We had a company employee satisfaction survey. They asked for one word to describe our organization. I put "Dilbert".

About 6 months ago one of the applications I support was partially replaced. I have begged and pleaded to clean up the app so it works properly. I've been shot down every time I've brought it up. So, every single day I get an email, with a cc to about 25 people, from operations telling me the same job failed and asking me how to resolve the issue. Every day I must reply to everyone to mark it as successful.

Every.......single.......day.

That is outstanding!

I feel like I should give some sort of update but not much going on really.

My current target for retirement is 3/23/2018 but I continue to flip-flop on really doing it. The numbers work sort of but it will require some discipline. I'm accustomed to just spending without thinking much about it but I won't be able to do that anymore. I really don't spend that much. We never eat out. We don't really travel that much. Most of my discretionary income goes to fishing and that isn't really crazy. I have all of the equipment I need so most of the money goes to gas. We've been taking longer and longer trips as I've learned more places to go.

Which brings me to.........boat fever. I am thinking about upgrading my boat. Mine is OK but I bought it not really knowing much about the area or what kind of fishing I would be doing. Now that I know, I also know what I really want in a boat. I'm not going crazy, because you can go crazy with boats. I just want to upgrade some. Unfortunately, I'm going to take a bath on my boat. It isn't that old but it is like a car. As soon as you drive it off the lot, you've lost money on it. But fishing is what I enjoy doing the most and I get so much out of it. I personally think it is worth spending for something I spend so much time doing.

The downside is, I might have to work longer. Ugh. But the whole point of working for me is to set myself up for an enjoyable retirement. Having the boat I really want helps achieve this.

Might as well post some fish pics

These are yellowtail (can you tell which one - ha!), and mangrove snapper. Yummmmmyyyyyyy. They are delicious. The middle one is a lesser amberjack. We haven't eaten that yet.



Me and some buddies had a really good day

The silvery ones are kingfish. The big red ones are red grouper and the smaller red ones are mangrove snapper



I caught two of these nice red groupers. GF stuffed it with crab meat. DELICIOUS!





We go about 40 miles out to catch these. You just don't do that well closer in. This is the prime reason I would like a bigger boat (yeah, I said that). I can get out there faster and the ride is smoother.

used boat?

You are my inspiration with retirement theme. It is sooooooo hugely scary, especially because there is no way back, at least in my industry.

I think I"m going with new. I don't like inheriting other people's problems.

Yeah, same for me. If I'm out even a year it's really tough to get back in. It's funny because the issue isn't that I (or you probably) can't do the job, it's the industry perception that we can't. Stupid. The other thing is, and I get this, if it is between 2 people that have similar backgrounds and one hasn't worked lately, it makes sense to take the person that is employed.

I was talking to a guy at a party, who is a bit older than me, about retirement. He basically said what I know but it is good to hear. He told me to just do it. Opportunities will come and I'll figure out whatever I need to do to make it work.

Work got insane all of the sudden. One of the guys responsible for a lot of stuff left the country to get married. I'm his backup but I know very little about what he did. **** hit the fan today.

On the flip side, I'm close to closing on a new boat. Although the loan amount is quite a bit higher, the monthly payments aren't much more. I realize this is stinkin' thinkin' but I'm all about monthly income/payments right now.

I got all of the numbers back from the bank. This is going to be a horrible financial decision. But, I really want this boat. The little men on my shoulders are having a frank discussion.

For me helps sometimes to make a decision to calculate the price not in money but in working hours. I have no clue with boats, but assuming it is gonna cost you 800 work hours, then if you want it more than you hate additional 100 days in your job, then clearly boat wins.

And sometimes if I REALLYREALLYREEEEEAAALLLLYY want this pair of shoes, I just buy them. Life is too short.

Can you put a picture or somehow link to the new boat here? Or describe why is this new boat better than the old boat?

It has been a weird day that sort of magnifies what has been going on with my retirement plans.

The "hair on fire' has been over the top at work today. We had a production issue and everyone is running around screaming stuff. Nobody is sitting down and rationally going over alternatives. I got sucked in because, well, because if something goes wrong, it obviously helps to bring in half of the company to listen to a few people yell the sky is falling.

The whole day (and it probably isn't over since I'll be dealing with this all weekend probably) is a fine example of why I'm so bent on retiring. It just hurts my brain.

On the other hand, I really want to set myself up for a nice comfortable retirement. This boat is the last piece of the puzzle. I'll be spending a ton of time on it and I really want a boat that fits my needs. My current boat is fine , but the new one fills every checkbox I have perfectly. It isn't outrageously expensive. It's just that I'm fairly underwater on my boat and this will take a significant cash outlay. I have it, but it creates less of a cushion should I retire.

And, I know it will be difficult if not impossible to qualify for any loan this big once I retire. I'm trying to get this loan/boat now because I probably won't be able to if I quit my current job. In fact, quitting is going to drastically hamper any future big ticket item purchases. I think I'm fine with that. As I said, I've been trying to take care of that now in anticipation of not being able to do it in the future.

My gut is telling me that if I make this purchase, I'm probably bound to work where I am for another year. Sort of makes me sick to my stomach. On the other hand, if I don't set myself up properly to really enjoy my retirement, I'd kick myself for that. Once I leave this job, I doubt I will ever get hired anywhere near this salary.

Any input would be great.

Nice xpost. Pics and reasons incoming.

This is my boat.



It is a good boat. When I bought it, I anticipated fishing in the bay most of the time and occasionally going offshore. However, after learning the area and getting some experience under my belt, I've found myself going offshore much more than fishing in the bay. As much as 40 miles offshore.

The first issue is the ride. A bay boat is made primarily to be able to get into shallow water. Because of this the hull is somewhat flattish. This makes for a rough ride in rough seas. Even on a calm day offshore, the ocean has swells. On a windy day it can get pretty gnarly. My boat does OK if the wind stays under 10mph but that is rare. Anything more and it is a really rough ride and if the wind really picks up, can be dangerous.

The second issue is speed. Mine tops out at around 40 with smooth water. So, the ride out to some of my favorite places is easily over an hour.

The biggest issue is setup, though. We fish from the back of the boat when we fish offshore. You can't tell from this pic, but the area behind the seat is so cramped you can barely walk through without standing on the back deck. It really makes fishing and moving around difficult. And, the livewell (we fish with live bait) is sort of hard to get to. Not only do we have to dump bait in there, but on an average day you are dipping out bait maybe a 100 times. It just isn't ideal.

This is the boat I want.



The first thing you can't tell on it is it is 2 1/2 ft. longer. That makes a big difference for both ride and moving around. 2 1/2 ft. doesn't seem like much but it is on a boat that size. The second thing you don't see is the hull. The hull on this brand is much more of a V. It is made for rougher seas. The ride will be substantially better with this one.

This boat also has a 300hp motor. Mine has a 200. The top speed on this one is about 55. Definitely a plus.

But the main difference is fishability. The rounded thing behind the seat is a large livewell. Much bigger than mine. It will hold a LOT of bait. That is in addition to 2 other livewells that are about the same size as mine. Also, that rounded livewell is soooo much easier to get bait out of. Very convenient.

You can see the area behind the rounded livewell. That is plenty of walkaround area. Not cramped at all. Mine is less than half that.

There are a couple of other things about this boat. There are two tackle box storage areas. This is good because right now I have to haul my tackle boxes to the boat every time I fish and they sort of just lay on the floor in the way. This will be much better.

The bottom line is, this boat is a perfect setup for what I do. GF agreed. I haven't found all of this in any other brand of boat.

I seem to be talking myself into it.

That's pretty close, really. Hmm..... Good point.

What you said is pretty rational. It doesn't sound like you just want a BIGGER Brummmmm. For me the argument with safety sounds VERY convincing.

Assuming google is right about what kind of boat that is, I'm surprised you have trouble affording it http://www.yachtworld.com/.../Sea-Hunt-BX-25

I can swing it for sure. The main issue is it will delay retirement. I'm already sort of uncomfortable about getting by without a healthy paycheck. And the big cash outlay due to me being underwater on mine. It just makes me uncomfortable.

On top of that, I'm having a "I'm ready to quit right now" days.

I would have thought a lot of used boats were getting sold due to them being impulse buys in the first place and not really getting used much so therefore would be quite good to purchase.

Well, the market for mine isn't good because Skeeter is shoving them out left and right so dealers are marking them down. I could get a 2018 model less than what I paid for my 2016. The boat model I'm looking to buy is brand new. I think they just came out in 2017. Nothing like it around used.

The boat I linked to was $1.

LOL, I would drive to Louisiana for that. Even if it didn't have a motor.

GF and I talked a lot about it last night. She sort of framed it like Lapka did - how much longer will I need to work to make up for this. Realistically just by the numbers, probably a year and a half.

The issue is that I have a decent cash cushion right now that gives me peace of mind once I retire. My plan is to not have to dip into it, but it is there if needed. Buying this boat will cut that cushion in half. I'll still have cushion, but not a comfortable (to me) amount.

So, I'll need to build that cushion back up before I feel comfortable retiring. Realistically that will take more than a year the way I have finances set up. We talked a little about that part of it and we sort of decided to adjust things a bit. I have a bond fund that is not 401k. The payments are taxable. I roll these back into the fund right now. It was set up to be income once I retire but there isn't a great reason to do that. Why not use it now? That should really shorten the window of getting that cushion back.

Although nothing is a given, bonuses come out in March. The company is making money hand over fist, and I don't think I've done anything to prevent me from getting one. This should help as well.

I've sort of talked myself into this now. I still lost some sleep about it last night, but I'm feeling a bit better now. I'll spend today getting my boat prepared to take it in. I need to get all my stuff out of it and put it on a trailer. I can stew on this for a few more days but I'm close to doing it.

This has been a pretty big and tough decision for me. I sort of feel like I'm pissing away a lot of money. And, I am. The cash outlay is all due to the depreciation on my boat. They are like cars - once you drive them off the lot, they aren't worth as much. But, I feel like I'm not just buying a boat to have more toys. I'm pretty frugal with most everything so maybe it is Ok to do something like this.

I drove to the dealer to test ride this new boat. The dealer closest to me never called me after I basically told him I was going to buy a boat from him so I found another dealer in Sarasota - about 45 minutes away. I got a good feeling from them on the phone and feel even better now that I've met him.

He had the boat on the trailer waiting for me. We launched in a bay and today is a calm day so I wasn't able to get a taste of rough water. But I was able to get a feel for the ride. It is a heavier and larger boat so by default it rides smoother than mine but I wouldn't say by leaps and bounds. Certainly not enough to justify paying the money to move up.

Since it was a nice day, I was able to take the time to open up everything and look around again. It is really set up nicely. Plenty of room. I've mentioned all this before but the setup is really what I'm looking for.

I still didn't sign on the bottom line but I'm pretty close.

Look, bb can have the boat and do fine in retirement (as long as this is the end of splurging). Just be ok to take a fee when managing your mom's stuff. And if you're working part time for benefits then that money will cover a decent amount of your nut. I'm guessing you're not factoring in things like that.