Destroy My Finances and Move to the Bahamas?

Brought to you by CHM, a budget-friendly faith-based alternative to health insurance. chministries.org slash budget. I'm kind of curious if I'm about to commit financial suicide. I've been following the baby steps for a while, and I am looking at changing jobs, and I've been at this company for a very long time, but it's gotten to a point where I'm super frustrated and don't want to be here anymore. What's a long time? How long you been there? Coming up on 20 years next year. What do you do? 19 and a half years. I work in manufacturing. Okay. And you want to jump ship to what? Working on boats. Like a boat mechanic? Yes. Okay. And do you have the skills to do that, or would that require some licensing, some education? So I have a job offer at a company that is willing to train. Great. What are they going to pay? But it's a big pay cut for me. So I'm currently making about $135,000. This new job would be about $48,000. Okay. Are you single? I have a fiancee. Okay. What does the fiancee think about this? She's kind of down for whatever I'm down for. I'm the breadwinner of the house, and I need to keep things afloat. What does she make? She doesn't make very much. She makes about $15,000 a year. What does she do? She's actually on disability. Okay. So for the foreseeable future, $15,000 is the ceiling? Yes. Okay. When are you guys getting married? I'm not sure about that. Okay. How old are you guys? Haven't set a date. I am 44. She's 52. 44 and 52. Okay. And what's your financial situation? Do you have any savings? How much debt do you have? Yeah. So like I said, I've been following the baby steps for a while, and now I'm kind of struggling with the other side of actually being okay with spending some money. So I managed to save up. I got about $550 in the 401. That's split between traditional and raw. I got about $25,000 in the stock market, about $30,000 in a high-yield savings account, and about $10,000 in my working, checking, and savings account. And no debt? I owe $57,000 on my house, which is worth... I had a realtor come out. She said we would list it between $350,000 and $375,000. Nice. Okay. No consumer debt. So you're in really good shape on that side. Where is this job going to be? Do you have to relocate? Yeah. So it's actually down in the Bahamas. Oh, so this is like a life change. Yeah, this is a complete life change. Okay. I'm unaware of the cost of living in the Bahamas. Is it more or less than New York? So that's actually... There's a shared living arrangement with this company, and I would have the potential to stay there and not have to pay rent. Beyonce is welcome as well. However, it's shared living, and I'm not really... When you're in the baby steps, every expense deserves a second look, and healthcare is one of the biggest. That's why I recommend Christian Healthcare Ministries. CHM is a health cost-sharing ministry, and their programs start at just $115 a month. A lot of families find CHM gives them more room in the budget, and it's why members say they're better with CHM. Right now, new members can get a 50% credit towards their first month. Go to chministries.org slash budget and use promo code Ramsey. What does that mean? Yeah, like there's roomies. You're in a house with other people? Yeah, so it's basically a two-bedroom apartment, and there's two of the employees live within that apartment. So you have your own bedroom, your own bathroom, but you share a living room and kitchen. Okay, maybe doing that while you're still engaged. But once you guys get married, probably not, right? Right, that's the idea. I wouldn't be comfortable with that. Yeah, that's fair. That's fair. Okay, so have you figured out cost of living down there? How much it would take you to pay rent and everything a month? Yeah, roughly, I'm thinking probably around $3,000 a month. Okay, so what you make basically will, for the most part, be going towards living, and you may get, I don't know, a couple hundred bucks or a thousand bucks extra a month. Because after taxes, if you're making 48 gross, right? I'm like, I don't know what the Bahamas tax, I mean. Yeah, but if you're making 48 gross, you're going to be probably netting around three grand. Yeah, so they only pay an assurity bond, which is like three and a half percent. Okay, so it's not as much. And then I would also still be concerned about potential U.S. income tax, whatever that might be. But I believe- Because you're not going to be a citizen there? And you don't have to pay it. Okay. Correct. Yeah, man. Okay, well. There is also, I am a disabled veteran. Okay. I do have substantial income from that as well. Okay, how much? That would be equal to, that's $4,500 a month. Oh, well, you buried the lead there. That really helps us out here with the expenses. We were scared you were running it up to the line. But if you have that kind of margin- I'd say, ahoy, Captain. Sayonara. I don't know what they say in the Bahamas, but- Captain John. I mean, it sounds like a fun adventure. If your fiance is on board and it's not going to destroy your relationships, even if you did this for a couple of years- I was going to say, yeah. Some wiggle room to do this and then go, oh, that was fun. I think you'd be fine. Yeah. Again, long-term. I don't know if that's what you want to do. And, but the great thing is you've set yourself up well, that your investments are going to continue to grow. You're going to be able to live well within what you are making. Probably, hopefully, maybe still investing. I don't know how that works with taxes. And I don't know, but kind of figuring that out. And yeah. And then maybe you look up in five years, six years. You're like, you know what? I could probably go get a job in manufacturing again for 90,000 different companies, less stress and keep moving. And then you're going to get some equity from your home when you sell it to do this move. You'd walk away with maybe 300 grand right there. You could just invest that. Just leave that and let it grow. And yeah, I mean, you'll come out for sure over a million dollar net worth, John, by the time this is all said and done. Yeah, I mean, I'm sitting at 950 right now. And maybe that's part of the block, right? That's kind of what I'm struggling with. I'm just wondering, is there an alternative where you go do a different job that you enjoy and the boat stuff is still a really fun hobby? Maybe it's a side hustle versus jumping ship, pun intended. I would say that. But it would be different if he was working on the, I don't know, harbor in New York versus the Bahamas, you know? Yeah, I mean, it sounds enticing. Well, it just sounds like a different life. It's almost like you're just itching to get a different lifestyle, too. And it doesn't sound like this is a permanent pay cut. The goal would be, how do I get back to making, you know, close to six figures or more while doing something I enjoy? If you came back, though, would you be OK with him on a Bahamian island? What's the upside there? Is there a room to grow there in the career? But I hate to say it. She's like, does it matter? It doesn't matter. Rachel's going to do it for free. You got a million bucks sitting in the bank. You live off of what you're making. I mean, I don't know. Do you have kids, John? No, I mean, she has three that are out of the house. OK, OK. I mean, it sounds like a fun adventure. To me, there's a there's a low fail scenario. It doesn't bother me. Knowing that this may not be a forever plan. Why do you keep saying that? I'm just wondering, is he going to be 68 working on boats in the Bahamas? I don't know. He might be. What do you think, John? The ultimate goal would be to own my own boat and sail it around the world, or at least, you know, island hop and cruise. Now we're talking. Wow, all right. That's some vision right there. That's what you can invite me and George on. We'll bring our spouses. You can thank Rachel for her great advice. It'll be a super yacht. OK, so that's great. I mean, in a sense of having there is an external goal, right? So you're not just sitting idle. Like there's something you're still working towards, which is your point, George, that like, how can we be growing, working towards something? And the boat thing is great. And you'll have plenty of margin in your budget with what you're getting from the military and what you're making to make that a goal to, yeah, save up for the boat and do charters. And I think it's great. Congratulations, John. All right, well. Put in your two weeks. I'm about to go to HR. See, all right. Good luck. George, that's what scares me. You know, we have fun and we get to say whatever we want. John has to go meet with HR. And actually take the advice. And then he's got to tell me a Rachel Cruz told me. I do. I stand by it. But it's a good reminder. You don't have to do work that you hate just because it's good money. That's right. Absolutely. And you don't have to go to the Bahamas to find a great life. To your point, he could have found a totally different manufacturing job. Yes, but it sounded like this was a dream for a long time. He's single. I wrote down what was his age? Forty. Forty four. Fiance's 52. You know, and there's not much tying them down. So it's like, you know. If not now, then when? You know, he's still got the energy to do that. I think it's fun. Send us some pics, John. I could do it. I want to see you working on this boat in the Bahamas. I know. Beautiful water. Oh, enjoy it. You worked hard. You got, yeah, you got plenty of money. You're gonna be fine. 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