Financial Goals For Each Stage Of Your Life

[Stanbic IBTC team]

As you advance in life, you experience different life stages that impact on your financial goals. These life stages are highlighted by major milestones like: graduating from university, your first job, starting a family, buying a house, career advancement, planning for your retirement, preparing a will and the inevitable death.

As you grow older, some of these financial goals will ring true:

In Your Twenties: you have probably just started building your career or business; you may be single and have few dependants. You may be considering some of these financial goals:

• Moving to your own place (and paying rent)
• Buying your first car
• Paying for your wedding
• Opening a Pension Retirement Saving Account
• Saving for buying your house
• Travelling the world

This phase is the best time to establish a firm foundation for your financial future by learning good financial habits such as spending only after you save, sticking to a budget and saving for the future. You should consider opening a savings account, investing in mutual funds to benefit from long term compound interest and if you really need to be mobile, looking for a favourable car loan option.

In Your Thirties and Forties: you may already have a stable career or booming business; you may now be married and raising young children. Some of your financial goals may now include:

• Buying a house or keeping up mortgage payments.
• Saving for your children’s university fees.
• Getting debt-free
• Establishing a secondary income stream
• Keeping an extra-keen eye on your pension savings so far
• Saving money for vacations
• Preparing a will

These are your top earning years, thus it is even more important to spend wisely and save and invest shrewdly at this stage. You could even be considering taking out a home loan and opening an education savings account for your children to maximise this time of financial plenty. What you save and invest during this phase could have huge implications on the quality of life you will have during your retirement years. It is advised to increase your investment portfolio, have a targeted savings account for your vacations, and increasing the contribution to your retirement savings account.

From Your Fifties and Sixties: you are well advanced in your career or business and may now have adult children. These may now be your financial priorities:

1. Paying your children’s university fees.
2. Taking care of your aged parents.
3. Diversifying your investment portfolio
4. Having a second (or third, or fourth, who’s counting?) honeymoon with your significant other
5. Enjoying the big reserve of savings that your Pension contributions now amount to

Your Seventies: through to your nineties are your retirement stage. You are retired from paid employment / business and may be a grandparent. The financial goals to consider are:
• Spending on living expenses.
• Spending on vacations
• Writing your last will and testament.
• Establishing a trust fund for your children and grandchildren.
At this stage, it is vital that you have a plan in place for the management, protection and distribution of your wealth after your lifetime.

Your financial goals will change as you go through life. Whichever life stage you are at and however your life changes, setting out a flexible financial plan can help give you the best chance of achieving your financial goals.

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