Mid-Stream: Age Range = 30 to
55
This is a time of life that can be very challenging and exciting. Yet, it can also be very
taxing - on your energy, your skills and your money. You may be part of the sandwich generation, with kids on one side
and aging parents on the other, with you in the middle, trying to take care of everything. You may be adding to your
family and/or upgrading your home (buying or remodeling). You may be changing jobs and/or relocating, forcing decisions
on housing, schools, company benefit plans, etc. You may be getting a divorce. You may be remarrying and blending families.
You may be sending kids through school and saving/investing for retirement.
Whew!
Lots of things to do! How are you managing all of it? For too many, the answer is, not very well.
Statistics on credit card debt, bankruptcies, divorce, etc. show that it is a daunting task. Left unaddressed, it can
lead to real trouble. It can seem so overwhelming that too many people don't/won't think about it and, instead, just
hope that things will somehow work out.
This is where sound planning can be a real savior.
It can lay the path for:
- Education
funding.
- Retirement
planning - including funding, lifestyle choices, etc.
- Potential care options for aging parents.
- Accomplishment of short-term goals (House, cars, vacations, etc.).
A solid financial plan lays out the straightest path between where you are now and where you want
to be at various points in the future (1, 5, 10, 15, 20 years out). It balances the three major components of your financial
life:
- Government (Social
Security, Medicare, Medicaid).
- Employer (Qualified retirement plans, health insurance, disability insurance).
- Individual (Taxable savings/investments, IRA,
Roth IRA, annuities, etc.).
Strategies
are reviewed and refined on a periodic basis, as your circumstances change.
.
With
all that life can throw at you, it is essential to have a plan to survive and thrive. Remember, what you have not done
is irrelevant - it is history. The only thing that counts now is what you do from this point forward.
.
