your 10 year plan

[nostatic]

Well, given that any of the candidates are going to continue to spend the country down the toilet, what is your 10 year plan? Why 10 years? Well, my son is 11 now, starts middle school next fall. That means 7 more years of public education, likely in LA unless some bad job juju strikes.

But then what? What, indeed. Hard to predict as I'm working a number of career things at the moment. But where to be in 10 years? I'm thinking of splitting time between Asia and the US. Probably just maintain a cheap apt in SoCal, and have a place, maybe Cambodia or Vietnam. Cheap to live, interesting area, and there is a lot going on in the region in my areas of interest/expertise.

Baja is another possibility, but less attractive to me. Easier because of proximity to the US though. Some very cool places along the coast to chill out and create stuff. And usually the plumbing works

[cgarr]

your 10 year plan:

Crack and whores

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by cgarr

your 10 year plan:

Crack and whores

that's not a plan, that's a way of life

[70SATMan]

Shyte gets much worse and I'm packin it up for Australia. Beverly Hillbilly style.

My plan is to do all I can to get my two girls through college in the next 10. If I make it through that then I can address the future from there. Might be a little short sighted for some but, hey, they can STFU unless they want to contribute to my fund.

[silverc4s]

Nostatic,
I left Silicon Valley in the mid-90's and moved back to the area I came there from in the mid-80's, Texas.

I find that everyday life & everyday outlook is waaaaay more optimistic here than in the wheeler-dealer, fast moving, gotta have it and NOW! world of Sunny Cal. I loved it there in a lot of ways, but it is a largely artificial environment, and can only be seen clearly from outside...

So, I would advise you to try to find a way to sample life some where EAST of the left coast states for a while, before giving up on us all completely...

[notfarnow]

-make babies
-continue my education
-kick the snot out of our mortgage
-start freelancing

[Hugh R]

Good timing on this. In about 10 to11 years I'll be 65, will have paid off the house in about 9, my kids will be 31 and 28, so hopefully completely out of my wallet by then. I'll hopefully have 15 years with my employer and get a very meager pension. With what I've put away, I hope to "retire" by that I mean not have to work if I choose not to. Don't know what I'd do at that point in terms of work/life.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Go into practice for myself.

Buy/build a business with my wife on the side (it'd be a F/T venture for her, P/T for me).

Hopefully avoid having any kids (I've been successful in this so far)

Hopefully buy some property for rental

Like 70SATMan, I am looking at overseas opportunities (Australia, New Zealand, Dubai/UAE, and a couple of others - just in case). I'm leaving the option open/on the table if this country starts going too far socialist/communist.

Maybe world conquest thrown in there someplace. . .

[LeRoux Strydom]

Originally Posted by notfarnow

-make babies

check

Originally Posted by notfarnow

-continue my education

done

Originally Posted by notfarnow

-kick the snot out of our mortgage

check

Originally Posted by notfarnow

-start freelancing

Too much money still on the table in the corporate world. Retire in few years? Maybe.

[HardDrive]

Wife and I have discussed Melbourne/Sydney Australia or a medium size city in India as possible landing spots if things continue along the same path in the US.

[SLO-BOB]

Originally Posted by nostatic

Baja is another possibility, but less attractive to me. Easier because of proximity to the US though. Some very cool places along the coast to chill out and create stuff. And usually the plumbing works

Great minds think alike. Part of my plan is to have a second home somewhere warm and cheap. I was thinking La Paz. A friend and I are looking into buying a large sailboat down there pretty much right away. We each want to spend 4-6 weeks (seperately) on the boat and just chill out during the winter. It will be a way of getting my feet wet (rimshot) and a prelude to actual property ownership. I'll get to know the area first, and if it works out, I'll find some shack.

I want to work less. I'm hiring more people and letting one take more responsibility. I'll be involved till I die, but I would like to throttle back within the next 10 years. Less travel for sure.

My last child in high school graduates in 2 years. at that time we'll move back to the city. I want to reduce driving and fuel consumption. A move to the city will cost me more in housing but a LOT less in fuel. The costs should offset and property is a better investment than gas.

Speaking of which - rental properties and renovations. I'm good at it so I'm going to make some money on housing. Still viable here in the midwest.

In summary, by 55 I plan to work/travel less with my business on cruise control, have some property investments, live in a midwest city (probably Milwaukee) in the spring/summer/fall, and have a place by a beach an airplane ride away. All doable and in the works right now. Maybe even by 50.

[SLO-BOB]

PS - Do you guys who want to flee the US because of "the way things are going" think it will be better elsewhere? Who would you rather be, the big guy who everyone envys and therefore criticizes, or someone else that no one cares about? Every country has politics, enemies, and whiners.

[pwd72s]

To keep breathing. At my age, that's an accomplishment.

Gawd...in ten years, I'll be 75. Hope my back and eyes hold up so I can still work my way around a pool table.

Funny how priorities change as the calendars do...

[speeder]

Ireland is looking good these days as a home base. English-speaking, (more or less), , one of the best economies on earth, most beautiful place on earth, great chicks. Nice place to have a little ranch or farm w/ some horses and dogs+ a dirt bike or three. Maybe a 200mph sports car if things go exceptionally well. Plus I'm Irish, so I would be returning to the place my blood came from.

And yes, I'm not looking forward to the future of the U.S., it's going to get ugly here. The (arguably) most beautiful place, CA., is getting schit on the worst.

[JavaBrewer]

I love travelling and very much enjoy experiencing new cultures and food. But my home is here in SoCal. No matter how bad the economy gets I'm not bailing on the U.S.

Edit - oh and my 10 year plan is keep on keeping on. Kids college is around the corner so $$ will only get harder from here. I hope to continue domestic and foreign travel for work and meeting interesting people.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Originally Posted by SLO-BOB

PS - Do you guys who want to flee the US because of "the way things are going" think it will be better elsewhere?

Possibly. That's why it's worth keeping the option on the table.

I'm well of the "grass is always greener" syndrome and would never take such a decision lightly, but there's such a thing as "being committed" and "pushing a bad situation" so far that you run yourself into the ground.

America is decaying.

I'm not certain we've reached the tipping point yet from which we can never recover, but we're perilously close. If I start to think we've reached it, I don't see much reason to stay and watch the country crumble around us.

You're a free agent in life. Nobody is "owed" your loyalty or respect. They need to earn it. If America stops earning mine by pandering to the lowest common denominator of society (whiners, deadbeats, users, etc.), I stop having a reason to stay here.

[Christien]

Interesting. With any luck this board will still be around in 2018 and we can all check back to see how well (nor poorly!) we're doing according to our plans!

For myself, in 10 years I'll be 42. I deliberately put my music career 2nd in work priorities to grow my company in the hopes that at some point in my 40s I'll be able to more or less retire from the company (maybe work one day a week) and just supervise things, while still drawing a very good salary, so I can focus on my music career (which doesn't pay and even if I worked 18 hours days at it would likely only pay the equivalent of a minimum wage job).

So the plan is to have 1 more kid (we have one so far, a year and a half old), grow the company and more or less retire from it, but that might take 15 years. In 10 years I expect I'll be working my ass off and it will be paying very well.

[sammyg2]

10 year plan: Retire to southern Utah at age 55, working occasionally as a consultant just to keep from getting bored.
I may or may not keep my house in so Cal, that part will depend on the economy.

[Tobra]

Hugh, your kids never really get out of your wallet.

Jeff, hope you don't drop a lot of cash setting up in private practice. You would probably do better financially working for a multi-disciplinary group. That said, I am a solo practitioner. In the not too distant future, medical care in the US will get socialized even more than it already is, and the value of your practice might just go to zero. I am sweating this a bit myself.

In 10 years, my life won't be that different, will be paying a lot higher percentage of my income to taxes, and consequently will be disinclined to work hard. Things will get pretty rough here in Cali as we move toward a third world economy, but I will always be able to make a decent living, so am not too worried.

[TyFenn]

I've got a 15 year plan...

retire by 50 and play on the senior tour (pga). We've all got dreams right?

So, I plan on working very hard (wisely?) and taking lessons until that time (and let's face it, probably afterwards as well).

So we'll see. It's on record now though...


Oh, I'll throw in 'get a girlfriend' during that time too - hahaha.