Plenty of things to do, repairing items around the house, helping the married children in their ventures, sleeping in, getting up later in the morning, shopping with the wife.
The list goes on. Plenty to do now for the next 10 years.
Maybe in that time you’ve been on a few cruises, visited exotic places, or maybe gone to countries off the beaten track or maybe even purchased a caravan and have been holidaying in different parts of Australia. The first 10 years have slipped by, not too worried about money and how to finance the next 20-plus years… YET!
But a little realisation has crept into your thoughts. Have we enough money to go the distance? Maybe the fact is that we’re getting older has hit home a little. STRIKE! This inflation thing has got a little out of hand. Groceries at the shops have got dearer, the plumber now charges an arm and a leg for their services and you can hear yourself say to the kids, “Fill up the tank on the cheap days.” They say okay!
Dad, but they’re not concerned, because they earn a lot of money these days with both working. Only, you do worry for them, knowing that many, many years ago (seems like yesterday), housing interest rates were 18%? How could they possibly pay for their home loan then? It’s a worry!
Still, getting older is a challenge in itself. Do I stay with private health insurance? It’s getting more expensive, quite costly, but a necessary evil in case the worst happens.
Life sometimes throws a curved ball and in an instant your life changes. You need that assurance and insurance to cover the bad times.
Still, you say, my monies are in a term deposit, though interest rates have been poor the past couple of years, inflation is higher than the reserve bank would like, but we’re still going backwards with higher inflation than what we’re receiving in interest payments. Our superannuation is up and down with global unease and the share market is struggling to give us what we need to live on and our finances are slipping behind.
But there are things that we have control of, things that we can do to at least balance out our lives.
Review all bills that come in, make sure that they are right for you at your time of life, spend a little time on the phone and find out if you can save some money on that bill. Do you really need that extra account for the internet?
Remember, these are things that you can control. Your house, car, health, insurances, internet, services and phone can be reviewed and could save you thousands each year. Just saving $10 each week on your shopping bill can save you $520 per year. Cancel those magazine subscriptions if you don’t need them. Look up the internet: there’s plenty of advice and information on YouTube to help if required.
I’m a firm believer that a family over a year has the ability to balance out society’s pressures and save heaps of money in the process.
This may mean that an overseas trip has to be postponed till next year or something that you thought you needed can wait and maybe you really don’t need it after all.
Don’t be too concerned with what you hear on the television, or on the news regarding economic conditions.They can often be wrong!
But ultimately it’s up to you.
