A great deal of this, of course, revolves around what the financing of "The Next Phase" looks like. Sadly (or at least sadly from my point of view anyway) taxes form a fair amount of consideration here. I have started doing the math on tax rates in places I would consider living (yes, I know, there are tax free states and I currently live in one. That said, tax free does not always make it a home). Then balance the tax rate against things like property taxes, housing costs, and cost of living. Then balance that against what one thinks one is likely to make in a different location, perhaps doing a different thing (acknowledging that what I currently do means I have to live in certain places, so to relocate would be to live in one of those places or change what I do).
The second is simply "What would we do there?" Here things diverge a bit more. The Ravishing Mrs. TB would like to travel. I am not so much for travel but for staying home more and doing "things" - gardening, bee keeping, actual reading and contemplating, actually taking care of things (instead of packing it in around the margins). other sorts of things that I simply do not have the time to do at this point. There would have to be a compromise, of course: endless travel is not in the cards and (if I am truly honest) puttering around is not either. There is a happy medium there somewhere to be made.
Why does all this matter? Because it is helping me to frame my thoughts and my actions in the next few years, which have become incredibly important in determining what will happen in the years that follow (even something as simple as "Should I buy this? Do I really need it or could I save the money? And would I really want to move it?"). Thinking about possibly doing something very different in 30 years is nebulous. Thinking about doing something different in as early as less than five is completely different.
And if you were to move somewhere that you could do what you want to do, how would you turn that into a job?
ReplyDeleteRaising bees? Raw honey, and local honey is a fairly big market right now.
Would Mrs. TB be happy traveling on her own? The BIL has kids in a couple different locations. His wife often makes the trips on her own for visits.
Hubby and I passed the 43 year mark in July and find that we like doing things separately, not so much.
A family in Pineville near us raises rabbits for show. Rabbits that don't make the cut are re-homed or end up in the freezer. Rabbit poo is a GREAT fertilizer because it doesn't have to be composted to be used. We buy from them occasionally; but they have a permanent buyer of all they can bring, normally. A sign by the road for rabbit manure might be enough to make money on what you can't use yourself.
Thinking is always a good thing. You can't beat the price and you never know what it might bring. :)
I will be watching with interest, TB!
ReplyDeleteI am not sure, Linda. At the moment, the one good thing about my career is (with a bit of acquiring the right credentials) I could do it remotely. Perhaps not make a ton of money, but enough to offset expenses.
ReplyDeleteI have tried working with the land and nature enough to know completely relying on that can be a bit of a gamble. I will need to bridge, possibly for 10-15 years, with some version of what I do now and other means for income.
Bees would be awesome and I love them. That said, only once in three years did I manage to overwinter a hive.
I dump all my rabbit droppings and the used sawdust material on my garden. Best soil additive ever.
We do have our apart activities, but we also need to do things together. One of the activities she enjoys most of all is going new places. I am sure we will find a happy medium.
Thanks Glen! For the first time in kind of a while, I am almost excited about the future.
ReplyDelete