Growing older - what do you want your life to be like?

Do you have a picture of what your life will look like when you reach your sixties? Some of us are looking forward to a time when we’ll have finished work and will be free from responsibilities like bringing up children. We imagine taking up hobbies, spending more time with our families or maybe just putting up our feet. Then there are those among us who have no intention of giving up work at such a young age and others who dread what they see as the emptiness of later life.

Of course it is difficult trying to imagine what life will be like because in reality we have no idea what is going to happen to us between now and then. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t plan for it because if we do, at the very least, it means we’ll be facing the future with our eyes open.

What do you think you’ll be spending money on?
The best things in life may be free but we really can’t do a great deal without money so why not start by thinking about what you’re likely to be spending your money on.

If you go to our budgeter and have a look down the list you will spot some things that you’ll still be spending money on, for example Council Tax, gas and electricity and telephone bills. And there are others that you may not be spending money on anymore. If you have a mortgage, for example, you could well have paid it off by this stage in your life. It’s also likely that your children will no longer be relying on you for cash and if they’ve left home you’ll also find that things like your food bill will go down. You may also decide to move to a smaller home, which will be cheaper to run or give up your car. All these things mean you will need less money to live on.

Some experts say that many people will need around two thirds of the money that they’re living on when they are younger to keep up their lifestyle in later life. Do you know where this money is going to come from? You can follow the link to the section ‘Where money comes from in later life’ to get some ideas.