12 Ways To Travel In Retirement Without Blowing Your Savings

Above, enjoying a cruise to the Bahamas last year.

Retirement is great, provided one still is in great health. 

I decided to retire ten years ago and haven't regretted a thing. I did have one health scare and that was seven years ago while in Wells, Nevada for a car show and rally. I ended up getting to stents installed in a coronary artery. Other than that, the past ten years have been relatively "smooth sailing" for me.

I have done some traveling during my retirement. I mainly travel via RV (my own motorhome) and have taken a couple of cruises, one to Cuba and one to the Bahamas.

Nasdaq has posted an article on 12 ways to travel in retirement and not breaking the bank.

It begins with:

Many retirees dream of spending their golden years on the go, traveling to destinations they didn’t have the time to get to while they were working. While you might have the time to travel in retirement, it is not cheap. If you aren’t careful in your planning, you could wind up spending much more than you intended. 

To read the full article, go here. 

10 Best Cruise Lines for Seniors and Retirees

Above, a singer with an entertainment group flashes me a peace sign aboard
a Royal Caribbean ship en route to Havana. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

If one is at retirement age-plus, the following is for you.

It is a list of ten best cruise lines for seniors and retirees by Nasdaq.com. Here, they describe what ship features and attractions that are best suited for the older generation.

Of the list of ten cruise lines, I have been aboard one of them, Royal Caribbean. That was a cruise to Key West, Florida and Havana, Cuba in 2019.

They begin with:

New adventures await you after retirement. And what better way to explore the world than on a luxurious cruise? Providing comfort, convenience, and life-enriching experiences for seniors, cruising offers a variety of options tailored to their needs and interests.

Let’s examine the top ten cruise lines for seniors to discover what makes them unique and why they might be the perfect fit for your next vacation.

To peruse the list of cruise lines and what they have to offer seniors and retirees, go here. 

Changes To Make When Planning COVID-era Travel

Above, some changes aren't all bad, such as better airline cleanliness. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Since we're coming out of the pandemic (unless, of course, stupid people don't take reasonable precautions to protect themselves and others), travel is resurging. But there will be some changes people should be mindful about.

Nasdaq has an article on what changes to make while traveling. Thankfully, most are common sense ones.

They start with:

A lot has changed in the travel world since the pre-pandemic days of 2019. Even if it seems like your life is going back to normal — you’re back in the office, you’re going out sans mask and your social calendar is once again busy — the travel industry is far from normal.

Almost everything about travel has changed. You’ll likely need to book your trip in a different order, and adjust not just where you stay, but how you get there.

To read what changes to make, go here. 

Winnebago: Can Meet The "Incredible Demand" For RVs

Above, a Winnebago Class C motorhome at the California RV Show. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Winnebago Industries says it can meet the "incredible demand" for RVs as the country is slowly easing out of the pandemic.

According to Motley Fool:

Investors had some good reasons to expect solid sales numbers from Winnebago (NYSE:WGO), especially after peer Thor Industries (NASDAQ:THOR) described a booming RV market earlier in the month. But Wall Street was worried about manufacturing and supply chain challenges, and about a potential slowdown as the pandemic threat fades.

Winnebago put most of those fears to rest in its recent fiscal third-quarter report, which points to a sustained sales boost and surging profits on the way as travel picks up. 

Protecting profits

Thor Industries noted major supply chain issues that were holding up production rates for RVs, just as they have been for many automakers so far in 2021. But Winnebago's manufacturing rates were strong this quarter, likely reflecting its wider portfolio and larger base of production.

The combination of higher prices and low dealership inventory, meanwhile, allowed Winnebago to increase prices even as more customers opted for premium products. As a result, gross profit margin jumped to 18% of sales compared to 8% a year ago.

To read more, go here.

Stock Market: Looking Better

After yesterday's 2,000 point drop, things are looking much better today at the New York Stock Exchange.

From CNBC:

9:32 am: Stocks jump at the open, Dow surges more than 800 points 

Stocks jumped at the open a day after posting the steepest declines since the financial crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 831 points for a gain of 3.5%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each rose 3.2%. The rise erases less than half of Monday’s sharp losses, however. - Stevens 

9:22 am: Fed pumps another $168 billion into financial system 

The Federal Reserve’s increased bank funding operations continue to see plenty of demand. Separate auctions Tuesday in the short-term lend market, or repo, saw a two-week offering massively oversubscribed, with $93 billion offered for a $45 billion operation. An overnight offering saw the New York Fed’s trading desk fill $123.625 billion in bids. Earlier this week, the Fed increased the size of the offerings from $100 billion to at least $150 billion for overnight repo, and from $20 billion to at least $45 billion. The repo auctions involve financial institutions providing high-quality collateral for the short-term funding banks use for their operations. The Fed began conducting these repo operations after market tumult in September briefly sent short-term yields soaring. – Cox