Suppose you have a secure retirement income that exceeds your monthly expenses. If for some reason you had to add an additional $500.00 per month to your expenses it wouldn’t break you.
At 65 years old you are still healthy enough to really enjoy yourself but are starting to feel the effects of age.
Would spending the great bulk of your networth over a 3 year period on mainly travel be a foolhardy thing to do?Your life’s earnings represent, obviously, the total saved from decades of working. It would be well worth it to spend several years considering whether this is the right decision to do, because even that much time pales in comparison to how much value you are contemplating spending.
Well 3 years isn’t a very long amount of time it sounds like a very dumb idea to blow so much money and then you’re still only 68 with presumably quite a few years ahead of you, enough anyway that you’ll wish you hadn’t gone through all that money.
You plan to live longer than 71, right?
I am actually 67 now, I used 65 as an example. My living standards are very simple and I have a steady retirement income that easily handles that. I see myself really slowing down in my 70’s to an even simpler life style than I have now. I would have to stay away from expensive restauraunts but maybe a couple of times a year. Car money would be set aside. I have allready turned my property over to my kin so I am
really feeling a strong itch to do the travelng I have never done, but I fully realize life would be a bit simpler once it was gone.
Knowing myself I would probably go all conservative after about 3 months instead of 3 years. I can’t help but think about the sense of freedom I would finaly have that I have never had before.
I took an early retirement package with a big lump sum when I was 47 and spent 5 years traveling the US, Australia and New Zealand. I knew in advance that I’d have to find another job at some point. But I also knew that I couldn’t depend on being hale and hearty enough to do the same kind of thing if I waited another dozen years or so. Those “early retirement” years were some of the absolute best times of my life and I don’t regret my decision for a single moment.
After those five years, by an incredible stroke of luck, I got a job with the same company doing pretty much the same thing. Another couple of years and I’ll be able to enjoy a second retirement!
Congrats on having a great life, great story!
Enjoy it while you can. You don’t have to spend every nickel, but indulge in something you’ve always wanted to do. Maybe pick a few places you’d like to visit, and go to a couple each year for the next few years.
It depends on some stuff. Like how comfortable my pension is.
Let’s say right now my pension covers my basic expenses plus $500/month of discretionary spending, like hobbies, consumer goods, and fine dining. If I decide to make world traveling my sole discretionary spending activity, I’m in the same position as I was before. But is this a financially smart position to be in? Is it wise to spend all of your monthly pension? If $500 is 100% of what you are allocated for discretionary spending, then no, you shouldn’t spend it on traveling. You should be saving it for when the roof craps out. But if $500 is chump change in your overall budget and your savings are very ample, then why not?
It also depends on family obligations. Even if you don’t have any more dependents, maybe there will be a financial need for an adult child or grandchild. You’d love to bail Suzie out of jail/pay for Bobby’s experimental chemotherapy/help out with Junior’s college tuition, but oh noes you can’t because you’ve spent the last several years traveling the world. Personally, I don’t think non-dependent children deserve any of their parents’ money. But a parent doesn’t ever retire from parenting, and I imagine it is hard to watch children suffer and not be able to help them financially. (And it probably sucks even more if you need financial help from your parents, and all they give you is a lousy t-shirt from a hotel gift shop).
Why plan it all now? Take a trip or two, see how it shakes out, and work from there.
If you really take a shine to travel, there are ways to do so that are a good fit for a retired person on a modest income. Spending chunks of time now and then in low-cost-of-living countries can be quite economical if you do it right. If you have a degree and are in generally good health, Peace Corps loves retired people. There are lots of places where you can pick up enough cash to keep moving teaching English here and there.Even in the US, there are ways to get around cheaply, if you are able to be creative.
This is kind of what i was thinking. My inhertance issues are all squared away. The amount that I kept is the amount I planned on using up,
I am allready too old for some of the adventures I would have like to have taken but still plenty I would like to do. 4 week travel chunks would be about perfect with a few months inbetween. About 3 or 4 years at this pace I would be getting close to broke.
What kind of places would you like to travel to?
I’m in kind of the same boat - almost 66, I have a pension and Social Security which covers 90% of my needs; there is also the equity in the house which my financial advisor thinks would be good to turn around in a few years with a reverse mortgage. Also I have no heirs to worry about (only my spouse, who is older than me; no children). So yes, I could see spending a chunk of my IRA while I’m young enough to enjoy the activity.
It would not be responsible, however, to ignore the probability that health care expenses will go up with each passing year and each new medical issue that age develops.
Plus, having a financial advisor makes it somewhat harder to go nuts with the early spending. So I can’t see myself spending the “great bulk” of my IRA within three years; the amount would almost certainly be more modest than that, not over 25%.
If you have a steady income apart from the money you plan to spend, then he biggie would be health care (21st friggin’ century, “Greatest Country in the World”, and old folks need to worry about health care). If you trust whatever insurance you have to cover everything, well, as long as you have a roof, heat, and food assured when you get back, I’d be inclined to say Go for it!".
If spending the money will impact your future income to the point of McDonalds once a month is a treat, keep the money.
(then gain, I am the classic “Peter Pan” character - this boy ain’t ever growing up!)
And you trust whoever now holds deed to not sell the place while your gone…
I am almost embarrassed to admit how little I know about travel. I have a lot of interest in architecture and art in Europe. I would like to tour most of Europe road trip style. A big emphasis on my travel would be on natural enviroments and wildlife, I might just as well throw darts at a map as it all interests me.
I see South America as a major aspect that might include several trips. Someplace like Madacascar would be great also. Places that have a wide variety of reptiles, amphibians, plant life and small animals would be high on my list.
I’ve traveled most of my adult life. Now that I’m married, my wife and I are accelerating our travel plans. I see no reason to enjoy travel and adventure well into our late 70’s and beyond. I think you’re underestimating the ability of those over 70 to live a full life if you want it.
Don’t underestimate your future healthcare expenses, and how they may change in the blink of an eye. I thought my health issues were fairly predictable until less than three weeks ago, when I woke up with excruciating lumbar stenosis. It can’t be fixed with a simple cortisone injection. With no warning, I’m now an invalid, in constant pain. This may or may not be temporary. If it’s permanent, I can’t count on Medicare and private insurance to provide me with everything I’ll be needing.
This could happen to you, or you could be in an accident. I’m not saying you shouldn’t enjoy your life, but don’t be naive enough to believe you’ll be able-bodied forever . . . or even in the immediate future.
Something you may want to look into…my grandmother had a deal with a travel agent. If she could sign up X number of people for a tour group, her trip was free. She got to go on some fabulous trips this way. China, Australia, Alaska, cruises, etc. If you could make a similar deal, your travel budget could stretch a lot further…
Panache -
I do hope you are getting the drugs needed to control the pain.
DEA effectively said “No More Opioids” a couple of years ago - my ration was cut to 1/3 of what I was using.
Point is: many MD’s, including those who were not adverse to controlled substances before, are now hesitant to prescribe Sch II. It may take some looking.
The recent move of Vicodin/Percoxxx (hydrocodone cut with OTC) from Sch III to Sch II has removed the only opioid from the “uncontrolled” list