To take a chance or to not take a chance...?

[dpmp]

It is true that if you are not ready, then 2 years will be the most you can get. I would hate to jump ship without knowing that I'd be ready financially. It's just my habit, especially with moving to Hawaii.

Since you already put in 20+ years of State employment, I'd assume you are in the 40s. If true, I would recommend that you would complete your full retirement and secure your retirement income. Then move to Hawaii.

Nothing is worse than making a move to HI, then move back to mainland and waste 2 years of unsuccessful try, especially when you are approaching 50. Failure at that stage will be difficult to recover. Not to mention that you would be totally disappointed for having to leave the paradise because you are not ready for it.

Be ready, then move.

[Sunandsalt]

You're exactly right when you say in a year or two you will be looking at a vastly different economic picture. But until then I think you can feel very safe moving over with $30,000. That's a fortune compared to what most people (paradise-seeking hippies) move over with. If you have a desire and passion for island living, you'll be just fine. Employment is not impossible. Cost of living is really not that high if you're not looking to rent a condo on the beach. I lived there for two years on less than $10,000 with no income (though I "roughed it" for quite a while in an eco-village). Remember Hawaii is tropical, and you can eat as long as you want from the trees if you like fruit and know where to look! The islands truly will embrace you or spit you out. You'll know quite quickly, and if you live simply it's very unlikely your savings will run out before you figure it out. Aloha

[Rayinhawaii]

Originally Posted by MauiBowman

And before I offend anyone from Oahu - please understand I mean no disrespect. I think Oahu is a lovely island, and you are blessed to call it home.

We are just not city people. I know Oahu isn't one big city, it just that the city or military bases would be where I would most likely have to work - and therefore live. Sure I could commute = but we are trying to get away from the mainland way of life, not bring it with us ;-)

Shane

There are over 900,000 on Oahu. That being said, there is no othe major city where you can go from downtown to tropical paradise in a few minutes. You can find remote, quite areas within an easy commute to town or a base. If you work for the Army, there's Wahiawa Town with a small Mayberry feel, only Hawaiian style. Or you can live up the Pali or Nuuanu or over the hill in Kaneohe or Kailua. Don't let the "city" part of it scare you off so fast. You can get lost in wilderness faster than any other major U.S. city..... Tell me where you can go from beach to moutains in a 10 minute drive (on a good day) on the mainland?

[Mick St John]

If it was just you and you were in your 20s, I'd say "go for it". Nobody but you would go hungry if you stumble and you still would have a lot of time to recover.
But if you're middle aged with a large family that depends on you and have virtually no savings and no job lined up, I'm more inclined to say "don't even think about it". Not now, anyway. $30,000 will help, but if that's all you have, the money might be better used as a building block for a more stable move in the future.
Like dpmp sez, complete your full retirement and secure your retirement income. And accumulate whatever savings you can. Then assess your financial future. If the move looks feasible, then do it.
I love Hawaii, Maui in particular. I'm approaching retirement now and I couldn't think of a nicer place to live. But I wouldn't make such a move "on desperation" and without a plan.

[hotzcatz]

The original question is:
"So do you think moving to Hawaii, with no employment lined up, no income, with say $30,000.00 in savings to live off while finding employment, is doable in this day and age? (in a year or two)"

The answer to that question, IMHO, is "it depends". You mentioned holding a federal job for twenty years, so you probably have a fairly high level of living which you are used to. Duplicating that level of living in Hawaii is not likely to happen even if you get a similar type job because of increased costs of living and decreased salary amounts in Hawaii - even for identical jobs. However, moving over to Hawaii with that amount of money and supporting one or two folks while you scramble to find other sources of income may work if you are willing to significantly reduce the living style you are used to.

More than likely, you'd need to sell everything there (because of the cost of moving it) and live with a lot less here. One old paid for used car instead of a two new ones with payments, less eating out, shopping for bargains instead of buying whatever the recipe calls for or whatever you want. Less new toys, clothes and etc. Less mainland travel since any time you go anywhere on the mainland you have to buy fairly expensive plane tickets. More than likely a smaller house than you may be used to and one with less services than you are used to since we just don't have the mainland level of services to our houses. Health care may be an issue since unless you find employment or have health care benefits from a previous job, it is pretty expensive. Less live theater, concerts, sports events, etc., since we just don't have that much here.

So, yes, it can be done but it may not be done in the manner you'd prefer. Not knowing your preferences, I don't know if the actuality would be acceptable to you or not.

And a further question is if the economy will be different in two years. I'm not seeing much that could improve the island's economy in two years. I think we still have another year at least of either searching for the bottom of this economic mess or laying on the bottom of the mess. The recovery is likely to be slow, too, since there isn't much to drive it. If for some reason, the mainland started booming and everyone wanted a Hawaiian vacation, that might improve things here but other than that, I don't see any economic programs to increase revenue for anyone around here.

The bright side of that, though, is if you do move over here and manage to scramble around and make it, you will probably survive just about anything else the economy can toss at you.

[MauiBowman]

hotzcatz,

Thank you for your honest reply. Very well put.
For 99.9% of the mainnlander thinking of moving to the islands - you have nailed it right on.

Let me clarify a little about myself. I have over twenty years in with the State of California, but I started young, at age 18. I am only now approaching 40 years old. The youngest I could retire is at 55 years of age. Waiting another 15 years to act on our 25 year dream is out of the question. Got way too many heart problems in my heritage to take the chance of never making it there ;-)
So while I could (or should) stick with the State til I'm 55 and retire - just cant wait that long.

So when I do hit 55 - I will start drawing my State retirement. Which won't be a whole lot - but with that and whatever 'second' retirement I could earn over the next 15 to 20 years... should do ok.

Now, I don't make a whole lot now - even though I been with the State for 20+ yrs. Climbing the success ladder was not my goal. Earning enough to support and spend time with my wife and kids was all I ever wanted. And still do. We have always been a single income family as well. Have never had a new car. Bought a used one once that was only 10 yrs old - we felt like upity yuppies! ;-)
Like I said in my originnal post - we been clipping coupons, eating whats on sale, and growing our own for 22 years now. Every once in a while we'll treat ourselves to the dollar menu at McDonalds (and then wonder why we ate that crap afterwords!) We are not your typical Californians. We are rural small town folk. We only go to the movies when it comes out on DVD in our living room. We live simply now, but want to live even simpler there.

So I am not arguing with you in the least bit Hotzcatz - I agree with you 100%. Just wanted to give you a little more info on me and mine. I truly love reading your posts. So please, keep em comin'!

:-)

[vegaspilgrim]

What if you could transfer to another similar state job within California? How about San Diego? Of course there's only one Hawaii, but San Diego is the closest thing there is on the mainland to a "paradise" feel, IMO.

[MauiBowman]

Good thought vegas, but that is my version of a nightmare! Sure would not want to wake up to find it reality. ;-)

Thank you for the input tho :-)

[eureka1]

If you are serious about Federal employment in Hawaii I would suggest finding our what Federal agencies are employing people in the areas where you wish to live then try to get on with them while still on the mainland. Transfers to Hawaii are a lot easier than getting hired from the mainland. Caveat:ALL the Federal agencies are a lot stingier with relocation expenses than they used to be. Good luck!

[MauiBowman]

eureka1, that is a good idea - thank you. Will give it some thought.
Yeah, the Feds are like the State = very difficult to get relocation paid now unless it is a true promotion.
But you know - we will be bringing our suitcases and little else when we move. So airfare will be our only cost :-)

Thank you again for your input.