For this poll, I'm assuming it means liquid savings, although you could use a reverse mortgage to live off the equity if you had a plan for when the equity was exhausted (use the last of the proceeds to live on a boat 30-40ft in size off a mooring ball somewhere warm, which costs next to nothing).
As an older guy who was into sailing and boating as a youth, possibly the only positive effect of the hyperinflation in housing prices / "housing bubble" is spending $5000 to install a toilet has gone from an insane outrageous expense to "you got a pretty good deal compared to what home depot wanted to charge". And the permanent long term decline in wealth/income means what used to be "middle class" sailboats are getting really cheap, what with the decline of the middle class. A used 30 footer used to cost about 4 of my dad's new commuter cars in better economic decades, now its less than the cost of my commuter car because the buyer pool is drying up.
The old line about a boat being a hole in the water you throw money into doesn't sound so bad now that houses are an even worse "investment".
A couple of days ago I met a 60-ish year old man who did just that. Sold his house, bought a 30 footer, found a nice place to anchor it along a small (pop. 700) fishing community in the state of Rio (not the big city, somewhere around 100 miles south of it). He used to sail 30 years ago, so he can go out a bit, but uses the boat mainly to live a nice, simple and cheap retirement.
Actually, I've been designing my own small cabin[1]; nothing fancy, solar panels, a decent cooker, pellet stove heat etc... And it occurred to me that the thing would fit perfectly atop an old steel work barge. I never thought about living in a houseboat, but considering how little I'd have to spend for land use, it seems like a good idea.
I just need a bit of extra space for supplies and I'm good to go already.
I'm 31 and my long term plan is to live on a the water on a 40-50ft sailboat. Sure, I'm going to spend at least $100-150K on it between purchase, retrofit, etc, but that's less than the purchase price of most inventory in major metro areas. I can anchor off the coast of most of Florida or SFBA, or pickup and head anywhere in the world. I can even take a tax deduction on the interest as my primary residence.
The economics have definitely shifted in favor of that scenario, something I wouldn't have imagined 10-15 years ago.
What happens if a storm wrecks your boat and you need cancer treatment? These are the things that retirement needs to account for imo. Everyone can live on wellfare and ramen indefinetly, but when the fecal matter hits the rotating air moving device id rather have the cash to stay alive a few more years.
Life is more complicated when have contract jobs or live on land, but if you retire on a boat, you simply move out of the way. If you have a couple days warning, hurricanes simply aren't big enough.
Boats are destroyed in hurricanes when the owner is freaking out about his house on land, or frankly, insurance scams. So some hull insurance won't pay out in tropical waters during hurricane season. So don't go there or get a different policy.
You can run into sudden squall issues, that is true.
One thing to think about is it might not be 10% cheaper it might be 75% cheaper. Even if you had to buy a completely new boat every decade because it sank (unlikely), it still might be cheaper than living on some land.
2) Health insurance (moderate to expensive, depending on my income and available subsidies). Or possibly seeking care in a country with a real (i.e universal) healthcare system. Cuba is in the Caribbean, and fairly accessible by boat.
You can't plan for every scenario; if I have terminal cancer I'd rather die surrounded by family and friends then exhaust my retirement in weeks or months to extend my life <1 year.
I have a friend who is living on a house boat in DC. The marina is on the Potomac downtown. It's at least as cheap as a studio apartment if not cheaper.
Marinas usually charge $500-600/month for a slip (maybe a little more if you live aboard), but there isn't any need to be at a slip if you have a wind generator, diesel generator/engine, or don't require constant shore power and fresh water.
