The US economy has kind of thrown a monkey wrench into our retirement travel plans. We had everything very carefully worked out where we would retire in June, 2010 and then launch into a life of relaxation, fun and travel.

The way I figure, it will take two good months in recovery to make up for every month we spend in decline, which, assuming recovery in January 2009, (optimist that I am) pushes our retirement out to June of 2012. :(

On the plus side, however, that gives us two more years to earn miles for our stash, before we start the burn.

Has the current ecomony affected anyone else's retirement travel plans?

The weak U.S. dollar has impacted my travel plans. I would normally do 4-6 weeks in Europe in the winter time, when there's less tourists about. Last year I spent 2 weeks in Austria and 2 weeks in Switzerland. This year I did a couple weekends in Frankfurt, primarily to get miles on winter fares, as the cost of everything, including rail passes, is more than I want to spend now.

I see just today the $USD has fallen to a 24 year low against the Australian dollar. Looks like I'll be crossing Australia off my list, too, if we continue to lose ground there. At least Hong Kong and Singapore have been good values.

No idea if this will change with a new Administration in January, 2009. We've lost so much it might take years to regain that ground.

No change in our plans--strong Canadian dollar (oilbucks worth more than US now) has offset any price increases. Our economy is stronger than ever (too strong--there are labor shortages) and the only problem is turning good and well paying consulting work down--who wants to retire?--I get paid to go watch fuzzy critters, birds, snakes, frogs, and flowers;)

This really isn't gloating as we have our fair share of environmental problems as a result of this frenzied development.

We will be doing very little travel over the next few years that is not related to my work. When I am (finally) retired, I'm betting we will stay home.

Husband is very nervous about rising prices!

oldpenny16 writes:

Husband is very nervous about rising prices!

I think a lot of people are concerned about the falling US dollar and the cost of oil. Hopefully, things will turn around after the election. I sure hope so.

It was interesting to note during our current trip to Tasmania, that many of of the attendees are retired FlyerTalkers who do report that they travel a lot more since they have retired. There really weren't any young people who came to Hobart from the US as far as I noticed.

There really weren't any young people who came to Hobart from the US as far as I noticed.

How much of that is driven by vacation policies in the U.S.? My previous employer started daytime workers with 2 weeks a year, and if I had just that much I doubt I'd use it for a quick trip to Australia.

I had planned to retire in 18 months. For a variety of reasons, health and the economy (and the house I bought two years ago which I will lose money on if I sell in the near future), I'm thinking of postponing for perhaps as much as an additional two years. My great plan had been to sell most of my stuff, put the rest in storage, but a RTW ticket and spend a year traveling, then come home and figure out where I wanted to live. Because of health issues (I can't be out of the country for more than four months in the next three years, six months for two years after that, I'm rethinking my RTW trip.)

It's a hard call. I've seen people who have delayed retirement plans get hit with horrific health problems. We all think we will live forever (or at least 95), but that isn't the case. Even the healthiest of us can be blindsided with health issues we never contemplated. I had friends about ten years ago who had delayed all sorts of things until they retired and the children were through school and the husband got early onset Alzheimers at 53. Devastating, just devasting.

My dream was (and still is) to retire and travel, travel, travel. And that's what I've done. But now airfares are going way up. It's getting harder than ever to redeem an award ticket.

I actually make more money during retirement (two pensions and part-time consulting work) than when I worked. But what's the use if I can't travel? I don't just want to sit around at home.

And Europe is out of the question. So is Brazil, one of my favorite destinations.

I am seriously thinking about going back to work full-time.

It is all a delima!

We are holding off on spending money. Just got word from my company that our health insurance coverage is going to cost more and give us much less than for last year's renewal.

This insurance may cost so much that we have to debate Rx coverage!

A vacation just doesn't sound like a good idea.

Absolutely! Our Victorian "painted lady" in SF was, literally, our retirement plan. Changes in circumstances have found us in LA, but we don't dare sell in this market. Now, I'm trying desperately to get back to the SF job market, but the recession -- oh wait, the "slow down" -- is making it nearly impossible. Unless something happens quick, we're going to be victims of the economy.

Yikes, PTravel], that is the pits. I really hope for your sake that things do turn around quickly.

[b]manneca writes:

It's a hard call. I've seen people who have delayed retirement plans get hit with horrific health problems. We all think we will live forever (or at least 95), but that isn't the case. Even the healthiest of us can be blindsided with health issues we never contemplated.

It sure is a hard call. We had a friend who had everything worked out perfectly. He was an architect and his wife was a nurse. They both had perfect health, and lots of money, and were going to retire and go to New Orleans to do volunteer work for the recover. Unfortunately, within three weeks after his retirement at 62, he learned that he had terminal cancer. He only lasted about a year. :( It was devastating for our entire community.

I had a nasty bout of pneumonia this last winter/spring and that really put the fear of God into me. Theretofore, I felt 30, and really did suspect that I would live forever, or at least 104. Being sick and weak paints a whole new picture. I am only now able to get back to the gym and dance on a regular basis.

Fortunately, overall, we both do enjoy good health, and we have the freedom to take quite a lot of trips, even while we are working. Of course, the trips are shorter than we might wish, but they are still trips.

We have found that flying down to LAX on the weekend and taking a three-day cruise back up to Vancouver, or going to Greenville or New York for a long weekend, can be very relaxing and revitalizing. Of course, we also need to maintain our 1k status until we retire and start flying on miles. :D Let's hope that the airlines hold together so we can actually use the miles when we retire.

So far the economy has not drastically altered our travel plans. In fact, we have been on more airplanes in the last year than in any previous three year period of time. We watch airfares very carefully and take advantage of cheap fares whenever we can obtain them.

I am, however, very worried. Our health insurance costs nearly $1000/month. Over and above what insurance pays, our monthly prescription medication is over $300/month. I had hoped that a new administration would motivate someone to address the crisis in health care. Now I suspect I will be eligible for Medicare before that happens. I am sure the government will be forced to address fuel costs before health care costs.

I am also nervous about our investments, which have generally lost money since last July. My broker says we need to stay in for the long haul, but I am not sure I will live long enough to see a recovery.

We have always been generally thrifty, and we are reducing discretionary expenses even further. We bought an espresso machine and make no more stops at Starbuck's for a $4 cup of coffee. If we dine out, we generally try for the early bird special with all the other old people in our town. We are much more aware of driving, and tend to combine errands more than in the past.

Even with the increasing cost of fuel, when we compare the cost of driving to the cost of flying, flying is still less expensive for us. Particularly if we do not have to stay in a hotel at our destination.

The thing that is most difficult for us is the declining value of the USD. We spend a couple of months in Turkey every year. Turkish currency is pegged to the euro, and prices, while not as bad as Europe, are still dreadful compared to the US. We will be returning this year, but it might be several years before we can do it again.

Yuk. I don't even want to think about the value of the dollar. And to think that just six years ago the Euro was only about $.80 to the dollar. I sincerely hope we can get out of this war and turn the economy back around. For that reason alone, I would have voted for Hillary, just to get Bill back in the Whitehouse. I guess there is still hope.

I have been reading way too many articles like this one (http://www.thirdage.com/news/articles/ALT04/08/06/27/ALT04080627-02.html), that just paint way too bleak a picture for those of us who are retired and on the brink of retirement.

You are sure right on the driving vs. flying score, flyingfran. Maybe on the bright side, Americans will finally learn how to use public transportation.

Punki, what public transportation? ;) My husband now says, "not that again" whenever I start on a rant about how much I miss living in countries where public transportation is available!

Our retirement plans are currently in the cra**er. Hubby is thinking about looking overseas again. At that point, I'll happily hop on whatever public transportation is available because I hate driving on the stupid freeways with the stupid drivers going 90 mph in their SUVs while eating, applying makeup, yelling at their kids who are watching DVDs, and talking on a cellphone (all at the same time.) :mad:

hausfrau, I also hate driving on highways where people are eating breakfast, applying make-up, checking homework and talking on their cell phones while weaving in and out of traffic. Frankly every time I leave my house for the highway I wonder if we will return alive. This is especially true since we normally drive a tiny car which does not survive well when involved in a collision with a huge SUV.

One way we are responding to increased gasoline prices is driving slower. Well....I am responding that way. My husband says that my demand not to exceed 55 mph is going to get us killed. So....we are not driving on Interstate highways as often as we used to. Now we drive on the secondary highways which were often replaced by the interstate. I like to leave those roads to people who really are in a hurry. It might take us an hour longer on a full day trip when we stay on secondary roads and drive 55 mph, but we can increase our fuel efficiency by 30%. Usually the extra time comes not because we drive slower, but because we find interesting things we want to stop and see.

I doubt if I will live long enough to see reasonable public transportation in major cities in the US. It is just not part of our culture, and it is sad that we never developed it. It certainly is not that the oil crisis came as a surprise. We have known this day was coming for at least the past 35 years.

We always use public transportation if at all possible in Atlants, Boston, New York, D.C., Chicago, Porltland, and San Francisco. The good news is that both Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., will have trains from downtown to their respective airports sometime in 2009.

That's a little progress.

FlyingFran, you're right about driving to save fuel. Around here, if I don't jack-rabbit off the red light I'm liable to suddenly own an "accordion car" when the person behind me just mashes the gas pedal to the floor. :mad: