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Trying retirement early

'Practice retirement' can help families avoid costly errors

By: Eileen Alt Powell ,
Associated Press

September 11, 2002

Many baby boomers have special dreams for their retirement — touring the country in an RV, moving to the sunny climes of Florida or Arizona, cruising the oceans.

Yet some are destined to find that their long-anticipated new lifestyles just don't work. That recreational vehicle could be too cramped. Florida might turn out to be hot and muggy. Exotic cruises might be expensive and, at times, stomach churning.

Some boomers and retirees have found that one way to try to avoid expensive mistakes is to do some trial runs, essentially practice retirements.

That's what Charlie and Lari Johnson did. They quit their jobs in Washington, D.C., in 1994 and spent the next six years cruising the Caribbean in their 53-foot trawler, Bearboat.

"A practice retirement is a great idea," Lari said, who is 55. "Sometimes people have a whole different perception of what it's like. Take cruising. It's not umbrella drinks on the back deck every night. It's not beautiful sunsets every night."

She said they had met people who spent a lot of money on a boat and, after hitting bad weather or struggling with a mechanical problem for the first time, cruised back into port and put a "for sale" sign on the craft.

Lari said she and Charlie had to learn to work as a team — to do what she termed "the pink jobs and the blue jobs" on the boat — and to play to strengths such as hers in navigating, his in weather forecasting. They started with short jaunts out of Florida and eventually set out for the Windward and Leeward islands.

"At each island, we said we'd see just what we wanted to see, because we knew we'd be coming back," Lari said. "We almost always ended up staying longer than we expected because the places were so wonderful and the people we met were such fun."

They're now living on their boat in a marina in St. Petersburg, Fla. Charlie, 58, a retired Navy officer, has started a business helping to outfit boats for other cruisers; Lari has gone back to public relations work.

When they eventually do retire, Lari said, "I can't imagine we'd retire and sit in chairs and watch TV. I think we will always be doing something on the water."

Sherie Corley, who teachers gerontology at Washington State University in Vancouver, said many people want to find a place or lifestyle that is compatible with their image of retirement. "Sometimes they've changed, or they're upset with the cost of living where they are, or they want to get away from crime or they're looking for a place that is a better fit for their later years," she said. "A lot want to be closer to their kids — but not in their kids' laps."

Corley, who is in her 40s, said one way to try out new locations is to house swap. "We're in a home exchange crowd," she said. "We do it for the travel. But we're finding that some people use it to come to our area, check it out and see if they want to be in this area permanently."

She said some retirees' relocations turn out to be disasters if they haven't thought the move through.

"There are people who visit Colorado a couple of times and then build a 5,000 square-foot house up in the mountains somewhere," Corley said. "Just who is going to visit you in the middle of nowhere? How are you going to get around in winter? What are you going to do when you need medical care?"

Duane Lindgren, 66, spent a number of years working as an agricultural consultant in the Middle East before he and his wife, Barbara, 64, moved to central California.

They enjoyed camping in a small trailer on vacations to the Pacific coast, so they were comfortable with their decision on retiring in 1997 to take to the road in a pickup with a 35-foot Fifth Wheel trailer in tow.

"We hit about half of the states in the next four years," he said. "A lot of RV people will go and stay some place for three or four or five months. But we kept moving because we liked that."

Lindgren advised that couples should be sure they'll enjoy life on the road before they invest in an RV or a big trailer. "They're a bit expensive, and you don't want to buy one and use it for six months and then sell it, because you're going to lose money," he said.

When the time came to find a more permanent place to retire, the Lindgrens did some experimenting. His wife wanted to settle in Texas, where a daughter lives, but he was more comfortable with the Northwest. "We had liked Oregon, so we took three or four trips up the coast," he said.

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