Ways To Travel When Retired

Traveling is liked by people from all walks of life, and all age groups. People dream of traveling when they retire – after all they have to make up for the lost time when they were busy working. In a survey carried out by TransAmerica Center for Retirement Studies, around two-thirds of people stated that they wanted to travel after their retirement – surprisingly an even popular goal than spending time with family and friends. However the most obvious obstacle for many of these people was the cost it would take to travel. Only some of them were comfortable that they’d be able to travel as they wished. This doesn’t mean that such visions after retirement are merely dreams that will not come to fruition. All you need is a plan to make them work. The following tips will help you to travel when retired.

It’s Never too Early To Start Planning

Be specific where you want to go when you retire. It helps to think about what your travel plans be instead of thinking vaguely that you want to travel when you’re retired. Not only will this give you a definite goal but it will also tell you how much you need to save in order for you to accomplish that goal. It will get you motivated, for example when you know you want to go to a beach in Spain or spend a week in the villages in Tuscany, Italy, all you have to do is imagine them. This will help motivate you to put money in your retirement fund instead of spending it recklessly.

Calculate Cost – With Inflation In Mind

Once you know for certain what kind of holiday you want, you can start to plan properly and think about costs. Do an initial search to get an idea of how much such trips cost. For example, a weeklong trip to Europe can easily cost you upwards of $15000 since tickets would cost around $5000. An intricate trip involving visiting a lot of cities can easily cost more than this, depending on how luxurious you want your holiday to be. But if you plan to go on multiple vacations during the course of your retirement, be prepared for the cost to climb into 6 figures. Give yourself a cushion of 20% more than your calculated amount and allow for inflation. At the end if you save too much, what’s the harm in that?

The No-Go Years

No one can keep traveling throughout their retirement, this is a given but people tend to think otherwise. Health concerns (for most people) become a big obstacle after a certain age (in most cases 70). So keep this in mind when you’re planning to travel for you’ll also need to save for these ‘no go’ years. Think of traveling after retirement in three phases: the first is the go-go years, the second – the slow go years and finally the no-go years. Usually people cannot travel in the last phase as the travel funds often end up getting redistributed to cover for health expenses.
You can easily travel when retired – all you have to do is plan properly.