Dear LPG, 

I am just repeating age-old advice here, but it is advice that every pensioner needs to review and remember as the phases of old age approach. When we first retire, most of us will have looked at our finances and made some plans, but as the first decade or two of being classed as retired pass, our perspective seems to change.

For some reason (I stand corrected… for so many reasons), our outlook changes as the many life variables alter around us; our health often affects much of what we can do.  After a few lovely holidays (if we can afford them), they usually don’t hold the same wonder as they did before; the loss of partners and close friends gives life another perspective as we work out that doing things that we used to do together now have to be done alone. Taking a look at how we change physically can have a severe effect on our thinking and the things which happen around us politically and socially, such as COVID-19 and the many price rises that are being forced upon us which have required us all to rethink so many financial plans that we thought we had sorted a few years ago.

I have a close friend who seems to have changed from a very happy-go-lucky individual as some of the above variables have occurred in her life.  I remember her as someone who always had a positive and balanced view of her future for as long as I have known her.  But I have also noticed that she has gradually become a person who does not get out to enjoy herself as often as she used to, and I have sensed that she has become a much more severe and sombre person over the past few years.  We all need to rethink finances, but she started to analyse why. 

We recently talked about the future, and she told of her realisation that when she dies, her two children will inherit a fortune that she knows they will use, but she now thinks they don’t need or deserve it.  She seems to have made, what is in my estimation, a 180° turn for the better.  She has decided to spend as much time as she can enjoying herself again, doing activities like cruises, among other things.  

I can imagine many other individuals in a similar position with children who now have homes and no mortgages to pay. Parents in that position should think a little more about themselves and not solely focus on their children, who can often become selfish or self-centred individuals who do not make the time for you. At the same time, they save every penny so that they can have a better life when you are gone.

I agree with my friend about what she has chosen to do. While no one can guarantee they will live a long life, we older folks can be sure that we have less chance of being around tomorrow. While we love our children and want the best for them, we must remember that we worked hard to enjoy our old age. We need to do that and remember that what is left is for them.

Live, enjoy, and laugh with your money for as long as your health allows. Money and material things, in most cases, can’t buy life or good health, and we can’t take it with us as they say.  

Think about it. 

Rudy Morgan