Grammy Flew to Boston. Her Retirement Plan Said Yes.

Ian Schaeffer shares the real story of his mother surprising her grandkids at The Langham hotel in Boston on Memorial Day weekend — and what it taught him about retirement travel budgets, permission to spend, and why the best income plans make room for joy.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to the American Retirement Advisor, coming to you from One to Three Z Studios. Real stories, real strategies, and straight talk about healthcare, retirement income, and inheritance planning. I'm Ian Schaefer, joined with Eddie and Betty. Let's get into it.

SPEAKER_03 0:16

Every grandparent Ian Schaefer has ever spoken with has some version of the same dream. Showing up when it matters most, being there for the moments that only happen once. Most retirement plans don't budget for that. His mother's did. She landed at Logan Airport on a Friday night, took a cab to the Langham Hotel in downtown Boston, and waited. No announcement, no itinerary, just a woman who decided she was done waiting for the right time and bought a plane ticket.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

The best retirement income plans build in a travel budget from day one, not as a luxury, as a planning category. Research shows retirees who spend on experiences during their early active years, roughly ages 62 to 75, report higher life satisfaction and often stay within their income plan without drawing down principle. Grammy's trip to Boston didn't blow up her financial plan. Her financial plan made room for exactly this moment.

SPEAKER_03 1:20

The next morning, Ian's daughter woke up and there she was, Grammy, standing in the hotel room with that smile that changes the whole energy of a room. His daughter's face lit up like it was Christmas morning. And then his son, just four months old, saw her. The giggles coming out of that kid. There is no sound on earth like a baby laughing at his grandmother for the first time in weeks.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Here's what really stayed with Ian. His mom didn't call to ask if this trip made financial sense. She didn't run the numbers on whether a weekend in Boston would set a back. She just called and said, I'm coming. See you next week. That's it. No guilt, no hesitation, no committee meeting with her financial statements. She could do that because somewhere along the way, someone helped her build a plan where a $2,000 trip to see her grandkids wasn't a crisis, it was a line item.

SPEAKER_03 2:18

And Ian couldn't help but think about how different that is from how her parents did things. His grandparents would sit at home and wait. They'd call and ask when we were coming to visit, and we'd try because we loved them. But with busy schedules and young kids and work and all the things that fill up a life, the visits got pushed and postponed and sometimes just didn't happen. His mom broke that cycle. She got on a plane.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Ian works with retirees every single day at American Retirement Advisors in Scottsdale, Arizona. He's not an advisor who sits across from clients. He's the COO. He sees the plans, he hears the conversations, and hears what he can tell you from thousands of them. Almost everybody plans for housing costs, healthcare premiums, and maybe some food and utilities, the essentials. Almost nobody plans for joy. The average grandparent spends about $3,948 a year on their grandchildren, according to Kiplinger. Financial advisors typically recommend setting aside 5-10% of your annual retirement income for travel and experiences. For high net worth retirees, that number often runs 15 to 20% in those early active years, and it should, because that money in your account, it's not a scoreboard, it's a tool.

SPEAKER_03 3:45

Grammy's round trip flight, hotel at the Langham, a few meals out, maybe a ride share or two, call it $2,000. The memories she's making this weekend won't just last her lifetime, they'll last Ian's kids' lifetimes. His daughter will tell people about the morning Grammy surprised her at a hotel in Boston for the rest of her life. The question isn't whether you can afford a trip like that. The question is whether your plan gave you permission to take it.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

Retirement spending doesn't follow a straight line. It follows a curve. And understanding that curve is the difference between spending with confidence and spending with guilt. Stage one, the go-go years, roughly 62 to 75. This is when you're healthy, mobile, and finally have time. Travel peaks, experiences peak, grandkid visits peak. Grammy is right here right now. This is her window, and she's using it. Stage two, the slow go years, roughly 75 to 85. Discretionary spending naturally dips. You still travel, but maybe closer to home, maybe shorter trips. The pace changes, and that's okay. Stage three, the no-go years, 85 and beyond. Healthcare costs rise. Mobility limits what's possible. The money you didn't spend in stage one doesn't magically become more useful here. It just sits there, outliving the moments it was meant to fund.

SPEAKER_03 5:21

The clients Ian talks to who built their income plan with stage one in mind, they're the ones getting on planes. They're the ones showing up at hotel rooms at 7 a.m. to surprise their grandkids. The ones who didn't plan for it? They're home, calling and asking when the kids are coming to visit. He doesn't say that to be harsh. He says it because he watched both versions play out in his own family. And the difference wasn't money. It was planning.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

This is the question Ian hears more than almost any other. And the answer is simpler than most people think. Start now. Start in stage one. Start while your knees work and your grandkids still think you're the coolest person alive. That window is real and it doesn't stay open forever. The data backs this up. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, households headed by someone 65 to 74 spend significantly less than working-age households. Retirees consistently underspend relative to what their plan can actually support. They have permission to spend, but they don't feel it. Something in the back of their mind says, what if I need that later? And the trip doesn't get booked. A recent Kiplinger report found that 49% of baby boomers say they'd rather fund a family trip of a lifetime than leave a larger inheritance. That's nearly half. The trend even has a name now, ski, which stands for Spending Pids Inheritance.

SPEAKER_03 6:56

The desire is there. What's often missing is the structural confidence, that quiet voice that says, yes, I can book this flight, and no, it won't derail my future. That confidence comes from one place, an income plan that accounted for it. One of our advisors put it perfectly in a client meeting. We've got the long-term care benefit covered. Your account values are still growing. When a client hears that, something shifts.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

Grammy's trip was a long weekend, but plenty of the families we work with split their time between states for weeks or months at a stretch. They're snowbirds, their grandparents spending the summer near the grandkids in Pennsylvania or Indiana or Colorado. And that changes the health care conversation in ways most people don't expect. Here's what catches people off guard. Medicare Advantage plans do cover emergency care nationwide. If something urgent happens while you're visiting family across the country, you're covered. That's not the gap. The gap is routine care. If you're spending two or three months a year near your grandkids in another state, you probably want to see a primary care doctor there, get your labs done, stay on top of the things that keep you healthy enough to keep making these trips. And that's where plan selection matters, because not every Medicare Advantage plan lets you establish care with a provider outside your home service area. Ian's seen this play out in real conversations. One client had been traveling back to Pennsylvania for two or three months every year to be near family after retiring. He told them, I've been spending more and more time traveling since I retired. The issue wasn't emergencies, it was that he wanted a doctor he could see regularly on both coasts so he wasn't scrambling if something came up. His plan didn't support that, and it took a consultation to find one that did.

SPEAKER_03 9:04

Ian's daughter has a list. She's got a full itinerary plan for Grammy this weekend. Top of the list? The Morning Buzz, a little breakfast spot near their house in Amesbury, Massachusetts, where she loves the Mickey Mouse pancakes. That's where she's taking Grammy first thing. Not some fancy Boston restaurant, a cancake place in a small town where the waitress knows her name. Ian watched her explain the plan to Grammy with the kind of seriousness only a four-year-old can pull off, and it hit him. This is what retirement income planning actually protects. Not the big stuff, the small stuff that turns out to be the biggest stuff of all. Grammy didn't fly to Boston for a luxury vacation. She flew there because his son is four months old and growing every single day. And his daughter has a pancake place she wants to share. And none of that weights. Money weights. Kids don't.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

When we build income plans at American Retirement Advisors, the goal isn't just to make sure you don't run out of money. The goal is to make sure you actually use it, that you have a Grammy fund built into your distribution strategy, that the $2,000 for a flight, a hotel, and Mickey Mouse pancakes is already accounted for, not something you have to justify after the fact, not something you feel guilty about, something you planned for because you knew this moment was coming. If Grammy's story sounds like the trip you've been putting off, here's where to start. Name the expense. Travel to see family is a real budget category. Put it in your income plan alongside health care and housing. Give it a number. When it has a name, it has permission. Frontload the fun. Your go-go years are a finite window. According to Social Security Administration actuarial tables, a 65-year-old woman today has a life expectancy of approximately 87 years. That's roughly 10 to 15 strong travel years. Check your coverage before you book. Original Medicare, Parts A and B, covers emergency care anywhere in the United States, according to CMS.gov. But if you're spending extended time in another state, make sure your plan supports routine care there too. The last thing you want is to avoid the doctor because you're not sure if you're covered 1,500 miles from home. Do the real math. Grammy's trip costs about $2,000. Over a year of quarterly visits, that's $8,000. That's well within the 5 to 10% travel budget most advisors recommend.

SPEAKER_03 11:55

Remember what the money is for. It's not for your account statement. It's for the look on your granddaughter's face when she wakes up and Grammy is standing there. It's for the giggles your grandson makes when he sees you for the first time in a month. It's for Mickey Mouse pancakes on a Tuesday morning in a town you'd never visit if it weren't for love. You can always make more money. You cannot make more time. And the best retirement plans don't just protect your future, they give you permission to live it.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

A quick note before we wrap up: today's episode covers financial topics for educational purposes only. American Retirement Advisors does not provide tax or legal advice. Please consult a CPA or tax professional before making any decisions based on what you heard today.

SPEAKER_02 12:43

This is Betty with the American Retirement Advisor. Thanks for listening. If this episode helped you think differently about your retirement, share it with someone who needs to hear it. You can read the full article and browse hundreds more at AmericanRetire.com. And be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. We publish daily. See you next time.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

Thanks, Eddie. Thanks, Betty. Until next time, this is Ian Schaefer coming to you from 123 Studios. I hope you've enjoyed this recording of the American Retirement Advisor, where we make healthcare, income, and inheritance planning 123 Easy.