Nine Things You’ll Spend More on in Retirement

1. You’ll spend more on travel in retirement

When retirees dream about life after they've stopped working, “travel” almost always claims the top spot on their bucket list.

Maybe you plan to set off on a cruise or two, or perhaps you simply want to pack up your car for a road-trip or weekend getaway with your grandkids.

Either way, you might find yourself spending more on travel in retirement than you expected. The good new is the customer-starved travel industry is eager to get retirees back on the boat, bus, train or into an RV.

While overall transportation expenses decline throughout retirement, many retirees take the kind of trips they could only dream about while working full-time. For instance, compared with their working peers, retirees choose longer cruises that visit more destinations, according to travel experts.

Deborah L. Meyer, a certified financial planner and founder of fiduciary advisory firm WorthyNest, recommends a five-step plan for pre-retirees looking to turn these dreams into reality:

1. Assign specific cost estimates to travel goals.
2. Break the big savings goal into monthly or quarterly allocations to savings.
3. Adjust income and expenses to make room for the regular savings.
4. Don’t compromise on future goals (that is, beyond the trip).
5. Act on achieved goals.

2. You’ll spend more on health care in retirement

It's a blast to kick back and make big travel plans in retirement. Less fun: The reality that we spend more on healthcare after we retire — and that those costs keep increasing as we age.

According to the 2025 Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate by IRMAA, a 65-year-old couple who both planned to retire in 2025 and are both nonsmokers, and who plan to live until age 85 for the female and 83 for the male should expect to pay $319,000 throughout retirement for their health coverage.

Unpredictable and costly new diagnoses and hospitalizations drive much of the increase in health care spending for the average retired household, but overall spending also rises for general health needs, health insurance, prescription medication, medical supplies and medical services as well. According to research published in 2025, 93% of adults age 65 and older have at least one chronic condition, such as heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes, while 79% have two or more.

3. You’ll spend more on moving and relocating in retirement

It's not uncommon for empty-nesters to relocate in retirement. Downsizing that multi-bedroom home for smaller living quarters, and homes that might be more mobility-friendly, is an obvious strategy that could save money in the long run.

For the most part, that’s true, but the move-out process can set you back financially.

You can easily be left paying thousands of dollars in related expenses:

1. Getting your home ready to sell
2. Listing your existing house
3. Buying a new home
4. Settlement and moving costs

Not to mention upgrading appliances, adding new lighting, window treatments and all the other tweaks you’ll do to a new living space, such as the 13 home features today's buyers want most.

Mike Palmer, a certified financial planner with Ark Royal Wealth Management in North Carolina, says downsizing in retirement presents huge unexpected costs for some of his clients, particularly when they want to stay within urban areas.

“I see a lot of folks thinking they’re going to walk away with $200,000 [by downsizing], but that’s rare. In most cases, it will be lateral,” he says. To avoid this, he recommends trying to move from an urban area to a more rural one.

Check out: Best Places to Retire in the US

4. You’ll spend more on fitness in retirement

according to the Department of Health and Human ServicesResearch indicates that retirement itself is a motivator to get fit. With a flexible schedule free of commuting and the stress of a busy workweek, many retirees drop unhealthy habits and pick up healthier ones, raising their spending on gym memberships, fitness classes and equipment (a new bicycle, perhaps?).

Marguerita Cheng, the chief executive officer of Blue Ocean Global Wealth, says that fitness is one of the biggest new expenses she sees her retired clients take on.

For her clients, she says, it's often the fear of declining health as they age that motivates them to take fitness seriously. Some of her clients put so much time and money into fitness that they schedule meetings with her around their yoga or spinning classes.

In stark contrast, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, (pdf) less than 15% of Americans age 65 and older get the recommended amounts of aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity. But physical activity is one of the best ways older adults can improve their overall health, so it's worth the extra expense.

You might have a workaround to gym costs: Some Medicare plans have a free or almost free gym membership as part of their benefits.

5. You’ll spend more on day-to-day expenses in retirement

Many people’s lives aren’t radically altered as they transition into retirement. They might still drive to meet with friends or associates, grab a beer from around the corner, or use their laptops to "unretire" from the comfort of their couch.

What often does change after leaving the workforce, however, is who picks up the bill for much of the small stuff — lunches, parking, dinners or concert tickets. In short, so long, expensing on their bosses' tab.

"Small-business owners and professionals who retire are often surprised at how many of their expenses were picked up by their company," says Bert Whitehead, president of Cambridge Connection. "It is a jolt when they discover how much it adds up to."

6. You’ll spend more on debt in retirement

Retirees are especially vulnerable to accumulating debt and subsequent interest. Although the average debt ballooned across all age groups between 1989 and today, older retirees were by far the hardest hit. Although the average American debt reached $104,755 in June 2025, according to Experian data, boomers accumulated an average of $92,619.

In 2025, baby boomers had an average mortgage balance of $196,227, owed an average of $22,583 in auto loans, $21,972 in personal loans and $39,870 in student loans (yes, they are still paying off student loans).

If bills are beginning to pile up, don’t hesitate to ask for help or talk to a financial advisor. Focus on paying off credit cards or loans with the highest rates first. Consider consolidating your balances on one of the best balance-transfer credit cards offering a 0% interest rate, if it will take more than a few months to pay off each card.

The National Council on Aging also offers tips for seniors to manage debt.

7. You’ll spend more on charitable giving in retirement

According to Kindness Financial Planning, the average donor age in the U.S. is age 64 with about 72% of baby boomers giving to charity in 2025. The average annual charitable contribution from boomers is $1,212 across 4.5 charities. That's a bit less than donations by the Silent Generation ($1,367), but much more than from any other age group.

Part of this phenomenon is psychological. Researchers have found that older adults take more pleasure in donating to charity than their younger counterparts.

On the other hand, older retirees might have less control of their finances than they realize. A diminished capacity for financial decision-making in retirement is “extremely common,” says Daniel Marson, a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Emeritus Professor at the Department of Neurology; University of Alabama at Birmingham. “I might say it’s inevitable.”

While many retirees have no problem managing their money into old age, it never hurts to have a trusted family member keep an eye on things.

Services such as EverSafe, for example, allow a designated family member to monitor a retiree’s finances and get alerts in case of excessive withdrawals, changes in spending patterns and other unusual activity — all without the retiree losing control of their money.

8. You’ll spend more on car and home insurance in retirement

If you drive or own your own home, insurance is an expense you can't do without. Unfortunately, it's also one cost that continues to climb. For instance, the average monthly costs for the four key types of insurance — auto, homeowners (or renters), health and life — is about $810, according to Ramsey Solutions. Of course, prices can vary significantly based on such factors as home value, location and coverage options.

Dave Ramsey also states that the average annual cost of auto insurance is around $147 per month for full coverage. Home insurance costs are all over the place depending on the value of your home, where you live, and if you happen to live in a state where natural disasters are more common.

What should you do? Consider working with an insurance broker who represents multiple insurance companies (and receives commissions from them on sales) and can shop for better rates on comparable policies, Parker says.

He did this after his car insurance increased by 20% in one year and saved thousands. Parker also advises reviewing how much coverage you need, especially in multicar families — some of his savings came from scaling back to collision-only coverage on one older vehicle — and looking into bundling home and car insurance. Check around before you settle on a company. Many insurers offer discounts if you bundle policies.

9. You’ll spend more on financial planning in retirement

If you’re entering retirement with accumulated wealth, that’s great. You might have done so with guidance from a financial planner. Then again, maybe you’ve had good luck along with regular 401(k) contributions, investments, savings or other retirement account.

But remember, the more wealth you’ve collected, the more elbow grease it’ll take to manage that money and make it work for you.

That’s where wealth advisors come in. Their services can be invaluable, but they’re not free. Depending on the management style you prefer, figuring out what to do with your money can become an expense in its own right.

Fee-only planners might charge a flat annual retainer (which could run a few thousand dollars or more), or they might charge an hourly rate, by the project, or, if they’re managing your investments, as a percentage of assets. Or, they might use some combination of those billing models.

Final word

As you plan for retirement, remember that these nine areas — travel, healthcare, relocating, fitness, day-to-day living expenses, paying off debt, insurance, charitable giving and financial planning — aren't just potential expenses; they're real costs that you'll likely spend more on in retirement.

With that in mind, sticking to a budget, saving and understanding where your money goes each month, can be key to a truly happy retirement that isn't about spending less, but about spending right. By planning for these necessities ahead of time, you give yourself the freedom to live a full and satisfying retirement.

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