How do retirees still earn FF Points, and optimise travel?

[JohnM]

Ps....I've been thinking about this thread today (quiet day)...in my line of work, I see many people who wait til they retire so they have the time to go to all those bucket list destinations OS...then tragically illness strikes and they can no longer go OS or they can't get travel insurance. ..so personally, I'm going to do all my OS bucket list destinations now, and will keep domestic destinations up my sleeve for my latter years (of course I will still go OS if health and cash allows)...cash then will be derived a la drron' s methods now

The other aspect to this for people that haven't travelled much during their middle years is that the longer people leave it, the more nervous they are about going to more unusual sorts of places. Africa and South America (both sensational IMO) spring to mind.

I also notice some reluctance amongst novice travellers of retirement-type age to travel independently, rent a car to drive themselves - that sort of thing.

I think these are also very good reasons to travel as much as possible when younger and do it as independently as possible. The experience builds confidence - which I think is a very useful thing to have when getting a bit older.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Correct - but I think the questioner was asking about taxation within the fund..

Hit nail on head.

I was pointing out that contributions to, and earnings within, the accumulation phase of a fund are taxable at 15%. But once certain age and working requirements are satisfied and the fund (or part of it) is moved to drawdown phase, there is no tax payable on the earnings of the drawdown fund.
.

Yes your answer, and repeated here, cleared it up for me.

 

[tgh]

hm .. for those of us who have not only worked hard.. but planned hard also.. life is good
God bless little Johnny and his tax free super.. it took us from ok to………
We have always self managed.. although these days we use a nifty computer based management service that takes all the drudgery away.
These days I just drive the yield to maximise disposable income to preserve the capital and the gains.
We have also put in place structures to minimise the tax liability of the estate in the hands of the recipients.
For travel , I just aggregate qff's on ccc's (amex then woolies then….???) ..
otoh , we only fly the popular and direct routes with the best timing and they are almost never available on Classic redemptions.
Management flatly refuses to go to Sydney to connect no matter what the saving so we are usually stuck with the evening emirates flight to Dubai at whatever it costs...
Points gathering ain't the fun it used to be.

 

[Flying mermaid]

We have also put in place structures to minimise the tax liability of the estate in the hands of the recipients.
e.

yes we have done that too, although we have warned the ankle biters not to expect anything - we intend spending it all on travel.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

The problem is there are too many places to go to, especially if you like to spend a reasonable time in each place rather than a Cook's tour. .....

With 190 odd countries indeed....but I will die trying

Which is certainly why part of my strategy is to retire early, and to ensure I have enough funds and points to keep travelling as long as I can.

Which takes me back to my OP....on what ways retirees use to achieve that. We have had some excellent discussion on Super in particular, and a few other techniques such as the buying of an annual RTW ticket.

But I am sure there are a lot more ideas to be shared yet.

 

[cove]

I know Qantas and probably Virgin have loyalty programs with real estate and other commercial vendors so you could get points/ miles from them if you become a customer. Where the banks buy huge numbers to get a cost of about 1.0 cent to 1.25 cents the commercial guys might pay a bit more as their volumes would be lower than say Amex or a big 4 bank.
I see this source as a way to top up your stash for upgrading to business and/or first class if all else fails.

 

[JohnK]

I guess some people don't need to have that worry.

I have a love of travel. The cabin means nothing. I am not embarrassed to fly economy with Lifetime Gold in the bag. And when I hopefully retire in a few years I will still try to fly as often as possible and as cheaply as possible.

 

[hossein_au]

I guess some people don't need to have that worry.

I have a love of travel. The cabin means nothing. I am not embarrassed to fly economy with Lifetime Gold in the bag. And when I hopefully retire in a few years I will still try to fly as often as possible and as cheaply as possible.

I don't know if I "love" to do it this way, but I'm with you on this one ;-) And I don't have LTG :-(

 

[coco50]

When I retired I was WP, but lack of flying soon had me eroded to NB. However, by using my CB Rewards CC I quickly built up points as I paid for everything using the card and paid the balance off in full each month, thereby avoiding paying interest. Whenever I had occasion to fly I paid for the trip rather than use points. I have been basically on PS for the last five years. Just remember that it is not the points as much as the status credits that you need to worry about. If you use a card linked to your FF scheme, the points will accumulate. Early last year I had more than a million QF points and I used them to have a holiday for my wife and me, flying around the world first class. Even though we burned most of the points we are up to over 100 000 points again, and thinking about where we will go next

 

[coco50]

Transition to retirement used to be a useful strategy. Something I can only dream about at my age.

Mum has seemed to indicate that the income test is the big hurdle for getting a credit card in retirement.

Get all the credit cards before you retire and while your salary is at its peak. Mum was right. Even if you have a tax free annual take of $80 000 in retirement with no mortgage and no debts, the CC providers don't want to know you.

 

[howiesue]

I too am now retired after many years of being spoilt by international business class (with frequent upgrades to 1st to make things even more difficult now!). As a Lifetime Qantas Gold one may think indeed that this is flight Superannuation but recently checking on a return flight to London with QF in Economy resulted in almost $1000 fees and taxes! Why bother? You can purchase an economy fare for not much more. An email to QF has been ignored despite Gold status (does Gold mean anything these days?). I seriously get the impression that QF has gone to the dogs and is no longer the airline to fly with. Anyone out there any ideas of the best way to use my FF points to get to London?

 

[Edge]

Unfortunately due to the exchange rate we've missed the boat (this time around) but it's worth considering an overseas investment property, particularly if you have a destination you like to travel to frequently. Then your flights an accommodation to that city become instantly tax deductible, the same as if you purchase somewhere interstate within Australia. Then when you're ready to retire the investment property may be fully paid off and you have free overseas accommodation.

Not sure the implications of doing this through your super fund. I can imagine leverage would be difficult to obtain, but if you have enough free cash you can probably facilitate an outright purchase.

I want a small apartment in the West End...

 

[Pushka]

The AUD is only bad against the USD. And those countries pegged to it.

A Chalet in France comes to mind.

You cant buy a property through Super and then live in it.

 

[coco50]

I too am now retired after many years of being spoilt by international business class (with frequent upgrades to 1st to make things even more difficult now!). As a Lifetime Qantas Gold one may think indeed that this is flight Superannuation but recently checking on a return flight to London with QF in Economy resulted in almost $1000 fees and taxes! Why bother? You can purchase an economy fare for not much more. An email to QF has been ignored despite Gold status (does Gold mean anything these days?). I seriously get the impression that QF has gone to the dogs and is no longer the airline to fly with. Anyone out there any ideas of the best way to use my FF points to get to London?

It depends on how many points you have. I was a QF nuthin and I used some of my points to get my wife and me to DXB first class on QF and then first class from DXB to LHR on BA

 

[Edge]

The AUD is only bad against the USD. And those countries pegged to it.

A Chalet in France comes to mind.

You cant buy a property through Super and then live in it.

It's weak again against the pound as well.

Can't you live in it once you retire? I guess you can always sell it (CGT-free) and re-purchase.

 

[Pushka]

It's weak again against the pound as well.

Can't you live in it once you retire? I guess you can always sell it (CGT-free) and re-purchase.

No. You'd also have to sell it at market value.

 

[howiesue]

It depends on how many points you have. I was a QF nuthin and I used some of my points to get my wife and me to DXB first class on QF and then first class from DXB to LHR on BA

Have close to 400k points. After experience of seeing how much QF want in fees and taxes maybe there's a way of getting to LHR via another OneWorld airline. Previous trips to/within the US using FF points I noted that AA had a flat rate fo US$5 for each sector but not sure whether (a) that still applies or (b) whether I could get to LHR via the US using them.

 

[Edge]

No. You'd also have to sell it at market value.

Good to know. Looks like a strategy to employ outside of super. Makes more sense with the deductions available to do it this way anyway.

 

[Bindibuys]

You can decide to retire after 55 and then decide say a month later, to go back to work if you change your mind.

I will turn 55 at the AFF gathering at Cairns this year, think I will spend that weekend " retired" but have to return to work on Monday

 

[Bindibuys]

Ps....I've been thinking about this thread today (quiet day)...in my line of work, I see many people who wait til they retire so they have the time to go to all those bucket list destinations OS...then tragically illness strikes and they can no longer go OS or they can't get travel insurance. ..so personally, I'm going to do all my OS bucket list destinations now, and will keep domestic destinations up my sleeve for my latter years (of course I will still go OS if health and cash allows)...cash then will be derived a la drron' s methods now

Ditto these comments. We started our travels 10 years ago (6 weeks OS every 18 months)
I could not imagine doing the Machu Picchu 4 day hike when I am over 65.
Glad I am married to an accountant who can manage our SMSF.