephews who only occasionally visit (no fault of their own- they lead their own busy lives working and raising families). No, my life's job is to create wealth so that I reach a point of comfort where Mrs. EDJ and I can start to spend and enjoy that wealth.
Having spent our lifetimes in SoCal, moving to the southeast was a financial and philosophical "no-brainer." However, we have learned that we do not always enjoy the winters, mild as they are. When the winter becomes longer and darker than we like, and the boat and jet skis are put away for the season, it is nice to have a nearby landing pad to go and enjoy sunnier and warmer weather that is already packed with our conveniences, comforts, and preferences (our furniture, our decor, our other car, etc.). It helps that landing pad is only a day's drive or a 2 hour flight away.
So, "buying" a winter home in my mind isn't spending the money, but rather parking it into a lower yield long-term investment that I get to enjoy now while not freezing my derriere or shoveling white crap.
If I need it for medical bills or nursing homes decades down the road, it can be liquidated - probably at some profit gain.