Retirement or Sabbatical?

When contemplating when to start our Great RV Escape, there's one looming question. When we hit the road as fulltimers will we be "retired" (as in never planning to work because we have to again) or "on sabbatical"? When that question is answered, a lot of other things should fall into place.

As we've mentioned before, we are career workaholics. We're closing in on 30 years of that incredibly unhealthy behavior. So, no surprise, we're pretty darn toasty. These days our opinion of our jobs isn't all that high. But, that's not the problem. We just don't feel like working. Really...stick a fork in it this whole work thing. We are done.

Now, if we have no plans of working ever again once we start fulltiming, our confidence in being able to fund our retirement as we would like gets a wee bit shaky. We have a lot of expertise in this area, so we know of what we speak. We could get by just fine and not outlive our money. But, if something extreme happens, the odds of a successful plan diminish.

But, if we stick to our plan of returning to work after exploring the country for a year, or two, or three - or even four - our financial plan is rock solid. We'll be a couple of well-rested, no longer toasted professionals, in our not-yet-mid 50s. Our entrepreneurial spirit will find a way to create satisfying work for ourselves and the income we need to have a safe and secure future.

So, what's it gonna be, kids? Retirement or sabbatical?