Build a Bigger Grarage or Sell a couple cars ?

[cook_dw]

Sell the 2 cars you like the least and save your money. You are gonna need it. And drive the wheels of the 2 you keep. I'm doing the same thing but dealing with parts and I'm only 43 (44 in June).

[Crush]

Another insight that comes to mind that may help in your decision process. When researching when to take SS you will find that there is no argument that if you wait until you are 67/70, (every year after 62 you gain 7% each year), you get more monthly. The monthly numbers don't lie, but what impacts the total you will get in your lifetime is when you are asked the question, "how long are you going to live"? No one knows with certainty the answer to this question and this really is the biggest factor in making this decision along with others you decide as it relates to money. There is some discussion SS will go bankrupt in our lifetime, but that is another discussion.

My Mom is 91 and we were talking about this. Her and my Dad took it at 62 for financial reasons. Had they waited until 67 or 70 she would have more now, dad passed at 80. She is fine money wise and is glad she took it when she did, but clearly has lived longer than the expected range and would have received more had she waited.

So when I consider decisions like building a bigger garage or buying another car I do consider the life/death factor. There are downsides to spending like you are going to die soon, or "saving" to only leave an inheritance for your family, not necessarily a bad thing.

One other thought. You can borrow against stocks you have and pay interest only on the money/stock until you die at which time the stock is sold to pay the debt. There are some down sides to this strategy and researching such is highly advised.

[William]

The #1 concern in retirement is out living your money.

Even if you have a decent amount of retirement savings, a serious health problem prior to being on Medicare can wipe out much or all of it. I had both knees replaced after 65; the total was a bit over $200k. My out of pocket was $44 for a required visit to my PCP for a checkup. I have had two eye surgeries for a problem that came out of nowhere.

My cousin had a brain tumor that could fortunately be removed. Unfortunately, she was 62 at the time and the copay wiped out much of their savings. Her retired husband had to return to work.

Just got off the phone with a long-time friend [63] that is recovering from serious cancer. The costs to date are over $2m; his out of pocket was $150k. His monthly drug/treatment costs are over $20k, he is responsible for at least $8k. Every month.

A friends wife died of cancer 10 years ago, prior to retirement. He had to borrow $200k to cover the copays until her life insurance settled.

Health is wealth.

IMHO, there has been some really bad advice on this topic. Maybe never heard the Parable of the Boiling Frog. Look it up.

Based on what I have personally seen and experienced, I would cash out both cars NOW [probably $100k+] and not do the [$30k] addition. Take the $130k and invest it somewhere safe, not the stock market at this time. Still have the '67 Camaro and the Anglia to mess with. When you retire, the money will be there. The hobby will have moved on like it always has, '60s muscle cars will have faded into the past. Car collecting is largely generational.

[Pro Stock John]

Originally Posted by William

The #1 concern in retirement is out living your money.

Even if you have a decent amount of retirement savings, a serious health problem prior to being on Medicare can wipe out much or all of it. I had both knees replaced after 65; the total was a bit over $200k. My out of pocket was $44 for a required visit to my PCP for a checkup. I have had two eye surgeries for a problem that came out of nowhere.

My cousin had a brain tumor that could fortunately be removed. Unfortunately, she was 62 at the time and the copay wiped out much of their savings. Her retired husband had to return to work.

Just got off the phone with a long-time friend [63] that is recovering from serious cancer. The costs to date are over $2m; his out of pocket was $150k. His monthly drug/treatment costs are over $20k, he is responsible for at least $8k. Every month.

A friends wife died of cancer 10 years ago, prior to retirement. He had to borrow $200k to cover the copays until her life insurance settled.

Health is wealth.

IMHO, there has been some really bad advice on this topic. Maybe never heard the Parable of the Boiling Frog. Look it up.

Based on what I have personally seen and experienced, I would cash out both cars NOW [probably $100k+] and not do the [$30k] addition. Take the $130k and invest it somewhere safe, not the stock market at this time. Still have the '67 Camaro and the Anglia to mess with. When you retire, the money will be there. The hobby will have moved on like it always has, '60s muscle cars will have faded into the past. Car collecting is largely generational.

I like this advice, I'll be 56 this year and I hear medicare is pretty good. So this year I've been 100% on top of my health.

Regarding the garage / car storage thing, my plan is to move out of Chicago in 3 years and hopefully move to MI and ideally have enough land that I can build an additional building that would comfortably store 6 cars. I don't see getting more than that in my life time.

[Too Many Projects]

Originally Posted by Pro Stock John

I like this advice, I'll be 56 this year and I hear medicare is pretty good. So this year I've been 100% on top of my health.

Regarding the garage / car storage thing, my plan is to move out of Chicago in 3 years and hopefully move to MI and ideally have enough land that I can build an additional building that would comfortably store 6 cars. I don't see getting more than that in my life time.

You could build a 60x120 and eventually fill it.

"If you have the room, they will come"

[ryanchevelle]

Originally Posted by Too Many Projects

You could build a 60x120 and eventually fill it.

"If you have the room, they will come"

Heck I don’t have the room and they still try to come!

[RamAirBirds]

Originally Posted by William

The #1 concern in retirement is out living your money.

Even if you have a decent amount of retirement savings, a serious health problem prior to being on Medicare can wipe out much or all of it. I had both knees replaced after 65; the total was a bit over $200k. My out of pocket was $44 for a required visit to my PCP for a checkup. I have had two eye surgeries for a problem that came out of nowhere.

My cousin had a brain tumor that could fortunately be removed. Unfortunately, she was 62 at the time and the copay wiped out much of their savings. Her retired husband had to return to work.

Just got off the phone with a long-time friend [63] that is recovering from serious cancer. The costs to date are over $2m; his out of pocket was $150k. His monthly drug/treatment costs are over $20k, he is responsible for at least $8k. Every month.

A friends wife died of cancer 10 years ago, prior to retirement. He had to borrow $200k to cover the copays until her life insurance settled.

Health is wealth.

IMHO, there has been some really bad advice on this topic. Maybe never heard the Parable of the Boiling Frog. Look it up.

Based on what I have personally seen and experienced, I would cash out both cars NOW [probably $100k+] and not do the [$30k] addition. Take the $130k and invest it somewhere safe, not the stock market at this time. Still have the '67 Camaro and the Anglia to mess with. When you retire, the money will be there. The hobby will have moved on like it always has, '60s muscle cars will have faded into the past. Car collecting is largely generational.

Maybe I am missing something here. I live in Michigan and have a Blue Cross Insurance policy. Kept the "Gold Plan" for many years until now when we recently changed to "Bronze" mainly due to rising Premiums and Deductibles. Remember? "If you like your Plan / Doctors you can keep it"? Rough that the supposed premium savings never materialized....as if we didn't know that would happen. anyhow back to topic. These Insurance companies like us bet on the odds. In our case as with most plans we may have high deductibles we have to pay first before insurance kicks in but there are MAXIMUM OUT of POCKET expenses paid for both the Individual and a FAMILY MAXIMUM.
In our case we have a policy that has (2) adults and (1) 20yo son. the monthly premium is about $1100. This policy has a yearly maximum out of pocket expense of $9100 per person and $18,500 per family. After that all expenses (including drugs) are paid by insurance company. Just trying to understand what i am missing in these examples presented. They seem shocking. I am surprised that nobody else has commented on this post. Main take away is make sure you stay adequately insured throughout your life. The expense if high but the risk is higher. Please help me understand how these examples could have happened. In honesty it has me worried that I am missing something. Thank You.

[x77-69z28]

I recently downsized from two homes to one. My 4 Camaros were kept two at each house. I have contracted with Morton buildings to build a 42X48 steel building. They always say go bigger than you think you need!
Buddy

[Chevelle SS 396 L78]

Jeff,

Many of us have been there. I built my detached garage in 2004 when I was 54. I worked another 16 years until COVID-19 put the cabash on my position (Civil Engineer) so I retired taking unemployment...not my choice obviously.

I started out with three garage doors in my detached garage behind the house for the 3 cars I had planned to be in there, restoring my last vintage BMW in 2004 filled the garage up nicely with "3" cars. I had two 8ft wide doors and one 9ft wide door (I originally planned on a trailer going into that bay but it didn't happen, "yet".

Then, in 2008 we had a really bad house fire and I lost much of my vintage car parts in our basement. To make myself feel better I bought another car! Well, it did help and it was a great investment. My problem is I have a problem letting go of cars (been that way ever since selling my beloved '67 Chevelle L78 circa 1970 before going into the service during Vietnam). I found out that my garage was deep enough to turn one car sideways and put it against the front wall of the garage (on rollers), leaving 3 clear spots for other cars. So, I had 4 cars in a 3 car garage.

I have had a 2 post 9,000 lb lift in the garage from day one, but last summer I moved ahead with my next phase, which I had planned even before COVID (but it was delayed by it), and I bought two 4-post lifts.

So now I have 5 cars easily in the garage, and just enough space for that special '67 Chevelle SS 396 I'm looking for (when the time is right) to be built as a clone of my original '67 L78 Chevelle (which I haven't been able to find since starting the search in 2007). Yes, the prices are getting ridiculous!

I have never planned to use the 2-post lift as storage, but I know it will work just fine until I relinquish 1 or 2 of my cars.

The moral of this story is, plan BIG because you will never have enough space! Most of us just make do with the lot size we have, but I've always wanted some rural land where I could spread my wings and have more privacy out in the country. There's a lot to consider, but time passes quickly, and I swear it passes faster the older I get! LOL!

I designed my garage myself, putting together the plans and lot layout. I'd be happy to help you in any way once you get going with what you want to do. Remember to have more depth to the concrete if you get a 2-post lift, including rebar. Know your local building code also, so you don't run into any snags with permitting.

Best of luck with things,

John

[DougA]

Interesting, different situations for everyone. I have a decent garage, 3 old cars, one newer hot rod. I'm getting too close to 70, but just seem to have lost the motivation to do much with them anymore. Haven't had the covers off of them so far this season. Should probably thin the herd, let someone else enjoy them.
If you're still into the hobby, and can swing it, buy what you enjoy, life is way too short.
And boy does it go by fast when you get into the last quarter....