Amplify Financial : Your 50's

Your 50's

Taking Stock

If you are in your fifties, you’re likely to have a few concerns about how best to manage saving for future needs and handling current expenses. Our financial planner, Dan Dillard, has identified a few of the key issues you may be facing, and can help you find the right balance between saving for your later-day needs and enjoying the present.

Planning for Retirement

Retirement planning involves an analysis of the various choices you can make today to help provide for your financial future. To make appropriate choices, you need to predict—as well as you can—your future economic circumstances. You’ll also need to establish your post-retirement goals. When you’ve determined how much of an income stream you’ll probably require in the future, you’ll be in a position to make wise choices now about income, saving, investments, and employer-sponsored or other retirement plans.

By the time you retire, you’ll need a nest egg that will provide you with enough income to fill the gap left by your other income sources. But exactly how much is enough? The following questions may help you find the answer:

• At what age do you plan to retire? The younger you retire, the longer your retirement will be, and the more money you’ll need to carry you through it.
• What kind of lifestyle do you hope to maintain during your retirement years?
• What is your life expectancy? The longer you live, the more years of retirement you’ll have to fund.
• What rate of growth can you expect from your savings now and during retirement? Be conservative when projecting rates of return.
• Do you expect to dip into your principal? If so, you may deplete your savings faster than if you just live off investment earnings. Build in a cushion to guard against these risks.

When you know roughly how much money you’ll need, your next goal is to save that amount. It’s never too early to get started; first, you’ll have to map out a savings plan that works for you. The next step is to get help putting your savings plan into action.

Managing College Expenses

For most parents, paying for a child’s college or graduate school education is a major event. For some parents, it rivals only the purchase of a home in number of dollars spent. As the cost of college continues to rise, it’s little wonder that parents view their ability to pay college costs with some apprehension. Yet, in all but the most affluent families, paying for college does not involve a 100 percent out-of-pocket contribution from parents. Rather, the average family uses a combination of strategies to pay higher education costs—savings, financial aid, education tax credits, out-of-pocket contributions, and other creative solutions.

Starting a Business

Before you start your own business or buy an existing business, you should do some initial planning. You may have already decided what type of business you want—your own restaurant, retail outlet, service, or manufacturing plant. You need to choose a suitable location—can you work from home, or do you need a separate facility? You should assess your financial requirements, schedule daily activities, and plan for contingencies, which may be included in your business plan. Planning your business usually requires the help of any number of professionals—an attorney or accountant, for example. The success or failure of your business may depend upon your initial planning, but how do you plan and what do you plan for?

Caring for an Aging Parent

Caring for your aging parents is something you hope you can handle when the time comes, but something you probably hope you never have to do. Caring for your aging parents means helping them plan for the future, and this can be overwhelming, both physically and emotionally. When the time comes for you to take care of your parents, you may be certain of only two things: Your parents need you, and you need help.

Financial Windfalls

What would you do with an extra $10,000? Maybe you’d pay off some debt, get rid of some college loans, or take a much-needed vacation. What if you suddenly had an extra million or 10 million or more? Whether you picked the right six numbers in your state’s lottery or your dear Aunt Sally left you her condo in Boca Raton, you have some issues to deal with. You’ll need to evaluate your new financial position and consider how your sudden wealth will affect your financial goals.

Changing Jobs

Downsizing is one reason you may be seeking a new career. Reaching a professional plateau is another. The fact is that many people change careers, sometimes more than once. Losing your job is an emotional experience—whether you are laid off or fired, whether you quit or retire. Your feelings of self-worth are tied more closely to your job than you realize. Although you’re certainly entitled to relax awhile after your job ends, don’t let your need to relax become an excuse to avoid facing your future. The more time that passes, the more likely you’ll feel anxious and depressed about your future. Here are three tips on what you can do to keep yourself moving:

• Pretend that you’re still working. You’ve probably heard the adage that finding a job is a full-time job. Well, it’s usually true. So why not pretend that you’re still working? You don’t have to get dressed up for this job, but at least get out of bed at the same time, make yourself a cup of coffee, and get going. Stop for lunch and then work again until late afternoon. Keep moving, and you’ll accomplish your goal of finding a new job with a lot less anxiety.
• Set daily and weekly goals. Get a calendar and write down what you want to accomplish each day for one week. Be specific and reasonable. Don’t write “call future employers” Instead, write “call the human resource departments at five publishing companies.” Then, write down what your weekly goal will be. You might write: “compile a list of five potential employers and send resumes to them.” Setting goals will help you feel in control of your fate and will ultimately help you get a job.
• Reward yourself. Looking for a job is tough, so after a long, hard day of job-hunting, reward yourself. For instance, promise yourself in the morning that if you accomplish everything on your list by three o’clock, you can go to the matinee of the movie you’ve wanted to see

When you lose your job, you probably won’t be able to live the same way you lived when you had a job. If you try to live the same way, there’s a good chance you won’t survive financially. Keep in mind that even though you’re on a financial diet, no diet lasts forever. At some point, you’ll find another job and the crisis will pass. Therefore, you want to be especially careful that the decisions you make now aren’t shortsighted. Do what you can to survive, but only do what you really have to.

Whether you need to manage transitions, learn about your savings and cash management or identify and plan your retirement and investment options Dan wants to help. He offers a complementary 30-minute consultation to help you identify the financial strategy that’s best for you. Please contact Linda Koop at 512-519-5476 or use our contact form to set up an appointment.