DVC dues and retirement thoughts....

[byurick]

I guess I don't really have a specific question but thought it would be helpful to hear others opinions/wishes/musings about getting older and the cost of DVC.

For me personally I've been grappling with how I want to plan this out. Right now my only contract is SSR direct (150pts), but I'd like to buy at least a bit more to get us some guaranteed stays at Riviera (my wife's new favorite). So I started thinking about when deeds expire and dues in the next 15 or so years. For the record I'm 46 so when SSR expires I will be 75. I'm not quite sure I will even have the ability to travel when I'm near that old and as much as my young adult children like Disney I'm not under the assumption they will want anything to do with these contracts.

One of the things that worries me is not knowing what the resale market will look like in the next 20 years. If I have to sell my SSR will anyone even want to buy it? Maybe I'm overthinking it.

PS - you folks with 800+ pts talking about retirement scares the crap out of me, the dues on those points keeps me up at night right now and I can't even imagine it when I'm in retirement. That's not an insignificant amount of money per year when I have no income.

Sorry for the rambling post......

 

[Brian Noble]

One of the things that worries me is not knowing what the resale market will look like in the next 20 years. If I have to sell my SSR will anyone even want to buy it? Maybe I'm overthinking it.

Who cares?

If you've already gotten sufficient value out of it, any sales revenue is found money. I don't think it is likely that any WDW-based DVC resort ends up under water, defined as: the dues are more expensive than the prevailing cash room rate on the open market. As long as that doesn't happen, you'll be able to re-home it.

 

[byurick]

Who cares?

It's less about trying to get a return on investment (I know they don't work that way) and more like something bad has happened in my life and now I can't afford to be saddled with dues anymore.

 

[Brian Noble]

If that happens, you will be able to find a home for the contract unless WDW generally is under water. And, if WDW is under water we probably have bigger things to worry about, because that would require some fairly catastrophic changes to the economy.

when I have no income.

This is a different (and possibly more important) problem. It might be a real problem, or it might be a problem you think is more serious than it really is. If Dues are keeping you up at night, it might be time to talk to a fee-for-service financial planner to go over your plans. If you've been prudent so far, mostly that will end up as "You're doing fine, keep up the good work," but it may also result in some actionable suggestions.

 

[ShaneDJ]

…more like something bad has happened in my life and now I can't afford to be saddled with dues anymore.

If you stop paying dues, then Disney will foreclose on you.

So there already is a process.

 

[MyDogTink]

I’ve been thinking about this more as DVC dues upon death (morbid, I know). For us, even though we have wills, Florida property needs to go through probate. I need to talk to my attorney about an addendum requiring the executor of the estate to pay MFs until my daughter is of age to decide if she will sell.

 

[muppets3d]

Who cares?

If you've already gotten sufficient value out of it, any sales revenue is found money. I don't think it is likely that any WDW-based DVC resort ends up under water, defined as: the dues are more expensive than the prevailing cash room rate on the open market. As long as that doesn't happen, you'll be able to re-home it.

The cabins are already pretty close to that.

 

[MyDogTink]

If you stop paying dues, then Disney will foreclose on you.

So there already is a process.

My fear. See my post above.

 

[Brian Noble]

I need to talk to my attorney about an addendum requiring the executor of the estate to pay MFs until my daughter is of age to decide if she will sell.

If I were in this position, I would specify that it be sold by my executor. Nothing says I love you like cold hard cash---even from beyond the grave.

 

[DVCPAT]

Great thing about DVC points in retirement is prepaid vacations are tax free. You don’t have to withdraw funds which helps control your tax bracket. It’s good to look poor on paper.

 

[MyDogTink]

If I were in this position, I would specify that it be sold by my executor. Nothing says I love you like cold hard cash---even from beyond the grave.

Thank you for this suggestion.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I will be perfectly honest.. I don't think a whole lot about retirement. It very well may come back to bite me in the future, but Im living for now. I grew up with a mom who was (and still is) focused on retirement and savings. She has a ton of savings and has her retirement, but she has not had many vacations in her lifetime. She has a bunch of money.. just sitting there making more money but she isn't benefiting from it at all. I guess I will benefit from it in the future.. but I would much rather her have spent her money on life experiences. She is coming with us to Aulani next month to stay in the grand villa, that never would've happened without my decision to buy DVC.

Anyway.. I assume (and I could be completely wrong) that when it's time to sell I will be able to sell for some sort of money, thats a huge win in my book. The BW I bought the original owner purchased it in 1998 and even though I got a great deal, she is still walking away with a decent sum of money and she presumably enjoyed stays at BW for the last 28 years.

 

[Mommb]

I need to talk to my attorney about an addendum requiring the executor of the estate to pay MFs until my daughter is of age to decide if she will sell.

If I were in this position, I would specify that it be sold by my executor. Nothing says I love you like cold hard cash---even from beyond the grave.

But what if the daughter wants to keep ownership? If she wants the cash after she inherits, she can certainly choose to sell. But if she would rather keep the membership and the memories that go with it, she should have that option. I can tell you that if I had inherited Disney property from my father, I would absolutely have wanted to keep it after he passed away.

You could purchase a life insurance policy (if you don't already have one) that would cover a few years of DVC fees.

 

[Brian Noble]

It sounded like the concern was that she was not of age, so it would be inappropriate for her to make that decision. If down the road she wants to own DVC, she can buy it---with cash that was invested by the estate in the interim.

I'm generally not a fan of keeping things in case they are needed later.

 

[RuntheMouse]

DVC is part of our retirement plan. We are in our early 50’s and plan on visiting WDW as long as we can. We treated our purchases as vacation prepayment. The dues are part of this. We have staggered expiration dates so we have some flexibility but I’m very aware the our RIV contracts will outlast us.

 

[Tatebeck]

Great thing about DVC points in retirement is prepaid vacations are tax free. You don’t have to withdraw funds which helps control your tax bracket. It’s good to look poor on paper.

Good point, I hadn't thought about it like that. Retirement is too far in the future lol.

I will be perfectly honest.. I don't think a whole lot about retirement. It very well may come back to bite me in the future, but Im living for now. I grew up with a mom who was (and still is) focused on retirement and savings. She has a ton of savings and has her retirement, but she has not had many vacations in her lifetime. She has a bunch of money.. just sitting there making more money but she isn't benefiting from it at all. I guess I will benefit from it in the future.. but I would much rather her have spent her money on life experiences. She is coming with us to Aulani next month to stay in the grand villa, that never would've happened without my decision to buy DVC.

Anyway.. I assume (and I could be completely wrong) that when it's time to sell I will be able to sell for some sort of money, thats a huge win in my book. The BW I bought the original owner purchased it in 1998 and even though I got a great deal, she is still walking away with a decent sum of money and she presumably enjoyed stays at BW for the last 28 years.

I find a happy balance. Having/investing plenty of money for the future, while still having a lot of fun now, just not blowing all your money on silly things that give you nothing back long term (and DVC fits all of this very well in my eyes! )

 

[AstroBlasters]

I will be perfectly honest.. I don't think a whole lot about retirement. It very well may come back to bite me in the future, but Im living for now. I grew up with a mom who was (and still is) focused on retirement and savings. She has a ton of savings and has her retirement, but she has not had many vacations in her lifetime. She has a bunch of money.. just sitting there making more money but she isn't benefiting from it at all. I guess I will benefit from it in the future.. but I would much rather her have spent her money on life experiences. She is coming with us to Aulani next month to stay in the grand villa, that never would've happened without my decision to buy DVC.

Anyway.. I assume (and I could be completely wrong) that when it's time to sell I will be able to sell for some sort of money, thats a huge win in my book. The BW I bought the original owner purchased it in 1998 and even though I got a great deal, she is still walking away with a decent sum of money and she presumably enjoyed stays at BW for the last 28 years.

I might nudge you to think about it a bit more. Not a paralyzing amount, but a bit more. We are living through a bit of a consumer and government deficit fueled bubble right now…. human history has shown it can’t go on forever.

 

[Sandisw]

I’m already there and we made it to 900 so I could visit from Dec to March for 3 to 4 nights to get out of the Syracuse winters.

As well as other trips if needed! We are fortunate that our retirement income can’t change so we can afford the dues

We also have our adult kids on owners of 475 points so we have options for them if we decide to downsize at any point.

We went in not expecting anything in terms resale value so whatever we get when we sell will be a bonus!

 

[tx911]

I'm counting on Social Security being at least $10k per month by the time I retire.

 

[DVCPAT]

Good point, I hadn't thought about it like that. Retirement is too far in the future lol.

I find a happy balance. Having/investing plenty of money for the future, while still having a lot of fun now, just not blowing all your money on silly things that give you nothing back long term (and DVC fits all of this very well in my eyes! )

Kenny Chesney song comes to mind, Don’t Blink. Time goes by too fast. It’s a balance to enjoy the moment and plan for the future. A little luck along the way is always helpful.