DVC dues and retirement thoughts....

[muppets3d]

I really don’t know! I just know that Florida has notably timeshare owner friendly laws. DVC might treat all locations the same. But if it isn’t in law, they don’t have to.

It’s quite likely California also has owner friendly laws, but I’m less familiar with them. If they do, then I’d consider owning there. I of course don’t plan to ever deal with this but it’s nice to know what the worst possible outcome is.

What are some examples of timeshare ownership laws that are more owner-friendly in Florida versus say South Carolina? Just curious.

I don't know if I would bank on this long term. Florida has moved in a very pro business direction which leans towards less protections for consumers.

What are some examples of new laws that affect us as timeshare owners in a negative way? Just curious.

 

[fabricmage]

My story: I bought 18 years ago. I too was concerned about paying for dues in retirement. So when I could afford it, I put money in Certificate of Deposits (CDs) and Money markets so I could afford dues for about 10 years in retirement. It's worked out for me - interest rates for CDs and stocks have ABOUT kept up with inflation. (Actually, I'm not sure about that; but the money has increased.) I'm 68 years old now and was thinking of selling as my kids aren't interested anymore in spending money at Disney. However, I've discovered Aulani and Hilton Head so will keep my points until I can't travel anymore.

 

[muppets3d]

My story: I bought 18 years ago. I too was concerned about paying for dues in retirement. So when I could afford it, I put money in Certificate of Deposits (CDs) and Money markets so I could afford dues for about 10 years in retirement. It's worked out for me - interest rates for CDs and stocks have ABOUT kept up with inflation. (Actually, I'm not sure about that; but the money has increased.) I'm 68 years old now and was thinking of selling as my kids aren't interested anymore in spending money at Disney. However, I've discovered Aulani and Hilton Head so will keep my points until I can't travel anymore.

If the amount of money in your accounts increases even as you withdraw, then you've done very well.

 

[sndral]

…
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......

If you plan & start investing now, at age 46, you will likely have income when you retire.
When I was around 40 years old a co-worker took the time to educate me about investing. My employer had a deferred compensation plan, so I researched which mutual funds I wanted in that plan & started investing. If your employer doesn’t offer such a plan, then you can create your own by opening an IRA account. It’s because I started living w/in my means & consistently & conservatively ‘paying myself’ by investing a set % of my then income each month that I can comfortably pay things like my DVC MFs now that I am retired.
There are a zillion retirement/investment calculators on the internet where you can run calculations on likely income at retirement based on how much you’re able to save/invest each month - here’s a simple one https://investor.vanguard.com/tools-calculators/retirement-income-calculator.
When I reflect back on how I ended up w/ a healthy portfolio in retirement, it wasn’t luck or being some investment genius, I was a tortoise, plodding along, putting the same amount in each month in the same boring mutual funds & not reacting to whether the market was frothy or in the doldrums, increasing my contributions as my income grew &/or expenses fell. But mostly I treated my retirement contribution like a bill & paid it every single month - just like I paid my mortgage & utilities.

 

[Mommb]

When I reflect back on how I ended up w/ a healthy portfolio in retirement, it wasn’t luck or being some investment genius, I was a tortoise, plodding along, putting the same amount in each month in the same boring mutual funds & not reacting to whether the market was frothy or in the doldrums, increasing my contributions as my income grew &/or expenses fell. But mostly I treated my retirement contribution like a bill & paid it every single month - just like I paid my mortgage & utilities.

That's a great way to do it. I set up a 401K so that a percentage comes out of my paycheck before I even see it. A few years ago I also set the percentage to increases by 1% each year (which is, so far, less than my annual raise). I don't pay close attention to my annual salary, just the take-home amount after taxes, insurance, and 401K. That way I'm not tempted to spend more than I know I have.