They say that ‘life’ starts at 40 because this is the time people begin to enjoy themselves and exploit new opportunities having overcome the struggles of their 20s and 30s. But it is also true that “life ends at 40′ because that is where most complications start. At this age, most people are on their own and they have families that depend on them. Most people retire at 55-60, and this is the time they discover that they too much concentrated with ‘life’ and forgot to plan for their retirement/future.
We give you a five-pointer on the best financial decisions to make before 40.
1. Disclose any secret accounts to your spouse
About two million Kenyans have their lying money idle in an account at the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) as unclaimed assets. The figure stands at more than Ksh 3.3 billion, according to the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA). Only Ksh 32 million has been claimed to date. This is mostly because most of this money was held in secret accounts, or maybe family members were never informed of such money.
Murphy’s Law that states: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong’ even death. Prepare yourself against the “what ifs” in life and reduce your worry about finances.
2. Avoid loans
At this age, you are approaching the retirement age, and most of your children are in school. If you got married between the age of 25 and 30, then your first-born will be in secondary school. Loans will put your concentration on repaying; hence you will not look for avenues to earn extra income. Retirement age will soon catch up with you which will put your family in misery due to reduced or no income.
3. Saving for retirement
This is the ultimate answer to avoid loans in your old age. When you start saving for retirement early, you put yourself in the best position possible to prepare for the future you want. The compounded interest alone, even on a small initial investment, has plenty of time to grow over a lifetime. As you advance in your career and earn more money, putting a percentage of your income into your retirement nest egg is one of the best money decisions you can make!
Related: 7 lifestyle changes you must make to become successful
4. Plan for your retirement
James Dean advises ‘dream as if you’ll live forever and live as if you’ll die today’. It is from your dreams that you will plan for the future and live for today. If you plan for 10 years to come and die today, your family has nothing to worry about as they will remain stable. Start saving big, or start a business that you’ll manage even after retirement.
5. Own a home
You cannot live in rented houses all your life. It’s always good to have a place of your own that you call home. With a home, you do not have to worry about being thrown out for defaulting to pay rent.
A landlord can raise your rent whenever a lease expires—and often by as much as he pleases. Owning a home will the the perfect answer to avoiding fluctuating rent rates.
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