Your retirement years are the perfect time to travel the globe. With no more work responsibilities or kids at home, you may find yourself with plenty of time to see cities that you were never able to when you were younger. One thing that concerns retirees is the amount of money they have. Often times there is only a finite amount of money that has to last them the rest of their lives and they don’t want to feel financially stressed. If find yourself in this situation, it shouldn’t stop you from traveling as there are some ways to budget for travel during your retirement.
Go Through Your Budget To See How Much “Extra Money” You Have
All good budgets should account for spending other than just actual bills. There should be things like an entertainment category that includes items like eating out or going to see a movie. Even if you don’t have a lot of money during retirement, you can often find some “extra money” by forgoing things that aren’t actually needed. Do you really need to get your haircut every month or can you put it off two every 3 months in order to save some money? Is that lavish birthday party really necessary or would it be just as much fun to have a potluck in your backyard? Simply going through your budget and separating the necessary bills versus things that you can cut back on, you can easily find some money that you can put towards traveling.
Prioritize What Trips To Go On
Realistically, you probably won’t be able to go on every single trip you want to. What this means is that you really need to prioritize where you want to go. Think about whether you’d like to take a bunch of smaller trips, that cost less, versus one or two big trips that may cost quite a bit. When thinking about trips, take into account how physically demanding they are. Will you and your travel partner be able to meet the physical demands and still have a great time? By identifying what trips you want to take during your retirement, you can start to figure out how much you will need to save and then be able to come up with a financial plan that ensures that you are able to meet your goals and travel to the places that you want to go to.
Scope Out Senior Discounts
One of the nice things about traveling when you are older is that you qualify for senior discounts. This can save you quite a bit and make traveling a lot more affordable. If you don’t see a senior discount advertised, make sure you ask if one is available. Often times there may be a discount available, but it isn’t advertised so if you don’t ask about it, you won’t receive it.
Plan For The Unexpected
While we all hope that a vacation costs more than we anticipated, this is usually not the case. This is why it’s important to plan for the unexpected. If you think taxi rides will cost $100, plan for $150. If you only plan on taking 1-2 excursions while at a destination, budget for 3-4. You don’t want to be caught off guard at the end of your trip for overspending or foregoing a once in a lifetime opportunity because you didn’t budget enough money for unexpected expenses.
Another way to save money and even possibly travel for free, is to go travel with a group on a tour or cruise. Learn more about Planning a large group cruise.
