Eating Dessert Early in Retirement

[NW-Bound]

I would even go as far as saying that discretionary expenses such as travels or even "one-time" splurges such as for a used RV do not require that much planning (People routinely pay more for a new fancy SUV than a clean used class C RV would fetch).

So, one can pay cash for such extraneous items, then just think of it as a sunk cost, then it is over. No more worrying about it. In bad years, one just skips these expenses and hunkers down.

It is really recurrent items such as expenses to maintain a 2nd home or monthly payments on a new expensive RV that would require planning.

I might be a bit cavalier here, but this has been how I have been living my LBYM way without having to budget ever since I was in my early 20s. The main thing I have to remind myself now is that my means will be curtailed when I no longer have income from part-time work.

 

[friar1610]

Travel has been a nice part of retirement for my wife and me. We typically take a "big" trip about once a year and a few smaller ones in-between. Since we've been retired we've been to Peru, Argentina, Chile, Ireland (our 5th trip there) and Russia. A couple of these visits have been on cruises. We frequently go to Montreal since we live so close. This summer we're going to do an Alaska cruise. We really want to go to Australia/New Zealand but are put off by the long flight. (Flights to Buenos Aires and Moscow have been long enough but I'm not sure my long legs can take a trip "down under." Guess we'd better do it soon or we'll be too old.

 

[Gone4Good]

*Ahem*.

Which continent would you be referring to? Some parts of the U.S. have never been a part of the Mainland, and 1.3 million U.S. residents can't be all wrong...

I stand corrected.

I wonder, though, of the large majority of U.S. citizens who have never left the mother land, how many have even been to Hawaii?

 

[NW-Bound]

Difficult to believe, but some people think that they would need a passport to go to Hawaii, as it is 'nother country.

 

[REWahoo]

Difficult to believe, but some people think that they would need a passport to go to Hawaii, as it is 'nother country.

I understand New Mexico gets frequent phone calls asking if passports are needed to visit...

 

[Gone4Good]

We really want to go to Australia/New Zealand but are put off by the long flight. (Flights to Buenos Aires and Moscow have been long enough but I'm not sure my long legs can take a trip "down under." Guess we'd better do it soon or we'll be too old.

Australia/New Zealand are on our short list for next winter. We figure if we leave from the west coast, stop over in Hawaii (to get our passport stamped, of course ) for maybe a week or two, and then on to New Zealand, the flights will be tolerable.

 

[NW-Bound]

What? People still visit New Mexico despite all the beheadings and drug wars reported in the news?

We were lucky to fly business class non-stop from LA to Sydney, to Auckland, then return flight also non-stop from Auckland, all courtesy of DW's megacorp back then. Her pay was not great, but the perks, oh the perks... Just leaned back, slept most of the flight, watched a couple of movies, woke up for the meals (forgot how many), then we were there.

If anything to indulge ourselves, stock market permitting, it will be business class flights. Was upgraded to first-class once and it was bit nicer, but I would be quite content with business class, thank you.

PS. The above was our own leisure trip but with free airfare, not a business trip.

 

[Nords]

We really want to go to Australia/New Zealand but are put off by the long flight. (Flights to Buenos Aires and Moscow have been long enough but I'm not sure my long legs can take a trip "down under." Guess we'd better do it soon or we'll be too old.

I much prefer longer flights to connections, but there's a lot to be said for breaking up the trip with a few days in an intermediate stop.

I'm not sure which Australia route is shorter for you... east or west?

I stand corrected.
I wonder, though, of the large majority of U.S. citizens who have never left the mother land, how many have even been to Hawaii?

We've had several friends & relatives who will not visit here because it requires air/sea travel. I'm not sure if it's an issue with flying or seawater... or just too expensive compared to other Mainland destinations.

My father didn't enjoy visiting here because it was "too humid". Of course Colorado is so dry that I get nosebleeds visiting there, so I understand a little of how he felt.

My favorite Hawaii visitor remains the one who dropped a feedback card at the USS ARIZONA Memorial Visitor's Center. They recommended moving the Memorial closer to Waikiki because the trip out to Pearl Harbor was too inconvenient.

 

[NW-Bound]

Holy Cow!

Just checked price of non-stop flight LAX/SYD. Econ: $1200. Bus Class: $6200. First Class: $17600.

I remember when we got the free business-class tickets, I checked the price out of curiosity, and if I recalled correctly, it was around $2K and this was in 1998 or 1999. For the leg from Sydney to Auckland, we got upgraded to 1st class even.

There is no way I can ever afford or want to pay to fly other than coach. Not even if the Dow gets to 20,000. I guess my fate is to be a peasant forever.

 

[Mulligan]

*Ahem*.

Which continent would you be referring to? Some parts of the U.S. have never been a part of the Mainland, and 1.3 million U.S. residents can't be all wrong...

It's OK. You can visit here without a passport, and we'll even accept your American dollars in exchange for goods & services. Mahalo.

I would like to go to Hawaii some day, but the thought of being in an airplane from midwest detours me from doing it. Instead we fly to USVI, because the flight is much closer and you do not need a passport there either. Occassionally we get an odd look because we pull out our DL and SSN instead of a passport that most people have when they go there.

 

[Nords]

I would like to go to Hawaii some day, but the thought of being in an airplane from midwest detours me from doing it.

We regularly fly nonstop Honolulu-Houston and Honolulu-Chicago. It's 8-9 hours but it's the only way to get a good nap, a good meal & snack, and a movie or a book. The contrast of having to make a connection in LAX or SFO breaks up the flights with some physical activity, but I never get in a good nap under those conditions.

 

[fisherman]

I understand New Mexico gets frequent phone calls asking if passports are needed to visit...

Depends upon which way you are going at the border.

 

[Mulligan]

We regularly fly nonstop Honolulu-Houston and Honolulu-Chicago. It's 8-9 hours but it's the only way to get a good nap, a good meal & snack, and a movie or a book. The contrast of having to make a connection in LAX or SFO breaks up the flights with some physical activity, but I never get in a good nap under those conditions.

Are the width of the seats wider on flights to Honolulu? My GF says they are but I dont trust her (Im not talking 1st class either). I think she is trying to trick me as there is no turning back once boarded. The longest flight I have been on was Chicago to Vegas and I was about to go crazy on that flight. I will need to get mentally tougher to sit for 8-9 hours!

 

[webdweeb]

Holy Cow!

Just checked price of non-stop flight LAX/SYD. Econ: $1200. Bus Class: $6200. First Class: $17600.

I remember when we got the free business-class tickets, I checked the price out of curiosity, and if I recalled correctly, it was around $2K and this was in 1998 or 1999. For the leg from Sydney to Auckland, we got upgraded to 1st class even.

There is no way I can ever afford or want to pay to fly other than coach. Not even if the Dow gets to 20,000. I guess my fate is to be a peasant forever.

Don't forget about Premium Economy, which is a very cost effective option for many routes-we've been using Air France PE for our trips to Europe, and the extra legroom and seat width (for only a few hundred dollars per ticket more than std econ) definitely makes a difference when you are on a 12-13 hour non-stop flight. The last time I looked LAX-Auckland on Air NEw Zealand PE was about half the cost of business class-more than std econ, but definitely a consideration if one is already spending several thousand on a multi-week trip to NZ.

 

[obgyn65]

"Income smoothing" in retirement is a new concept to me. I am wondering if it would be worth it to start a thread on this topic to share ideas ?

... and income smoothing is a topic worthy of consideration in planning...

 

[Walt34]

Personally, I have no desire to travel and actually, I find that almost everything that I want to do is free or nearly so. Guess I'm pretty lucky.

We're sort of in that camp too. I wouldn't mind doing some in the USA - there's more than enough to do/see/experience here - but it's not a major issue for me and DW is definitely not a traveler.

 

[Gone4Good]

Holy Cow!

Just checked price of non-stop flight LAX/SYD. Econ: $1200. Bus Class: $6200. First Class: $17600.

Yup.

I was thinking when you wrote about your preference for flying Bus Class that either you hadn't flown recently or you have some travel money to burn.

 

[Gone4Good]

I wouldn't mind doing some in the USA - there's more than enough to do/see/experience here

That is certainly true. We've been traveling full-time for just a month short of two years and we've only covered about half the U.S. in all that time. It might take us another three years until we've seen everything we want to see here.

But then I'm reminded that North America (including Canada and Mexico, but excluding Hawaii ) only makes up about 16% of the world's total land mass. We certainly have our work cut out for us if we want to see it all.

 

[pb4uski]

Yup.

I was thinking when you wrote about your preference for flying Bus Class that either you hadn't flown recently or you have some travel money to burn.

I've heard that the best strategy is to buy a coach ticket and then use miles to upgrade. Of course, that assumes that you have miles to begin with.

 

[audreyh1]

I actually set up an extra "travel fund" that we saved into before retiring, in anticipation of doing a bunch of extra traveling the first 2 or 3 years after retiring. This was held separate from the portfolio to fund long-term living expenses.

I don't think we spent all of it as after a couple of years it kind of morphed into our general "short-term" fund that held a couple years of living (including travel) expenses so we could ignore market volatility.

But I think it was a smart thing to do. We were able to enjoy plenty of travel in 2000-2002 without being freaked out too much by an extended bear market.

We still have extra set aside for a splurge trip or two whenever we get around to doing it!

Audrey

 

[chris2008]

I have inherited some money from my dad who was a travel lover. We keep that as our "post retirement travel fund" seperately from all other funds. I think he would love that.

 

[NW-Bound]

Yup.

I was thinking when you wrote about your preference for flying Bus Class that either you hadn't flown recently or you have some travel money to burn.

When it comes to shelling out our own dough, it has always been pedestrian coach seats.

Megacorps, however, have the policy of paying for business class seats for flights over 6 hrs long. The last time I took a long work-related flight was in 2009 (to a somewhat scary place!). The ticket price was a bit more than $5K, but I thought it was due to the purchase being on short notice.

 

[NW-Bound]

It has been my experience that most coach seats on long overseas flights are tolerable, but then we are skinny people. Perhaps the seats are a bit wider, and spacing between rows are increased an inch or two, I am not sure. But I can certify that the most torturous flights I have had were all domestic flights. Even short flights of 2 or 3 hours could be excruciating, if you get jammed in between two big people. Some airplanes/airlines are worse than others.

Arghhh.... Keep talking about this and I will be traveling by RV the rest of my life. For more European trips, I will ship an RV and go along on a freighter.

Are the width of the seats wider on flights to Honolulu? My GF says they are but I dont trust her (Im not talking 1st class either). I think she is trying to trick me as there is no turning back once boarded. The longest flight I have been on was Chicago to Vegas and I was about to go crazy on that flight. I will need to get mentally tougher to sit for 8-9 hours!

I am sure if you act agitated and demand to be let off before take-off, they will let you off. In fact, if you throw a bad enough tantrum early enough in flight, they very likely turn around and land to get you off (in a straight jacket).

 

[CyclingInvestor]

I only fly coach, and enjoy it as long as I can get a window seat. Although I am a big guy, my super-power ("Sleep Anywhere") kicks in to make things tolerable. I had to fly cross-country twice last week on packed flights, and managed to sleep almost the entire time. Good price too - $375 for a non-stop on less than a weeks notice.

Although flying is no longer the picnic it was in the post-deregulation / pre-911 days, I have a hard time complaining when I can fly 6000 miles on a few days notice this cheaply.

 

[NW-Bound]

Come to think of it, my most traumatized flights were all domestic flights for work. It was nearly always on a short notice, and I did not have a chance to get good seating. I hate traveling for work for that reason.

For vacation flights, of course I traveled with my wife and lifting up the armrest helped a bit. And then, for overseas flights in twin-aisle aircraft, with plenty of advance booking, we would reserve a pair of outside seats - one window, one aisle - and it was not bad at all.

Still, for long non-stop flights of 10 hrs or more, there is no beating business class seats that lean back nearly flat so one can sleep. Damn it, if there is anything that the 1% has that I envy, it is the ability to pay for such seats.