The Finance Blogger

In our last post we wrote about living in an RV and traveling. Living in an RV is not something for us! This post is a bit more general in the sense that many people who retire also want to spend time traveling i.e. Travel and Retirement. They have the time to travel and the freedom to really go were ever they wish provided that their health allows them to travel and even leave the country.

Some people are in for a rude shock, though. Once they retire they suddenly find out that not only can they not travel, they may just have enough to live on and maintain their current standard of living. In addition they have begun to have health issues and this really increases the cost of travel significantly or they may not even be able to travel at all because they cannot find any travel insurance to cover them due to their health issues.

These are tough times for many people, so it is important that you really evaluate your situation well to make sure you have the money to do what you want to be able to do. Travel can be expensive, depending on how you plan to do it. If you go first class, staying in top hotels etc, it is going to be expensive. Even if you plan to live in an RV like the couple we talked about in our last post, you still need to have sufficient funds to be able to purchase or rent an RV. Selling your home and moving into an RV is a pretty drastic step for many people.

Travel and Retirement – Budget

The first step is to have a budget. Use pen and paper or a spreadsheet if you have a computer available and are comfortable using spreadsheets. Enter all of your monthly and annual income as well as cost for living expenses, utilities, taxes etc. Don’t forget to set aside some money for maintenance of your home and car as well as medical bills. These can mount up in a hurry and really affect your lifestyle if you are not careful.

Once you have developed your budget, add in your plan expenses for travel or whatever you want to do from a retirement perspective. Some people only want to golf for example. You may need to make adjustments to your budget so that you can squeeze in some travel or other activities that are high on your priority list.

Travel can be Inexpensive

Another friend of ours will fly into a location, rent a car and then spend the next month camping in various state parks. They really like to hike and explore and this not meets their objectives in terms of leisure activities, it also helps their budget as well. They are paying for airfare and a rental car, however at that point they are living very inexpensively while they are camping. If the weather gets bad or they just feel they need a day or two in a motel with a clean bed and a shower they also will do that, but their main plan is to camp.

Staying with relatives is another approach many people use. As long as you reciprocate, you can have a very nice vacation that is inexpensive and yet very enjoyable as well. Sure you pay for a few meals, and probably bring some gifts, but this is much less  expensive than staying in hotels and motels or going to resorts. One friend of ours never stays in a hotel. They will only travel if they can stay with friends or relatives.  These people are being cheap since they actually have the money to travel with and can stay anywhere they want. As they have shown this is a great way to travel relatively inexpensively.

Well that is the end of this post. The main point about travel and retirement is to set up a budget and stick to it so that you can really enjoy your retirement and not worry about whether you are spending too much. Comments about your retirement plans are welcome.

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