How to Budget for Big Travel Splurges in Retirement
Retirement is prime time for big trips — but only if you plan early and move fast enough to enjoy them.
You've spent decades dreaming about that world cruise or European grand tour. Retirement feels like the finish line, but here's the hard truth: the window for serious travel is shorter than you think. Your early retirement years — roughly 60s to early 70s — are your physical and financial sweet spot. Don't waste them.
The biggest mistake retirees make is treating travel as a vague line item. "We'll travel someday" is not a plan. You need to assign real dollar amounts to real destinations on a real timeline. Think of travel as a dedicated bucket in your retirement portfolio, separate from housing, healthcare, and daily expenses. Front-load that bucket — spend it early while your health and energy are on your side.
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Sequence of returns risk isn't just a market problem; it's a lifestyle problem too. If you delay big trips waiting for your portfolio to recover from a downturn, you may be trading your best travel years for a slightly larger account balance. That's a bad trade. Build a travel reserve in cash or short-term bonds so market volatility doesn't ground you.
Talk to your financial planner about a "go-go, slow-go, no-go" spending framework. Most retirees spend aggressively in their go-go years, then naturally pull back as mobility decreases. Modeling this curve into your retirement income plan gives you permission — backed by math — to book the business-class seats now instead of later.
Bottom line: retirement travel rewards the prepared and punishes the procrastinators. Lock in the itinerary, fund the account, and go. Continue reading at MarketWatch.com
