Retirement is the perfect opportunity take extended holidays; to step outside your comfort zone and see as much of the world as you can. However, when you’re relying on a fortnightly payment to fund your trip, it can take some creativity, planning and careful timing to make the most of each instalment.
Have you travelled on an age pension budget? What tips would you share with the community?
Know the pension rules
If you’re leaving the country, be sure to quickly check Centrelink’s guidelines to ensure this won’t affect your pension payments. In most cases it should continue – in fact, many have even managed to continue the pension while permanently relocating abroad. However, in some cases it can affect the amount you receive.
It’s better to be safe than sorry – especially if you’re looking at a longer trip. Click here to read Centrelink’s guidelines and find out when you may need to let them know.
Calculate a leisurely vs fast pace
Sometimes it pays to take the scenic route. If accommodation is inexpensive, or if you’re living a nomad lifestyle via caravan or camping, you may find you’ll have better control over your travel budget.
By spreading out your overall fuel/transport spend, you’ll have more freedom to make the most of each individual pension payment. You’ll also get an experience few travellers can truly appreciate: the joy of spending an extended time in a single community.
Choose your destinations around the cost of living
Having lived comfortably in Hoi An, Vietnam for months on a minimal payout, this writer can personally vouch for the importance of choosing your destinations around day-to-day affordability. While the town had no shortage of tourist traps and Western-priced options, local restaurants and street food offered just as much indulgence for a fraction of the price.
Research the cost of living/holidaying abroad and you’ll see a clear pattern: further you’re willing to trek outside your Western comfort zone, the further you’ll be able to stretch your money.
Research house-sitting possibilities
Travelling through Australia? See what housesitting opportunities are out there. A quick Google search will reveal a wide range of online services dedicated to connecting homeowners with potential minders.
This is one area where age is an enormous benefit: we’re far more likely to come across as trustworthy than the average pair of students.
Housesitting is a wonderful chance to get to know a new home and community (and, more often than not, new pets). Sometimes the stars may even align and give you multiple housesitting opportunities with little to no interval in between.
Have you ever travelled on a pension-sized budget? What extra tips would you share with the Starts at 60 community?