How Does Financial Planning Change In Different Life Stages?

Different living conditions and stages lead to different lifestyles and enable the development of different financial plans, necessitating financial planning. Lifestyle is a concept related to how a person spends his income, time, and energy. Lifestyles vary from society to society, as well as from person to person and over time.

Even if people have the same income group, they can have different lifestyles. In this case, since lifestyles may change over time, business managers should consider this when creating their policies.

Lifestyle is a form of human life. Lifestyle refers to how people live, how to spend money, and how to allocate time. Therefore, it can be concluded that life stages are the way a person spends money and allocates time, expressed in his activities, interests, and habits.

The diversity of lifestyles in a region, that is, the richness of the lifestyle, is also important for that region to be a financial center. It is possible to say that multinational cities have a significant advantage in urban competition, especially when evaluated in terms of being financial centers.

Consumers’ current and past lifestyle experiences can also affect their financial spending. Especially in today’s digital world, financial literacy is increasing due to changes in payment options and technologies. Expenses may vary depending on the lifestyles of youth and older ages.

It can be said that young people make purchases in social environments with feelings such as being accepted, liked, and approved, and for this reason, they try to act by fashion, buy branded products, and are exposed to social and cultural change.

What Are The Financial Priorities For Young Adults In Their 20s And 30s?

The high energy of our 20s often causes us to postpone concepts such as ‘investment’, ‘accumulation’, ‘stability’, and ‘savings’ and have difficulty determining our financial priorities. These fast-paced teenage years, when we tend to make sudden decisions, unlike our parents, are the right time to take the right steps for the future.

Although maintaining a more comfortable tomorrow is more important than the ever-increasing number of shoes in our wardrobe, we often need guidance to gain awareness about the future.

There is something I have observed frequently lately: most people are not aware of how important their 20s are in shaping their future. Therefore, none of them give the necessary importance to the 20s. However, the 20s are the most important period in our entire life cycle. 

The companies/people we work for determine what kind of manager we will be, the spouse we choose determines how happy our life will be, our profession determines how much we will earn, and the decisions we make determine our quality of life. In other words, the steps we take in our 20s either guarantee or waste our 30s and 40s.

However, it is not too late for anything, no matter how old you are, there are things you can change in your life, so I rolled up my sleeves and wrote about what you need to do in your 20s to raise awareness about this issue and make your 30s happier and more successful.

You should create extra income models in your 20’s. This is one of the most important items that will prevent sudden fluctuations and possible risks in your 30s and make you feel financially free. List your competencies and see how you can turn them into money.

The amount of money does not matter, even if it is 100 Dollars a month, additional income is additional income. Write a blog, tutor, sell something online, or start a small venture or investment. Whatever you do, make sure you have additional income outside of your main salary.

How Does Financial Planning Evolve As You Approach Middle Age?

In your 30s, you may suddenly feel bored with the private sector and start a business, buy yourself a new house, or double your money by investing. But you can only do these things if you have money. If you don’t have money, you have no choice but to chase the carrot shown to you. Sad but true.

You may be dreaming about how wonderful it would be to live in a house with a sea view. Or maybe living in a luxury house in an expensive neighborhood seems fancy to you. You are so right because it is.

According to research, 1 in 3 people make this mistake and spend more than 30% of their income on house rent. When this is the case, a budget cannot be found to cover the remaining monthly expenses and debt begins. I’m not even talking about savings or investing.

What Are The Retirement Planning Considerations For Seniors And Retirees?

Financial planning for middle age is of critical importance for quality of life. It is very difficult to focus on retirement when it is still a long way away. But your 20s or 30s are the ideal times to plan for retirement.

The sooner you start saving money, the more comfortable you will be in retirement. Putting some of your money aside and waiting for it to grow with interest is one of the most powerful ways to save.

While you’re thinking about retirement, don’t forget to put money aside for any major expenses you may encounter shortly. You may want to buy a house or a car soon, go on a trip, or enroll your child in a private school. The sticker prices of these big goals will be at least as big, and if you put your savings aside, they will put you in big debt.

Can You Share Stories Of Individuals Who Successfully Adapted Their Financial Plans To Life Changes?

There are various successfully adapted financial plans against life changes. Many models are used in the preparation of financial plans. There are three basic components in all financial plans. These; are inputs, planning model, and outputs.

While preparing financial plans, current financial statements and future forecasts are used. Since sales are an item that causes many changes in the tables, the calculation of the inputs begins with sales forecasts. 

Since the accuracy of the financial plans to be prepared largely depends on the accuracy of the sales forecasts, marketing departments work meticulously on sales forecasts. If necessary, support should be obtained from external experts on this issue.

Planning models or methods, which are the second component of financial plans; are tools that help in profit, investment, and financial calculations. These methods try to predict how items such as business costs, working capital, fixed assets, and financing requirements will change in the future.

Financial plans are divided into two:

Normal financial plans: Normal financial statements consist of a projected or pro forma balance sheet, a projected income statement, and a projected cash budget.

Extraordinary financial plans: These plans are not used frequently but are used in special situations. For example, investment plans or feasibility reports are of this type of plan.

What Are The Key Milestones That Require Financial Planning Adjustments?

The financial planner should focus primarily on the client’s goals. Generally, individuals have more than one goal. Sometimes these goals may conflict with each other.

However, since these goals were prioritized by deciding together with the individual in the previous stages, the goals should be addressed in the determined order of importance.

Each goal should be examined separately in the plan, and the strategies, methods, and tools to be used to achieve the goal should be specified. Multiple approaches and products can be used to achieve the goal.

For example, if the individual has a debt linked to foreign currency, different tools can be used to manage exchange rate risk. The financial planner indicates the method he recommends but also includes alternative methods in the plan. Thus, the individual can evaluate the suitability of the method recommended for him by seeing other alternatives.

In the plan, alternative methods other than those recommended are presented with their justifications. It is stated in a way that the individual can understand why the recommended products and methods were chosen and why other methods were not preferred.

For example, statements such as “this method is not suitable for your risk tolerance because it is high risk” or “this product is not compatible with your long-term goals because it is short-term” may be included. The client should make sure that the financial planner evaluates every possible alternative for him/her and recommends the method that suits him/her best.

See you in the next post,

Anil UZUN