Finance in your Forties

Your forties. Your mid-life crisis. Your halfway pointthrough life. An inherent moment of reflection, yourforties often bring about moments of great anxiety,

perhaps reminding some of us that we are notwhere want to be financially or that we haven’t

accomplished the goals we dreamed of years ago.Yet, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes itspurs us to reignite our passions, reminds us to

chase our dreams, or enlightens us that what trulymatters is the here and now, and lamenting the pastor fearing the future does nothing but take a toll on

our soul.

However, no matter how youfeel at this halfway stage inlife, life insurance remains a

concept of the utmostsignificance. Be you

divorced, married, a singleparent or even a

grandparent, insurancecontinues to care for your

children and loved ones.Below are some key pieces of

advice you should take toheart when caring for thosenear and dear to your own:

Recognize what you havedone/are doing right.

Even if it’s only one thing right in the midst of poorly madedecisions, give yourself credit for it. Personal finance is

difficult, to say the least, and it requires confidence to makethe right decisions. If you’re consistently battering your self­esteem over some decision you made in your early 20’s or30’s, it’s time to get over it. Appreciate what you’ve done, bethat putting your money away for retirement, or having keptyour life insurance active, or having put enough money awayto pay for your kids’ tuition. It’s important to know that youhave already done things right because that will make it

easier to act with confidence in the present.

Look Ahead to the Future

The truth is that your own long-term finances are the most important. Although it canbe difficult to put retirement ahead of your kids’ college tuition, it is necessary to

ensure you are stable in your later non-working years. While I’m not saying it has toall be all towards retirement or entirely devoted to your children, it is significant tonote that you need to make sure you are protecting, first and foremost, your own

future. Just to put that into perspective, if your kids are short on college funds, theycan borrow it. You can’t borrow for retirement. What bank would lend money to

someone saying they are no longer going to have an income? It only makes sense to planfor yourself, regardless of whatever altruistic inclinations you may have.

Apply the wisdom you alreadyhave.

Learn from your mistakes, fiscal and otherwise, and apply theknowledge. When a little extra money comes in, save it. Invest it.

Pay the bills. It can be tempting to take a vacation or startremodeling, but often when we prematurely spend the extra cash,we regret it in the long-run. Learn from what you have alreadydone wrong and orient yourself for future, stable, long-term

success.