DVC dues and retirement thoughts....

[Brianstl]

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.

It only goes by faster and faster

 

[CarolynFH]

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.

DH and I added adult DD as an owner a couple of years ago so that if we expire before BWV does (a real possibility), she can avoid probate in Florida. Then she can decide whether to keep it or sell it.

 

[Shera-Kasuni Brown]

The cabins are already pretty close to that.

How do you see that? Just checked for when we’re using our points at WDW and the cabins cash price is $633/nt for 10/14 and 10/15

 

[Moonspinner]

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.

This is us too. It is part of our retirement plan.

And we’ve already asked our kids— they want all the contracts. It will be interesting to see if they still feel the same way in about 20 years.

 

[muppets3d]

How do you see that? Just checked for when we’re using our points at WDW and the cabins cash price is $633/nt for 10/14 and 10/15

The annual passholder discount they were offering for over the summer was very attractive. Even grand Floridian was on an aggressive promo.

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

Echo pp about speaking with a financial advisor if this is a concern. With every new contract I’ve done the math and even though I’m a diligent saver and have no issues paying my current dues, seeing the projected total for 2060 does make me pause.

So I was just honest with my FA and had him run a few extra scenarios - and while he said I would be fine, I’m forcing myself to fund an additional DVC dues bucket so that any money I’ll need to pay for them long term won’t impact other areas down the road.

It really was just for my own peace of mind but OP if you’re spending a lot of time worrying about it - and it’s detracting from your ability to enjoy today - I would recommend doing the same.

 

[AdamsMum]

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.

Pre retirement fears hit most of us at some point in time. I retired in 2021 I was 64. I also thought I wouldn't be able to afford my life once retired, and I wanted to do more than just sit home. My marriage broke up at age 55, so I basically started over then, buying a condo, helping my son through university, and being frugal so I could afford to keep my contracts (small contracts totalling 200) and still go to WDW once a year.
Long story shortened-at some point you make some tough lifestyle choices. I wanted to travel, so I sold my condo, invested the money. I couldn't imagine not owning my own home, but it's turned out okay. My investments supplement my pension income, and I've been to Paris, London, Rome, Venice and most recently Amsterdam. I'm still not a big spender, I rarely eat out, drive an old car, hope it holds a few more years
I did what Brian Noble suggested, I got a fee for service financial planner who looked at my investments and gave me a cash flow projection, net worth projections, and a clear plan of where my money will come from up to the age of 95. I had anxiety about hiring him, but I sucked up my courage and did it anyway. Turns out I'm better off than I thought. I'd have been even better off if I'd paid attention and got this done when I was first on my own, but hindsight is always 20/20. I hope you can figure it out. Lying awake at night worrying will kill your joy faster than almost anything. Good luck.
That long story didn't really get shortened, did it.

ETA: BTW I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but I have enough. Give some thought to your concept of enough.

 

[Shadeaux]

It only goes by faster and faster

So true! We are in our early '70s and just celebrated our 50th anniversary. We keep asking ourselves how the heck could 50 years go by so fast?! We've owned DVC for 31 years....same thing, how could it possibly be that long?

 

[Brian Noble]

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.

I don't think this is an either/or thing, but a place to seek balance.

I set aside a fixed percentage of my W2 income in a retirement account, and have since I was about 30. This is set to (hopefully!) ensure sufficient funds in retirement. However, I do not max my W2 contributions, because I also want to enjoy things along the way.

I also have a side gig. This is irregular; some years I don't bill any time at all, other years can be more involved. For this, i do max out my SEP-IRA contribution, but the remainder is entirely "fun money.'

 

[Brian Noble]

My marriage broke up at age 55, so I basically started over then

My divorce finalized right around that age, after a multi-year separation/attempt at reconciliation. While I don't necessarily recommend it, it is a good opportunity to take stock of what is (and is not) important and re-examine plans, financial and otherwise.

 

[RuntheMouse]

I don't think this is an either/or thing, but a place to seek balance.

I set aside a fixed percentage of my W2 income in a retirement account, and have since I was about 30. This is set to (hopefully!) ensure sufficient funds in retirement. However, I do not max my W2 contributions, because I also want to enjoy things along the way.

I also have a side gig. This is irregular; some years I don't bill any time at all, other years can be more involved. For this, i do max out my SEP-IRA contribution, but the remainder is entirely "fun money.'

Agree! It’s all about balance. DH is self employed and we max out his SEP, HSA and my IRA every year. After that is done, he’s done working. This year it’s happening pretty early and we have a lot of fun trips/weekend getaways planned. My family is not known for longevity so I am acutely aware of how precious time is and we spend as much time not working as we can afford.

You have to plan for the future but also enjoy the present!

 

[davidhr]

We moved to the US after our 30s, so we are a bit on the aggressive side saving for our retirement as we lost some valuable years (our savings from our home country currency took a hit when converting to USD and the cost of living here). But we are also the people who know tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, so we live and enjoy our lives now. Thankfully we both have good jobs and can find a balance.

For our dues in retirement, I don’t account for the SS income when calculating retirement income, so if that can cover dues (which it should easily even if it’s paying 60%-70% like some experts say), we are fine.