Stages in Life Where Financial Planners Can Help

Life never remains the same, particularly as you age and begin entering different adulthood stages. Much like life, your financial status is also liable to change and constantly modify, never remaining completely stagnant for very long until a portion of the money is added or lost due to various events. But as you grow, saving money and ensuring you have some tucked away in anticipation of certain events that could transpire will become increasingly paramount. Although saving money and curating a sense of security can always be challenging, no matter your age, because life’s uncertainties can inevitably be costly, successful financial saving can be accomplished. With the help of certified financial planners, you can make a plan during the most important stages of your life, where methodically mapping out your economic present and future will prove to be most beneficial.

Find out the stages of life and career where financial planning will lay the essential groundwork for a stable and secure future.

Early career

Entering the workforce typically occurs in your 20s, where the financial decisions you make can be frivolous, thoughtless, and selfish, but will also set the stage for your future. While making impulsive purchases are expected when you receive your first job out of school, you should also try to be thoughtful and use logic in modifying your spending habits to reach your financial goals sooner rather than much, much later. Forging your path to a greater financial future can simply begin with asking yourself about your future: where do you want to find yourself in five or ten years? How can you get there? What do you want your entire net worth to look like once you turn 35 or older? And how can this net worth be achieved by coinciding with your ten-year plan?

Questions like these will help you determine where you want to be financially in the future when you initially emerge in the workplace. Ways you can successfully and effectively financially plan for your future within this early stage of your life can include:

• Managing you debts
• Saving money to make important investments, like purchasing a home
• Budgeting and trying to cut down on your expenses if applicable

Mid-career placement and starting a family

After you have completed years in the workplace, become a bit more settled into adulthood, and are beginning to, or in the midst of, start a family, financial planning will become more of a priority than in the years prior. Wealth management will take centre stage when you’ve been working for quite some time and are entering into a new phase of your life where you’ll be earning more and setting yourself up to complete attainable and long-term goals. Once you start a family, priorities will surely shift, and you’ll be focusing on financial aspects that include:

• Getting good insurance coverage for you or your entire family
• Investing into retirement savings and beginning to create an emergency fund
• Paying for home maintenance and vacations
• Preparing a will and an estate

Pre-retirement

After you have spent many years in the workforce but are not quite at the age of retirement, you have entered the pre-retirement stage of your life and career. This stage tends to indicate you’re about ten years away from being able to retire and that your financial plan will start to become more realized. In the previous two stages, where you planted the seeds of financial success, you will begin to reap some of the benefits, like having the ability to relish in a more stable financial situation with your family and general household. At this stage, you should determine whether you will meet your retirement goals in the coming years based on your current financial standing and if any modifications to these goals, or life changes, will be needed to meet them. What you should begin to plan during this stage will include:

• Paying off any outstanding debts or mortgages
• Making substantial retirement contributions
• Overviewing your plan to meet retirement goals and adjusting them if needed
• Maximizing your savings and emergency fund
• Hire certified financial planners if needed to help you budget

Early retirement

Enjoy ultimate freedom as you retire from the same daily labour after so many years. Settling into early retirement might prove difficult for some, as they have become accustomed to working consistently for decades. But having free time to spare can be very rewarding, especially if you have financially planned for this stage in your life. Once you enter retirement, you’ll want to ensure you don’t overspend your savings and use all of your resources, which could force you back into the workplace. While enjoying your retirement is always encouraged, so is caution. Because of this, the early retirement stage should include actions such as:

• Closely monitoring your retirement savings and emergency fund
• Meticulously tracking your retirement budget
• Updating your will
• Managing all tax strategies tailored to your retirement

Later retirement

Years after you retire, when your approaching your late 70s and early 80s, having a financial plan is still paramount to ensure good health, and minimal stress is a factor in your golden years. During these years in late retirement, family, good health, and security should be your main focus. To ensure relaxation, travel, and loved ones won’t be trumped by potential medical bills, financial plans you’ll want to consider doing will include:

• Contemplating assisted living options
• Updating your will
• Maintain a well-rounded budget
• Manage healthcare and the costs stemming from it