In this article, we’ll cover 5 financial areas that women in their 50s or approaching their 50s should focus on, to keep money troubles at bay. Let’s begin.
Yes, you read that right. Women and generally everybody else must look at financial planning in a new light once they get to their 50s. This is the age when you are in the prime of your career and take home a fat salary. To make things better, you have probably repaid all your debt too.
But this doesn’t mean that expenses are completely out of sight. You are probably thinking about the exorbitant college fees that you might have to pay for one of your children, costs of planning a flamboyant marriage ceremony for another or investing in the start-up idea of a third one.
These are those ‘heavyweight’ expenses that require you to rethink your financial strategy. You need to address them so that you don’t go broke before your retirement. After all, you’ve worked hard to ensure that you have enough to live out your golden years comfortably.
In this article, we’ll cover 5 financial areas that women in their 50’s or approaching 50s should focus on to keep money troubles at bay. Let’s begin.
Additional Reading: 3 Tips For Young Women To Manage Their Finances Smartly
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Start With Yourself – Health Insurance
Most people ignore their health as they get older. Women, in particular, have a tendency to look after the well-being of everyone except themselves. It is much easier to do so when you are younger and full of life. But once you start getting older, you must find time for your health too. You can only look after others until you are well and fine.
So 50s is the time to give your Health Insurance a once over. Your insurance plan might need an upgrade as riders that you signed up for at the age of 30 might not be relevant, or something that you must be insured for is not covered in your current policy. And while you do this, start an exercise routine or fine tune the one you already have. Moreover, it can really help you burn the tensions of the mid-life crisis.
We insist on Health Insurance first because unexpected health issues have been known to derail the finances of many families. We certainly do not want you in such a twist of fate.
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Now About The Other – Life Insurance
The next thing you must evaluate is your Life Insurance policy. In your absence, it’ll come to the rescue of your family. Just like with Health Insurance, you must look at the sum insured for your Life Insurance policy. Things get expensive with time and your sum insured must be reviewed keeping inflation in mind. You can use the years before retirement to pay a higher premium on your insurance for a better sum assured.
Additional Reading: How Women Breadwinners Should Tackle Financial Issues
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What Will You Leave Behind? – Create A Will
It is not uncommon to hear stories of long-running legal battles and other forms of discord between family members over property inheritance. These primarily stem from the lack of a will. One way to ensure peace and happiness for your family even in your absence is by drawing a will.
Most of the time people go for a hand-written will which is easy to tamper with and might not hold as much credibility in the court of law. It is better to draw a will by taking the help of a lawyer and in the presence of all the family members involved. This will greatly reduce the chances of a misunderstanding in the future.
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Your Future – Retirement Planning
Planning for your retirement should be a very crucial part of your life in the 50s. If you have a retirement fund in place, now is the time to save more for it. Use your bonus, hikes and other forms of financial windfalls to bolster your retirement savings.
An issue people often face with their retirement fund is that it always falls short of the amount they actually need to live a comfortable life. This happens because people don’t factor in inflation when investing in a retirement fund. But 50s is not too late to fix this problem. You still have 10 more years of working life and you can consider investing in stocks. A 10 year period will help you ride out the market volatility and you can look forward to some great returns.
Not comfortable with stocks? How about Mutual Funds? They are known to give awesome returns as well.
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Bury The Past – Repay Your Loans
At 50 you must take a break and look at your life retrospectively. Get your favourite tea, reminisce about a life well-spent and feel proud about it. And once you are ready to live the second half, consider leaving some of the past baggage behind. One thing could be your loans.
It’s never wise to carry your debt into your retirement days. If you are a little behind on some of your payments then now is a good time to plan for their repayment. If you have repaid all your loans, then you probably have taken loans to help your kids. If you feel paying these loans will be a stretch then don’t feel shy about asking your kids to pitch in or telling them to shoulder half the responsibility.
In short, 50s is the age to tie all the loose ends in your finances and move forward with the intent to preserve your money. One way to achieve all the above goals is by reshuffling your investment portfolio. Move your investments around and divide your capital equally between low-risk and high-risk options. This will help you grow your wealth and also help you secure your capital.
Additional Reading: 5 Tips For Women To Keep Their Personal Finance Intact
Wondering where to start? Well, right here at BankBazaar.com.