The Middle Age Family Stage

The Middle Age Families Stage is a time in the financial life-cycle where the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel" can be seen. The kids are well on their way -- having completed elementary school and only a few short years from graduating from high school. College looms on the horizon and the kids may be working towards buying their first car. Time is precious during this stage in life. Parents begin to feel like bus drivers carrying the kids from one activity to another. For those who bought a new, larger home the home likely will still seem new. On the other hand your once-new car or van may be on its last leg. The most critical issue in this stage is that you can see the day the kids will leave home. This is when retirement first becomes a critical consideration and changes may be required. Most Middle Age Families have already saved along the way towards this goal, but other priorities have dominated home finances. Now, retirement is no longer a far-off possibility, it is a fast approaching reality. In the midst of figuring out how to pay for college and helping the kids buy their first car the specter of retirement grows. A key step is learning that it is never too late to get your financial house in order. Maybe the next car doesn't need to be as big or as costly as you originally planned or maybe the kids can help shoulder some of their own college costs. Maybe those credit cards that helped pay for the last vacation or the extra-festive Christmas need to be paid off and put away.

The key features and functions of Simple Home Finances Toolkits to use in this stage are:

• Use the Budget toolkit to:
  • Model changes in your income and expenses to see what impact changes have on your budget.
• Use Loan Management from the Loan toolkit to:
  • Plan for paying off your credit cards by treating them as installment loans.
  • Track your car loan information such as how much is owed, how much it costs, and how long it will take to pay off.
  • Model prepaying to determine how to pay off your loans.
• Use Loan Planning from the Loan toolkit to:
  • See what borrowing for college will cost.
• Use Mortgage Management from the Loan toolkit to:
  • Get a reasonable projection of how much equity you have in your home currently or how much you may have in the future.
  • Determine the benefits of pre paying your mortgage saving both time and money.
• Use Investment Modeling from the Retirement toolkit to:
  • Determine how much more will need to be saved for college costs.
• Use Retirement Planning from the Retirement toolkit to:
  • See how much you need to save to support your retirement.
  • Understand that the sooner you start to save the easier it is to meet your retirement goals.
• Use the Summary Report to:
  • See a snapshot of your finances, including key information about your income and budget, loans and retirement situation.
  • See where changes can be made in your home finances.

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