A lot of Canadians have decided to take the best of both worlds during their senior years by becoming snowbirds. Many enjoy the nice warm weather in Canada during the summer months and then as the cold sets in they had down to Florida to soak up the sun there for the next six months. Many of these individuals have planned this way of living for many years prior to their retirement. Most have bought homes in Florida for this very purpose and great deal of them have totally paid them off and were looking forward to spending their golden years with very little financial pressure.
With the fall in the Canadian dollar this has now changed this scenario for many in varying degrees. Even if they choose not to go down to spend the winter months in their hot haven location, they still have a certain amount of upkeep for the property there that has to be paid for. They are certainly feeling the pinch with the drop in the dollar.
Just the cost of getting there is going to be substantially higher, and consideration has to be given to the insurance needs while there. There was already a jump in travel insurance premiums last year, and it is expected that there will be anywhere between the 12 to 15% jump this year. One of the best steps that the snowbirds that are in this situation can take is to do some comparison shopping for insurance earlier than what they normally would. In many cases a lot of them didn’t do any comparison-shopping at all. They are now being forced into this situation if they want to cut some of their costs.
One thing is for sure and that is no snowbird should risk not having travel insurance, as the cost factors involved could be horrendous.
There can be a couple of options for the snowbirds. They can choose perhaps to spend less time at their warm weather location. Or, they may just decide that they have to be much more frugal with their spending while there. Many times couples that are spending the cold winter months in Florida like to do a lot of entertainment and become involved in many activities while away. With the low loonie this may mean that they need to cut back on these expenditures somewhat.
Some may be considering selling their Florida vacation home and in this case they must also take into account what their tax implications are going to be for doing this. It comes down to making a decision based on one’s opinion whether the low loonie is going to be a temporary thing, or whether this is going to be long term, and if so what kind of impact is a going to have on the snowbird.
