Retirement Travel Survey: Financially Confident Retirees Worry About Time, Not Money
Retirement travel is often treated as a financial question: Can I afford it? Our retirement travel survey suggests that for many people, it is not a money question. It’s primarily about time.
We found that travel isn’t just another retirement expense. It’s one of the primary reasons people save for retirement at all. Turning that aspiration into reality requires more than accumulated wealth. It requires confidence that:
- Spending today won’t compromise tomorrow
- A market downturn won’t derail long-term security
- Health and mobility last long enough to enjoy retirement
To better understand how Americans think about retirement travel, Boldin surveyed 1,331 subscribers in July 2026 and compared selected responses with a national panel of 246 U.S. adults aged 45 and older with household incomes above $100,000, using identical question wording. Throughout this report, travel-specific findings refer to the 855 Boldin subscribers who identified travel as one of their two most important retirement priorities.
The findings reveal meaningful differences between the two groups. Compared with the national panel, Boldin subscribers were substantially more likely to incorporate travel into their retirement plans, understand what they could safely afford to spend, and express confidence in those plans. They were also much more likely to say that running out of healthy years — not running out of money — was their greatest concern when it came to retirement travel.
While this research doesn’t establish that financial planning causes those differences, it suggests that greater planning and greater confidence often go hand in hand. Together, the findings illustrate an important idea: financial planning’s real impact isn’t the wealth accumulated, but the confidence to use it in pursuit of the life people want.
Below are the key findings from the survey.
1. Travel Is the #1 Retirement Goal
When people think about retirement, travel rises above every other aspiration.
More than two-thirds (67%) of Boldin subscribers named travel among their two most important retirement priorities, bringing it in ahead of spending time with family and friends (51%), hobbies and personal interests (43%), greater time freedom (33%), and other compelling retirement goals.
This finding is an important reminder that travel isn’t a discretionary luxury sitting outside the retirement plan. For many households, it’s the purpose of the plan. Retirement savings exist not only to provide financial security, but to create the freedom to experience places, people, and adventures that work once made difficult to pursue.
Travel Outranks Every Other Retirement Priority, Including Family
We asked Boldin subscribers to name their two most important retirement priorities. Travel came out on top by a wide margin.
| Which TWO of the following are the most important goals for how you spend or will spend time in retirement? (Choose 2.) | Named in top two |
| Travel | 67% |
| Time with family and/or friends | 51% |
| Hobbies and recreation | 43% |
| Time freedom | 33% |
| Volunteering | 7% |
| Other | 2% |
Source: Boldin subscribers survey, July 2026, n=1,331. Respondents selected two priorities, so percentages total more than 100%.
2. For People with a Plan, Time Becomes Scarcer Than Money
Every retirement survey asks about money. This one revealed something more surprising.
Among Boldin subscribers who prioritize travel, a majority (51%) said they worry more about running out of healthy years than running out of money. Only 8% said money was the greater concern.
The national comparison group told a very different story. There, concerns about money and healthy years were almost evenly split.
This isn’t because Boldin subscribers are dramatically wealthier. The comparison panel was intentionally limited to households earning more than $100,000 per year. The difference is more likely that one group has greater clarity about what they can afford.
Planning doesn’t make people stop caring about money. It answers enough of the money questions that another reality comes into focus: retirement isn’t limited only by dollars. It’s limited by time, health, and the number of years you’re physically able to enjoy the experiences you’ve been saving for.
Financial Confidence Changes What People Worry About
Among Boldin subscribers, concern about healthy years outweighs concern about money by more than six to one. In the national panel, the two concerns are almost evenly balanced.
That difference reveals something important about the role of financial planning. The goal isn’t simply to accumulate more wealth. It’s to reduce uncertainty enough that people can shift their attention from “Will I be okay?” to “How do I make the most of the years ahead?”
| When you think about retirement travel, which worries you more? (Select one.) | Boldin subscribers | National panel |
| Running out of healthy years to enjoy it | 51% | 24% |
| Running out of money | 8% | 23% |
| Both weigh equally | 36% | 45% |
| Neither | 5% | 9% |
Sources: Boldin subscribers survey, July 2026, travel-focused subset, n=855. National panel via SurveyMonkey Audience, July 25, 2026, n=246, U.S. adults 45+ with household income $100,000+. Identical question wording. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.
3. Nearly 90% of Boldin Subscribers Plan to Travel Early in Retirement
Retirement isn’t a time when people simply spend the same amount every year. For most, the healthiest and most active years come first—and that’s when they want to make the most of them.
Nearly nine in ten travel-focused Boldin subscribers expect to do the majority of their retirement travel during the first half of retirement. Only 9% anticipate spreading travel evenly across all of their retirement years.
This has important implications for financial planning. Many retirement projections assume relatively smooth spending over time, but real life rarely works that way. Travel often peaks early, before gradually giving way to higher healthcare costs and different priorities later in life.
Front-loading discretionary spending also increases exposure to sequence-of-returns risk, making the first decade of retirement especially important to model. Understanding not just how much you’ll spend, but when you’ll spend it, can make the difference between confidently taking the trip you’ve always imagined and wondering whether you should wait one more year.
| How many years after retirement do you expect to do most of your travel? | Share of travel-focused subscribers |
| The first 5 years | 29% |
| Years 5-15 | 26% |
| The beginning and middle of retirement | 35% |
| Travel spread evenly across all of retirement | 9% |
| Not sure | 1% |
Source: Boldin subscribers survey, July 2026, travel-focused subset, n=855.
4. 89% of Boldin Subscribers Plan for Travel Costs vs. 58% of Everyone Else
Almost everyone imagines traveling in retirement. Far fewer in the general population build those trips into a financial plan.
Among Boldin subscribers, 89% have intentionally incorporated travel into their retirement plan, compared with just 58% of the national comparison panel. Nearly half have budgeted for travel as an ongoing annual expense, while another 40% have planned for different levels of travel during different stages of retirement.
That distinction matters. Travel doesn’t happen in isolation. It competes with healthcare costs, taxes, investment returns, gifting, housing decisions, and dozens of other financial priorities. Until those tradeoffs are modeled together, it’s difficult to know whether a dream trip is comfortably affordable or quietly putting the rest of a retirement plan at risk.
This is where planning creates confidence. Rather than simply hoping they’ll be able to travel, Boldin subscribers are more likely to understand how much they can spend, when they can spend it, and how those decisions affect the rest of their financial future. Precision doesn’t just produce better plans—it gives people permission to enjoy the retirement they’ve spent decades saving for.
Boldin Subscribers Turn Travel Into a Line Item
Subscribers were far more likely to have translated travel from an intention into a line item than the national panel.
| Have you factored travel costs into your retirement spending plan? (Check all that apply.) | Boldin subscribers | National panel |
| Yes – ongoing line item in my annual budget | 49% | 22% |
| Yes – designated phases of travel spending across retirement | 40% | 14% |
| Yes – generally accounted for | 19% | 25% |
| Yes – specific lump sums for specific trips | 7% | 4% |
| No – I haven’t formalized this | 11% | 42% |
Sources: Boldin subscribers survey, July 2026, travel-focused subset, n=855. National panel, n=246. Multiple selections permitted, so columns total more than 100%. “Not reported” indicates the response option was not broken out for that group in the source data.
Boldin Subscribers Are Nearly Twice as Confident In Their Travel Budget
Retirement travel requires more than setting aside money. It requires knowing how much you can spend without compromising the rest of your plan.
Boldin subscribers are nearly twice as likely as people in the national panel to say they know exactly what they can afford to spend on retirement travel: 31% compared with 17%. Another 55% say they have a rough idea, bringing the share who feel at least somewhat confident to 86%—30 percentage points higher than the national panel’s 56%.
The difference is even more pronounced at the other end of the spectrum. More than one-third of the national panel are either mostly guessing or have not thought about travel spending at all, compared with just 11% of Boldin subscribers.
That confidence matters because retirement travel decisions are rarely about whether someone can afford a single trip. They are about understanding how spending more in the healthy, active years of retirement may affect financial security decades later. A financial plan helps people see that tradeoff—and gives them greater confidence to enjoy the money they have worked hard to save.
| How confident are you that you know how much you can safely spend on travel in retirement? (Select one.) | Boldin subscribers | National panel |
| Very confident – I know exactly what I can afford | 31% | 17% |
| Somewhat confident – I have a rough idea | 55% | 39% |
| Not very confident – I’m mostly guessing | 10% | 27% |
| It depends on the future market performance | 3% | 7% |
| Haven’t thought about it | 1% | 10% |
Sources: Boldin subscribers survey, July 2026, travel-focused subset, n=855. National panel, n=246. Subtotals calculated from component responses.
5. Planning Creates Confidence, Not Certainty
Planning doesn’t eliminate uncertainty. Markets will fluctuate. Inflation will surprise us. Health changes. Family needs evolve. The value of a financial plan isn’t that it predicts the future—it’s that it helps people understand how different futures affect their choices. That confidence allows retirees to enjoy today without feeling like every decision is a gamble.
Many Retirees Are Committed to Protecting Travel
Nearly half of Boldin subscribers say they would not reduce their travel plans in response to common economic or life events. That reflects both the importance they place on travel and the confidence that comes from having incorporated it into a broader financial plan.
| Have you already, or are you considering postponing, canceling, or reducing your retirement travel plans because of any of the following? (Select all that apply.) | Response |
| Not reducing travel plans | 45% |
| A significant market decline or fear of a downturn | 28% |
| My or my spouse’s health or mobility | 21% |
| Rising travel costs (airfare, hotels, cruises) | 19% |
| General inflation / cost of living | 18% |
| Political Instability | 17% |
| Family caregiving responsibilities | 15% |
| Extreme heat or severe weather | 6% |
| Other | 2% |
When Pushed, A Market Downturn May Impact Travel
More than two-thirds of subscribers said they would probably or definitely reduce spending if markets declined early in retirement, and luxury goods and travel were the discretionary expense most likely to be reduced.
Rather than deciding how to respond during a market downturn, retirees can model those scenarios in advance, establish spending guardrails, and determine which expenses would change under different market conditions.
| If markets declined significantly during your first few years of retirement, do you believe you would need to reduce your spending? | Responses |
| Yes | 28% |
| Probably | 40% |
| Probably not | 18% |
| No – I have planned for market downturns | 14% |
Source: Boldin subscriber survey, July 2026.
Boldin Subscribers Are Prepared If Markets Decline
At the same time, Boldin subscribers aren’t ignoring risk. More than two-thirds say they would probably or definitely reduce spending if markets fell early in retirement.
That’s not a contradiction—it’s evidence of planning. Rather than assuming nothing will change, retirees are thinking through how they’d respond if markets underperform. Modeling those scenarios before retirement makes it easier to adjust spending deliberately instead of reacting emotionally during market volatility.
| If you knew with confidence that you could afford it, would you travel more during the first decade of retirement? | Responses |
| Yes – significantly more | 51% |
| Somewhat more | 32% |
| Probably about the same | 17% |
| No | <1% |
Source: Boldin subscriber survey, July 2026.
6. Retirement Changes How People Travel More Than Why They Travel
Retirement doesn’t fundamentally change what people want from travel. They still want to explore new places, seek adventure, and create memorable experiences. What retirement changes is the freedom to travel differently, with fewer time constraints, longer itineraries, and the opportunity to enjoy experiences at a more relaxed pace.
80% Say Retirement Travel Is About Making the Most of Healthy Years
Exploration remains the biggest motivation for retirement travel, with 85% of respondents saying they want to discover new places and cultures. Close behind, however, is an awareness that retirement is not an unlimited resource. Four in five respondents say one of their primary motivations is making the most of their healthy, active years, reinforcing one of the report’s central findings: for many retirees, time has become more precious than money.
| What are the primary reasons you want to travel in retirement? (Choose up to three.) | Responses |
| Explore new places and cultures | 85% |
| Make the most of healthy, active years | 80% |
| Enjoy adventure and active experiences | 56% |
| Check off lifelong bucket-list destinations | 46% |
| Spend meaningful time with family and friends | 42% |
| Enjoy great food and local culture | 34% |
| Relax and enjoy a slower pace of life | 26% |
| Escape cold weather or enjoy seasonal living | 23% |
| Pursue hobbies and passions | 11% |
| Be papered and taken care of | 8% |
| Other | 2% |
Source: Boldin subscriber survey, July 2026, travel-focused subset, n=855. Multiple selections permitted.
Retirees Expect to Take Longer, More Immersive Trips
Retirement also changes the shape of travel itself. While occasional vacations remain popular, more than half of respondents expect to take several extended trips, and 40% envision spending weeks or even months in a single destination. Rather than trying to fit travel into limited vacation time, retirees increasingly imagine slower, more immersive experiences—staying long enough to experience local culture, reconnect with family, or simply enjoy the freedom that retirement was meant to provide.
| Which best describes your current or planned approach to travel in retirement? (Check all that apply.) | Responses |
| Occasional vacations throughout retirement | 57% |
| Several extended trips | 55% |
| Weeks or months at a time in one destination | 40% |
| Road trips / location independent lifestyle | 23% |
| Living seasonally (snowbird lifestyle) | 20% |
| Relocating permanently to a new place | 8% |
| Haven’t thought about it yet | 2% |
| Other | 2% |
Source: Boldin subscriber survey, July 2026, travel-focused subset, n=855. Multiple selections permitted.
Financial Planning Is Ultimately About Living, and for Many People, That Means Travel
Retirement planning is often described as a process of accumulating enough money. Our research suggests a broader purpose.
The households in this study weren’t so much trying to maximize wealth as they were trying to maximize the opportunities that wealth creates — to visit family, explore the world, pursue lifelong dreams, and experience retirement while they have the health to do so.
Confidence doesn’t remove uncertainty from retirement. Markets will fluctuate, health will change, and plans will evolve.
But confidence can change how people make decisions. It can replace hesitation with intention, turn aspirations into plans, and help people spend their retirement years doing the things that mattered enough to save for in the first place.
Additional Resources on Retirement Travel
Is retirement travel high on your priority list? Here are some additional resources that could be useful to anyone wanting to hit the road after they quit their job.
The Boldin Retirement Planner: Want to make sure you can afford the travel you dream of? Nearly 90,000 people trust their retirement planning to the Boldin Planner. The affordable platform is like having a financial advisor at your fingertips.
And, if you want support from a human, we offer free classes and communities plus coaching and access to fiduciary advisors for a fee. Boldin gives people the tools and guidance to build a plan they can understand, trust, and act on.
VIDEO: Here are six practical ideas to help you think differently about retirement travel, from turning your bucket list into a real plan to taking advantage of retirement’s greatest travel benefit: flexibility. You’ll also learn why slow travel is growing in popularity, how to plan meaningful trips, and how to build travel into your long-term retirement plan with confidence.
ARTICLE: Here is a great guide to retirement travel: 20 Ideas for making It affordable and safe
ARTICLE: Budgeting time: You probably know your net worth, but how are you measuring your time?
Full Results and Methodology
Subscriber survey. Boldin surveyed 1,331 subscribers through its platform in July 2026. Questions covered retirement priorities, travel goals and motivations, travel budgeting approach, spending confidence, expected travel timing, and response to market decline.
Travel-specific questions were shown only to the 855 subscribers who named travel one of their two most important retirement goals. Those figures describe retirement planners who prioritize travel, not all Boldin subscribers. Percentages drawn from that subset are labeled accordingly throughout.
National comparison panel. A national panel of 246 U.S. adults age 45 and older with household incomes of $100,000 or more was fielded July 25, 2026 through SurveyMonkey Audience using identical question wording. The panel was not screened for travel priority or planning status. Margin of error is ±6.2 percentage points at 95% confidence.
Reuse. Reporters and researchers are welcome to cite these findings with attribution to Boldin, the financial confidence company.
For an interview with founder and CEO Steve Chen, one of our coaches, or a CFP® professional, please contact The Key PR at boldin@thekeypr.com.
About Boldin
Boldin is a retirement planning platform on a mission to make high-quality planning accessible to everyone. The platform helps people understand where they stand, explore their options, and make informed decisions about retirement, taxes, Social Security, healthcare, housing, investing, and more.
Combining powerful planning technology and personalized AI with education, coaching, community, and access to fiduciary advisors, Boldin gives people the tools and guidance to build a plan they can understand, trust, and act on. Today, nearly 90,000 households use Boldin to plan their futures, representing over $247 billion in self-reported assets. Learn more at Boldin.com.
The post Retirement Travel Survey: Financially Confident Retirees Worry About Time, Not Money appeared first on Boldin.
