Economy and second thoughts...

[NEtrawler58]

The only thing I have to add is that the high price of fuel will find its way into every other part of maintaining your boat. Every thing that's made needs fuel from production to delivery so it may be a challenge for everyone until things calm down. I'm retired also and what I worry about is overall inflation. It always go's up, it's just a matter of how fast, and my retirement will never keep up with it.

Correction. Rate of inflation does not always go up. it sometimes goes down. It was much higher in the 70's and 80's than in the last couple decades. Prices on the other hand generally go up over time. how quickly they rise is the definition of inflation. If your retirement funds grow at or above the rate of inflation, you shouldn't be that worried.

 

[Group9]

When the going gets tough,
1. Slow down
2. Anchor out more
3. Cook on the boat more.

 

[Iggy]

I had prostate cancer surgery on 3/17 a couple years ago so I know the feeling. I hope the luck of the Irish is with you.


Regarding stock losses, remember it's only a loss on paper. It only becomes a real loss if you sell. Also, the value of your stock fund may be down from what it was a few months ago, but that's not necessarily a loss. It may still be a gain depending on when you bought.

Yep!

 

[BandB]

Last I checked, prime filet was going for $39/lb in the local grocery store here.

Nowhere near that here. Prime Ribeye at Costco is only $20/lb and they're the largest sellers of prime beef. Now we buy wholesale and not sure what we're paying right now.

 

[Pack Mule]

We’ve been chunking/ downsizing for the last 6 weeks . I just gave all my cabinet shop equipment to my nephew this past Sunday. We put the house on the market a week ago and sold it yesterday. Rented a small storage unit for what we don’t want on the boat. We’re planning on staying on the boat through the summer at least. Then after that , not sure . I ordered new Dickinson stove/ oven for the boat , it will be here in a couple days .
Right or wrong that’s what we’re doing for now.

 

[Crux]

Sounds right, enjoy!

 

[Captankirk]

Yeah it's going to cost a little more than we figured.
And you're saving the money for?????
You retired and have X amount of money to spend before you die, which is ??????
Damn the cost. Stay with the plan. It'll all work out in the end.

 

[NEtrawler58]

Nowhere near that here. Prime Ribeye at Costco is only $20/lb and they're the largest sellers of prime beef. Now we buy wholesale and not sure what we're paying right now.

I don't buy beef at Costco because I only buy what I can eat fresh. At the grocery store today, choice rib eye is $19, not sure what they are getting for prime. Filet mignon is $25 for choice and $35 for prime. When I buy beef for dinner, I don't buy huge amounts, therefore a 1/2 lb potion of filet mignon is cheaper than a 1 lb portion of almost any other cut. But a 1/2 lb of filet is more than enough for me and there is almost zero waste, so a good buy IMO regardless of $/lb.

 

[BandB]

I don't buy beef at Costco because I only buy what I can eat fresh. At the grocery store today, choice rib eye is $19, not sure what they are getting for prime. Filet mignon is $25 for choice and $35 for prime. When I buy beef for dinner, I don't buy huge amounts, therefore a 1/2 lb potion of filet mignon is cheaper than a 1 lb portion of almost any other cut. But a 1/2 lb of filet is more than enough for me and there is almost zero waste, so a good buy IMO regardless of $/lb.

Well, we just loaded up for our cruising. If your choice Ribeye is $19, I'd guess prime about $5 more. Prime Filet is always very high and often in low supply. We do load up especially for a long cruise.

 

[Marco Flamingo]

No second thoughts (yet) about boating in this economy, but then I use secrets that I don't think have been mentioned yet in this thread. First, only buy as much boat as you need, not what you want to be seen on. I saved $280,000 using this seldom mentioned little secret. That buys a lot of fuel (especially at our burn rate of 1 gal/hr.)

Second, we watch the currents. It helps to be retired and have a crew that doesn't whine about getting up in the dark. I have a 6.5 knot boat, but often have +8 knot days because of playing the currents. I might have to put down the lunch hook and eat lunch at 1:30 to wait for slack in a pass. Might have to eat at the helm to catch a fair current. But overall I can get 20% better fuel economy without much hassle. It's probably also good for my health.

 

[koliver]

Well, we just loaded up for our cruising. If your choice Ribeye is $19, I'd guess prime about $5 more. Prime Filet is always very high and often in low supply. We do load up especially for a long cruise.

Here in SoCal, Costco prices are the same as you are reporting. Their Prime Filet is the best we have found here. $19.95/lb, same as 2 years ago pre Covid.

 

[kthoennes]

TF often has threads on the boat market trends and they're interesting to read, but the world is so turbulent now -- on multiple levels at the same time -- it's getting to the point where I don't even try to guess. And even very experienced, wise opinions offered on here start to feel like total guesses to me. Our marina -- about as far from salt water as you can get in North America -- decided to crank up prices drastically this season, to the point where it's becoming a close call whether we stay there. We went to a big RV/boat/outdoor show last weekend. Packed. Delivery dates are still 6-12 months out, and good luck on parts and service. They had Class A motorhomes stacked up in a line in the convention hall, all half a million dollars and above. The boats were burst-out-laughing expensive (finance this boat or RV over 987 months!). I do know our marina and our boat have gotten so expensive so fast that even though we're making significantly more money now than when we bought our first big(ger) boat in 2011, if we didn't own our current boat outright now, I don't think we'd dive into this again. There are two boats for sale on Boat Trader right now, same make and model as ours. Asking price (for what that's worth) is double and triple, respectively, what we paid for ours about five years ago. Sometimes I feel like a frog in a pot of heating water with the cost escalations. If we were diving in now, we would almost certainly do something else that's not such a money drain. I know there's a ton of money sloshing around, from fake federal money to plain old rich people (whatever that means to each of us), but when you see global chaos and instability and market fluctuations like this, even though we can float the cost of an expensive recreational activity without pain, it makes me want to hunker down for a while.

And P.S. I'm glad I'm not Oceanco right now.

 

[BandB]

And P.S. I'm glad I'm not Oceanco right now.

How about Lurssen which has some of their yachts in for work and rehab and in dry dock. One that terminated their crew of 96, Lurssen hired a crew of 5 to keep an eye on it while it sits there. They won't live on it, but commute from a hotel. A captain, 2 deck hands, 2 engineers.

 

[Mako]

“Slow down…”

Same advise works particularly well for your vehicle as well, and you probably spend more fuel money on it than your boat.

I regularly drive 5mph under the speed limit with my four door Chevy pickup. Sometimes 10th if I’m not in a hurry or holding up traffic. Get 30mpg with the turbo engine.

Back to boats, my wife hates going fast so we cruise 8 knots. Not even sure I’m burning fuel at that speed . Ha!

 

[BandB]

No second thoughts (yet) about boating in this economy, but then I use secrets that I don't think have been mentioned yet in this thread. First, only buy as much boat as you need, not what you want to be seen on. I saved $280,000 using this seldom mentioned little secret. That buys a lot of fuel (especially at our burn rate of 1 gal/hr.)

The real secret is not overextending oneself and, in my mind, that always means planning for a 20% contingency increase in costs.

 

[drb1025]

As an economist, I can tell you with certainty the election had nothing to do with your facts as stated.

First Law of Economists: For every economist, there exists and equal and opposite economist.

 

[firehoser75]

CatalinaJack,
While I agree with the statement made by another poster re: the differing economists, I worry that the times ahead could be very tough! I hope I am wrong!!!!
The Fed (or equivalent in many other Countries) has recently been on a money printing (creating) binge, which does decrease the value of currency already in circulation (in effect contributing to inflationary pressures), most Country's debt to GDP ratio has never been worse (and by a long shot), and we are experiencing the highest levels of consumer debt ever seen, coupled with shortages and supply chain issues. Interest rates are close to zero (fueling the borrowing with no prospect to going down), inflation has hit record levels (30-40 year records), energy prices are skyrocketing, and the world is on the potential brink of war (for sure a country (Ukraine) that produces large quantities of much needed natural resources and crops is under siege and these supplies will suffer).
When you consider all of these things (and other factors), it does appear possible that the potential for my general "prediction" that the next decade is likely to be worse for the average person than the last one to at least be plausible.
I really, really hope you are correct, and that 18 months from now we will be able to say how foolish my concerns turned out to be....... but I fear that will not be the case.

 

[FWT]

Its hard to discuss the economy while avoiding politics. Which I will avoid.

But its a political economy impacted by policy choices. If there is no impact from policies, why have policies at all?

So the simple truth is that nothing is permanent in direction. Things can change and change quickly. For the better or for the worse. That's not an opinion, that's historical fact.

Don't assume boom times will last. Don't assume bust times will last. The tide comes in, and the tide goes out. If only the econ cycle times were as predictable.

 

[Comodave]

However the bottom line here on TF is that politics are not allowed. So if someone has something to say that can’t be said without injecting politics then don’t say it. Simple as that. I am not directing this at anyone in particular, just a comment since we have had issues with this thread several times.

 

[bowball]

The Fed (or equivalent in many other Countries) has recently been on a money printing (creating) binge, which does decrease the value of currency already in circulation (in effect contributing to inflationary pressures),

Not exactly “recently”. Accelerated perhaps due to Covid stimulus payments. Source Fed.

 

[Simi 60]

When the going gets tough,
1. Slow down
2. Anchor out more
3. Cook on the boat more.

And if you have already been doing this for the last 6 years?

The downside to living a frugal life is there is nothing to be cut out when a downturn happens

 

[sunchaser]

Prime cut beef prices too high? Eat more chicken and turkey. Your cardiologist would concur.

 

[Delta Riverat]

What? You guys don't fish off the boat -

 

[Peter B]

Dear all, the mods have reached a consensus that this thread is now headed for eventual self-destruction, so it would be good to just close it while still on a relatively high note, even allowing for the fact some editing/deleting having been necessary.