The jury is out on what constitutes middle age nowadays, but a good age to hit and think about some future-planning is 50. You have much of your life behind you, and arguably, you’d like the best for the remaining time you have in life, especially if it means another five decades on the Earth without the same sprightly energy of the first half. Among the important steps you need to take will be to consider your finances and plan for the future. Here are some of the main financial choices you will likely need to make:
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Mapping out your will and estate.
This doesn’t necessarily have to be an ominous step with a dark tinge over it. You’ll find that you will have a lot of pressure off your shoulders if you can get everything in order, so it’s not a worry at the back of your mind. Getting an estate attorney to manage your estate and help your craft your will can ensure that your assets will be protected in case of the worst. This becomes even more important if you have family that you’ll possibly be leaving behind. It basically secures their future if something happens to you and removes any chance of confusion or even disputes over any assets you have.
Planning your estate also goes beyond protecting your beneficiaries by allowing you to decide how you want to leave things at any given moment. You get to choose what happens to the fruits of your labor and what legacy can be carried on, whether a portion of your money goes to finishing building a dream home or you want consistent donations to charity to be made in your name.
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Making sure you have a good retirement fund.
Of course, you have to think about making a good future for yourself as well. If you really want to maximize your retirement and take it easy in your older years, you have to make sure that you are financially capable of doing so. There are a lot of different opinions out there, and it really depends on what you expect your own lifestyle to be, but it’s best to think about the cost now. Make sure that, by the time you reach retirement age, you will have saved up enough money to cover your monthly expenses, plans, and even some unforeseen circumstances.
Financial experts often say that a safe ballpark for a goal here would be to have around 75 to 85 percent of your highest salary before retirement. So, living comfortably would require you to be able to save up enough that you’d still annually have that amount of money to pull from. This becomes even more important if you take any offspring into account, as statistics show that there is a growing number of adults aged 18 to 34 years old who are living with their parents.
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Paying off most (if not all) of your debt.
You’ll want to have as much financial freedom as you want in the coming years ahead, so now is the time to break down those standing debts and prioritize paying them off for good. Cut off any unnecessary debts, and make sure you already have minimal long-term debts left. If you haven’t done so, now is the time to start catching up so that you can actually enjoy your retirement and have the financial capital to maximize your pursuits.
Popular investor and advisor Kevin O’Leary has noted that most people who have been able to retire early also lopped off their debts earlier. It may benefit you to readjust your budget to focus on this and free up your finances and schedule sooner than later.
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Plan ahead for your health insurance.
It’s no lie when they say health is also wealth. In this economy, health can be costly if you don’t take care to get yourself the proper coverage. If you haven’t already, seriously consider getting yourself a health plan that is fit for the coming years so that you don’t have to be bogged down by payments for medication, sudden illnesses, and hospitalizations. This is another one of those things that will take a load off your back and give you more room to explore life.
All of these steps can be pretty major undertakings and may seem pretty daunting to do. But reaching 50 years is a pretty big milestone in life, and it requires some essential care to ensure that this is just the beginning of an even better chapter in your journey.
