11 Reasons to Retire in an RV

RV-loving retirees talk about the upsides of spending retirement in a motorhome, travel trailer, fifth wheel or other recreational vehicle.

Couple outside RV looking at lake
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Motoring toward retirement, dreams of wide-open highways might be stoking your passion to hit the road. With no job to tie you down, the kids grown and gone with kids of their own, why not sell the house, buy a recreational vehicle and see the country (or countries)?

You wouldn’t be alone. In the last 20 years, RV ownership in the U.S. has shot up 62%, according to a study by the RV Industry Association. RV ownership is at a record 11.2 million households, half of which are 55 and over. Another 9.6 million households plan to buy an RV in the next five years, the study found, and roughly 1.5% of all RVers are living full-time in them.

So are you ready to ride? We spoke with retirees who spend much of their time in recreational vehicles for first-hand guidance on the pros of RV living in retirement. Here’s what they had to say about the upsides of life on the road in an RV.

Bob Niedt
Contributor

Bob was Senior Editor at Kiplinger.com for seven years and is now a contributor to the website. He has more than 40 years of experience in online, print and visual journalism. Bob has worked as an award-winning writer and editor in the Washington, D.C., market as well as at news organizations in New York, Michigan and California. Bob joined Kiplinger in 2016, bringing a wealth of expertise covering retail, entertainment, and money-saving trends and topics. He was one of the first journalists at a daily news organization to aggressively cover retail as a specialty and has been lauded in the retail industry for his expertise. Bob has also been an adjunct and associate professor of print, online and visual journalism at Syracuse University and Ithaca College. He has a master’s degree from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and a bachelor’s degree in communications and theater from Hope College.

 

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