Throughout our lives, our attitude towards money needs to change regularly, when we are young, we can be frivolous with our income and spend it in any way we see fit, as we get into our twenties and thirties we need to save hard for the houses, cars and the kids, our 40s see us edging towards our financial prime as we finalize debt payments and reaching our peak earning potential, but what of our 50s?
For most people who have worked hard and been smart with money throughout their lives, our 6th decade should be one of the most comfortable and fun, financially speaking and here is how you should approach your finances when you are over 50 according to my good friend Andrew Corbman, financial specialist.
Can’t Take it With You
Whilst humans are living longer than ever before and 50 is by no means old, there is a case for spending far more freely than you have before. The problem which most people find is that they keep their finances tight and then when they are 70 or 80, they have plenty of disposable money but they do not have the energy or desire to spend it on themselves. For this reason, you should have a liberal approach to spending money in your 50s and make sure that you are enjoying your finances whilst you still have the fitness and energy to do it.
Don’t Stop Planning
Just because you are in the latter stages of life does not mean that you should not have a financial plan for the future. There is a very real possibility that you could live for a further 40 years and if this is the case then you should really be looking at continuing to earn money in some capacity for the future. Whilst you should most certainly be more liberal with your cash, you could also look at ways of growing your wealth in order to pay for the possibility of care in your later years. When you are in your 50s there is still a chance to take out life insurance policies and financial plans which will look after you in later life.
Clearing Down
If you do still have any debts which remain from your life such as mortgages or personal loans then now is the time that you need to dedicate all of your resources to clearing it out. Having debt at such a late stage of your life could really impact how the next 20 or 30 years go and aside from the financial burden, it can being you a great deal of unnecessary stress.
The age of 50 is the perfect time to take stock and take action, you are old enough to know what you should be doing and young enough to still be able to do it. Make sure that you dedicate the time that is needed n arranging your finances so that your later years can be spent well.