Traveling During Retirement: Make Your Dream a Reality [Updated July 2024]

By: Danielle Strumbeta CFP®, Wealth Advisor | Published 11/15/2022.
Updated by: Aimee Butler CFP®, Wealth Advisor | Republished 07/09/2024.

Retirement travel can be different from travel you have experienced before – in the best ways! As a child, you traveled with your parents or family members, which likely meant you had no choice in where you went or what you did. As a working adult, available time off and competing goals meant resources were limited. Perhaps you had children of your own and chose Disneyland over an African Safari. And now, as you plan for retirement, “the world,” as they say, “is your oyster!”

What places are on your bucket list to visit? What would you like to do there? Who will travel with you? One of my favorite parts of my role as a financial advisor is encouraging my clients to travel when they have the desire and ability to do it. My clients and I plan together and budget for their dream plans! It is so rewarding to watch others live out their dreams of bike touring through the US, cruising Australia and New Zealand, and hiking the Camino de Santiago after missing the chance to do so in college. Or perhaps you want to study pastry making in France? All kinds of retirement travel can be possible with planning and budgeting. Yet there are so many things to consider before setting off on your adventure!

As financial advisors, we help provide clarity around these unknowns. We can certainly answer your questions about how your trip may impact your retirement timeline so you are comfortable deciding to take time away now that you finally can! To help with what else you should keep in mind, we’ve compiled a list of some essential planning items for short- and long-term trips.

Seven Tips for Retirement Travel Planning

How to Manage Your Finances While Traveling

Consider setting all your bills to autopay if you have not already done so. You can set up automatic transfers for bank or retirement accounts that you add funds to regularly. Be sure to notify your financial advisor that you will be gone, especially if you might be unreachable for some time. It’s also important to inform your bank if you’re traveling so they don’t flag your purchases as fraudulent or deny your purchases in other countries or states.

Essential Documents for Traveling

Organize your important documents and know where they are in case you need to direct someone to access them. Consider making copies of your passports, medical cards, and other documents you may need to access while traveling in case you misplace any actual documents. If you don’t already have Wills, Powers of Attorney, or Health Care Directives in place, we highly recommend creating those estate planning documents before you go.

How to Secure Your Home While You Are Away

Consider having someone check on your home while you are away. You can leave them instructions for things like watering the plants, checking that appliances are working properly, and starting up your sedentary cars every so often. Set up automatic timers for lights in your home and an alarm system for security purposes if you do not have someone at your home regularly while you are away. Review or pause any usual deliveries or services so you will not have any unwanted activity on your property. You can have your mail forwarded or held by the post office. Some local police departments will even generate a vacation watch for you.

Traveling with Pets

Many people opt to bring Fido or Fluffy along on their adventures. Depending on where you are going, you will want to obtain a pet passport and/or a Health Certificate. Remember that the appropriate paperwork can take several weeks or even months to process, so plan accordingly. For pets who will not be joining you, find someone to care for them, whether that is a family member, a pet sitter through Rover, or a boarding company. Do not forget to leave them with instructions about your pet’s food, routine, vet information, and behavior. Peace of mind about their care is well worth the extra planning!

Health Considerations for Traveling During Retirement

Not all medical insurance plans offer coverage outside your home state or country. If your coverage does not extend to where you’re traveling, consider putting travel medical insurance in place in case something happens. If you have any regular prescription medications, you’ll also need to work with your pharmacist to be sure you have a plan for refilling your prescriptions.

The Importance of Senior Travel Insurance

This can help provide emergency medical coverage as well as coverage for cancellations, delays, and/or accidents while you’re traveling. Consider working with an agent to determine the right coverage for your travel plans.

Creating a Contingency Plan for Your Travel

It’s important to have a contingency plan in place in case something goes awry. Have an emergency contact back home and equip them properly for anything that could come up while you’re away. For example, be sure they know who’s watching your pets or caring for your home. Consider creating a “just-in-case” bag with additional items you might need sent to you should plans change.

One family I work with purchased an RV to escape the Oregon gray winter days and bring their family and pets along. They head down to Palm Springs in the winter and spend time on the Columbia Gorge in the summer. Another family planned to spend the winter months in Maui, renting a home and engaging with the local community there. For these folks, it was the best of both worlds! They were able to immerse themselves in the Hawaiian culture and share it with family and friends.

Conversations about planning dream vacations are undoubtedly one of the best parts of my job. I am so grateful to work with folks to identify their dreams and figure out a plan to make them happen now and in retirement. If you have important plans for you and your future, let’s connect! I’d love to help you get there!

Coming up on September 12th, 2024 at 12pm Pacific, we have a webinar on setting yourself up to “Live Fully” in retirement. Register now to be sure you get reminders about attending. We will cover specifics about planning for your best life, and there will be a valuable LIVE Q&A session to get your questions answered!

Disclosure: All opinions expressed in this article are for general informational purposes and constitute the judgment of the author(s) as of the date of the report. These opinions are subject to change without notice and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security. The material has been gathered from sources believed to be reliable, however Merriman cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information, and certain information presented here may have been condensed or summarized from its original source.  Merriman does not provide tax, legal or accounting advice, and nothing contained in these materials should be taken as such.