4 Life Events You Have To Plan For
There is so much to be said for being spontaneous. Waking up to a beautifully sunny day and deciding to get the kids together and head to the zoo is spontaneous. Deciding to buy a car because you got a windfall of cash is spontaneous. Getting married during a holiday in the sunshine because the mood is right is spontaneous – and to be fair, who doesn’t want a sunset backdrop? Spontaneity is the spice of life, but there are some life events out there that require a little more planning than, ‘sure, let’s do it!’.
Life has a way of throwing us curveballs in every way possible and most of these curveballs are a test of our financial wellbeing and grit. We always adapt and make adjustments, but there are big-ticket events that we don’t need to be tested on. Ones that we save hard for and work diligently to achieve. So, what four major life events do we each potentially have ahead of us that we need to plan hard for?
- Marriage. Well, a wedding. If you aren’t going to go down the spontaneous route, then you need to look at the options for saving for and planning a wedding. Obviously, you need to ensure that you have a ring on your finger before you can book anything, but there’s nothing stopping you from saving for your wedding from an early age. After all, if you end up not getting married, you can always use the money you’ve saved on something else.
- Children. Babies are expensive and anyone who says that they aren’t is lying! From medical care in pregnancy and labor, to the eighteen years that you are obliged to financially support them, children are expensive. You need to start future planning for college funds and whether you are going to expand your home to accommodate an expanding family.
- Retirement. Retirement planning is for the young, while the actual retirement is not. From a young age, you should be planning out how much you want to live on when your working life is over. Believe it or not, this part of life goes faster than you think, so you need to be planning ahead for those years that you won’t be actively earning an income. You want to be able to spend that time just being active and enjoying what life has to offer someone who has worked hard their entire life.
- Death. It’s morbid, no one likes to talk about it, but you should be planning for your death. After all, it happens to all of us at some point or another. While you can’t predict when, you can control what you would want for yourself and your family after it happens. Planning your funeral and setting up a will is just good sense.
These events could happen at any point in life, but as long as you are financially prepared you can do more than manage in the time that you have.
