5 Travel Tips for Senior Citizens

To most of us, retirement means staying at home and not being brave or adventurous enough to travel to different places. But times are indeed changing and with improved medical care and more facilities for the seniors making travelling easy, senior citizens are breaking the stereotypes and attempting to explore the world!

While travelling is indeed a great way for the seniors to enjoy their retired life. Proper planning is indeed essential to ensure that things move smoothly. Here are the five travel tips for seniors to make the most of their travel time.

1. Research more about travel destination and other nitty-gritty: 

Planning out ahead is almost half the job done. The list of things to research for includes information about the hotel, the area, the mode of travel, the places to visit, the weather, altitude and so on. Planning ahead ensures you get the best of the trip and avoid mishaps or other troubles. Also, if you need any particular travel specifications such as a wheel chair, product allergies, food allergies or specific medical facilities, do remember to share it with the management where you would stay.

2. Keep Proper Documentation handy: 

If you are travelling to far off places, it is imperative to keep all the important files of medical reports and prescriptions, besides of course the passports, visas and other identification documents handy. Remember it is always better to opt for travel insurance, to protect yourself from any mishap or emergency.

3. Pack all Medications:

Replenish your stock of the medicines for the entire vacation. Pack extra medicines, if you decide to stay extra. Get a thorough medical check-up done before you embark on your travelling journey to ensure that you are fit and fine to take up the travel.

4. Pack light:

When you are travelling it is better that you stick to essentials and not go overboard in packing extra. Keep the medicines in your handbag so that you can get easy access during the journey. Pack well keeping in mind the current weather of the place you will be visiting.

5. Stay safe:

Remember to keep family members in the loop if you have planned for a solo trip. Keep the emergency numbers handy. It is always better that you tie up with travel groups. Don’t pack up too many expensive items like watches, gold and so on.  Have more than one accesses to money.

6. Eat light:

Do not go overboard on food, try to eat light. Avoid eating food like junk or sweets and stick to your regular eating plan as much as you can. This will help avoid any stomach upsets or infection or allergies. Also, keep clean bottled water handy to stay hydrated.

7. Have fun:

Lastly stop worrying too much, just try and have a good time. Bond with other fellow travellers and make beautiful memories, and try not to over tire yourself. So, ensure your itinerary is light and fun.

Follow the above tips to make your journey interesting, fun and safe! Bon voyage!

Find the Retirement Plan that Fits Your Budget

Suddenly, you do not have to get up early in the morning to go to work! You do not have to rush to meet deadlines, yes, you have hit retirement! Time to sit back and relax and reap off the fruits of your labor.

But then if you want to enjoy your retired years to the full extent, you need to be extra careful about your retirement planning. You have to remember that your regular salary will no longer be credited to your account.

Hence, you need to plan accordingly and sensibly too and that is why you need to invest in the best investment plan after retirement. Once you retire you should be able to enjoy the retirement years instead of always worrying whether there is enough money in your bank account.

Let’s go through some of the steps of retirement-planning which will help you to plan the right budget for your retirement plans.

1.  Assess your Budget Correctly

Most of us who want to maintain our regular lifestyle would need a specific budget to maintain our retired life, as well. Just ask yourself the following questions, what kind of lifestyle would you live after retirement? If you would you like to maintain a similar lifestyle like the one before retirement then you have to assess your budget correctly. According to financial expert, approximately 80% of a person’s annual income is adequate to cover her/his retirement budget.

2.  Plan for Medical Expenses

Old age brings a lot of medical problems and what’s more the treatment cost for these conditions is unreasonably high and can cause a severe dent in your pocket. Hence, it becomes imperative to buy a pension plan that gives priority to health insurance which, will help you take care of any sudden medical expenses that may turn up during old age. Your health insurance plan should include adequate features to cover you against chronic illnesses such as diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s.

3.  Accommodate your investment to cater to different needs

We mostly invest in a single investment tool and not consider the option of gaining large returns by investing in different investment plans simultaneously. There are different kinds of pension plans which includes whole life plans, mutual funds, fixed income plans and an amalgamation of competitive along with traditional investment products that can provide you capital gain and hence you would be able to preserve enough funds in your bank account.

4.  Give Priority to your Future Costs

Always keep in mind the perspective of market inflation before making retirement plans. At an annual rate of 7% inflation, the price of different items can rise up to unbelievable heights! You also have to keep in mind about the impact of taxes on your savings.

Take note of your responsibilities and liabilities that you should take note of after you retire. These may include helping spouses, aging parents, and dependent adult child (due to disability) and so on. If you are prepared in advance you will be able to plan your retirement budget more effectively.

5.  Start Saving at the Right Time

Ideally, you should start saving for your retirement from your very first salary. However, most people do not implement this advice and start saving according to their convenience.

Therefore, you need to use your time smartly and start looking for a pension scheme such as Public Provident fund (PPF), that can help you secure a tension-free life for you during your retirement years.

Your Perfect Financial Planning after Retirement

Here is what you need to do post retirement, which can help you get rid of your financial problems.  

• Senior Citizens Savings Scheme (SCSS): The SCSS scheme is one of the best retirement plans in India. All seniors who are above of 60 years can easily try out the scheme. The scheme has a lower limit of Rs. 1,000 and the upper range rises to Rs. 15, 00,000.

• Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (POMIS): The POMIS offers a monthly income and the MIS or monthly income scheme is offered by several post offices in the country and you can select the one which is right for you. The minimum investment ranges Rs. 1,000 and the maximum amount is Rs. 3, 00,000.

• Post Office Time Deposit (POTD): The POTD is similar to the term deposit offered by banks. The minimum amount is Rs. 200 and there is no specific maximum amount of deposition.

• Fixed Deposits (FD): Fixed deposits are offered by a whole lot of banks and companies, and you can opt for a number of fixed/bank deposits. The only problem on the bank deposits is that the interest rates are far lower when compared to the interest rates on company deposits and bank deposits.

• Monthly Income Plans (MIP): If you are looking for higher returns, then MIP is just right for you. These are specifically offered by mutual funds and are great market linked investment options. Mutual funds are tax-free but they are subjected to market risks.

The right financial planning can give you a secure future. So consider the above options and keep in mind about the tax factor and inflation and you will definitely get a nice return on your savings.