What Smart Retirees Buy Instead of a Trawler (Half the Cost, No Regrets)

Retiring on a fixed check doesn't mean settling for a trawler's price tag, and three cheaper classes prove it. A retired marine mechanic weighs the sedan bridge and express cruiser against a trawler of the same size, then turns to the inland houseboat and what live-aboard rules at the marina really cost. He lands on a compact flybridge cruiser a couple can run alone, checks it against Brunswick's 2018 decision to stop building Sea Ray's biggest yachts, and sets AARP's warning about retiree boat regret against a simple rule for pricing the keeping before the boat.