Planning for Age & Goal Based Investment Products

As you grow older and advance in life, you experience different life stages that impact 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 and the inevitable death. Here, we look at different life stages and the Financial Products that would help you at each stage of your life.

The Life Stages

Your Twenties: You have just finished studies and have started building your career or business. You may be single and have few dependants.

This 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. Your financial goals might include moving to your own place and paying rent, buying your first car, paying for your wedding, saving for buying your house, travelling the world, keeping up mortgage payments, getting debt-free, saving money for vacations, establishing a secondary income stream and keeping an extra-keen eye on your pension savings so far.

What you should consider: Credit card, opening a savings account, investing in mutual funds to benefit from long term compound interest and if you really need to be mobile, a good car loan option, a home loan, Deposit account, Fixed term bonds, Home insurance, Motor insurance

Settling down, or having children are life-changing events that will require you to review your finances carefully after all, it’s not just yourself you have to think about now. So other needs would include Mortgage, Motor insurance, Health insurance, Travel insurance .

Your Thirties and Forties: You now have a stable career or booming business; you may now be married and raising young children.

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 another loan or mortgagae for a larger home and opening an education savings account for your children to maximize 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.

Your Fifties and Sixties: You are well advanced in your career or business and may now have adult children. As your family expands, so will your financial considerations. Start sorting things out moneywise; you will be better prepared for any further expenses, such as funding your children’s higher education. These may now be your financial priorities: Paying your children’s university fees, taking care of aged parents, diversifying your investment portfolio, having another well-deserved holiday, enjoying the savings that your pension contributions now amount to. Apart from Travel insurance, Holiday fund and Health insurance, opening a Pension Retirement Saving Account is a good avenue to invest in.

As you approach retirement now, make sure you seek out the best possible financial deals can substantially boost your income when you’ve retired. For this, you could consider: Annuity, Deposit account, Fixed term bonds, etc.

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 living expenses, vacations, writing your last will and testament and perhaps establishing a trust fund for your children and grandchildren. It is now vital that you have a plan in place for the management, protection and distribution of your wealth after your lifetime.

As you have seen, your financial goals 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.

Summary Your Life Priorities at a Glance

Swati Tumar - Travel & Finance Writer   

Swati is a Writer in the day and an illustrator at night. Among her interests, she is quite fond of art and all things creative. She often indulges herself in creating doodles, illustrations, and other forms of content. She identifies herself as an avid traveler and shameless foodie.