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For many Americans approaching retirement, the biggest concern is not whether their savings will last. It is whether their health will.

A new survey from retirement-planning platform Boldin found that 51% of respondents were more worried about running out of healthy years for retirement travel than running out of money. Only 8% identified money as the greater concern, while 36% said the two concerns weighed equally.

The findings suggest that many older Americans no longer view retirement travel as something that can be postponed indefinitely. Instead, they intend to take their biggest trips during the early years of retirement, when they are more likely to be healthy and active.

Among the 1,331 people surveyed, 67% named travel as a top retirement goal. That placed it ahead of spending time with family, cited by 51%; pursuing hobbies, at 43%; and having greater control over their time, at 34%.

The company surveyed members of its retirement-planning platform in July 2026. Because respondents were Boldin members rather than a representative sample of all Americans, the results may reflect people who are especially engaged in retirement planning.

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Retirees are ‘front-loading’ travel

Nearly three in 10 respondents said they expect to take most of their retirement trips within the first five years after leaving the workforce. Eighty percent said making the most of their healthy and active years was an important motivation.

That approach is sometimes called “front-loading” retirement: spending more on travel and other physically demanding experiences early, then reducing discretionary expenses later.

It can require a different financial strategy than one based on relatively level spending throughout retirement. Retirees may need a larger travel budget during their first decade, while still preserving enough money for housing, healthcare, and long-term care in later years.

Almost nine in 10 respondents said they had included travel in their retirement spending plans in some form. However, uncertainty about whether they can afford those plans appears to be holding some people back.

Eighty-three percent said they would travel more during their first decade of retirement if they were confident they could afford it.

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Travel may survive budget cuts

The survey also found that travel remains a high priority even when financial conditions deteriorate. Forty-five percent said they would be unlikely to reduce their travel plans significantly because of inflation or a market downturn.

That does not mean retirees would leave their budgets unchanged. Sixty-eight percent said they would probably or definitely need to adjust their overall spending if markets suffered a significant decline during their first few years of retirement. Only 14% said they had already created a plan for that possibility.

A major market decline shortly after retirement can be particularly damaging because retirees may have to sell investments at depressed prices to cover living expenses. Financial planners often recommend keeping some short-term expenses in cash or other relatively stable assets to avoid selling stocks during a downturn.

The Boldin survey underscores the need for retirement plans to account for more than longevity. For people who hope to travel, the number of healthy and mobile years available may be just as important as the number of dollars they have saved.