47 and closing in on 50 quickly!!

de1amo

İ am now 47 but ever since i turned 38 i have seemed to have become increasingly insecure about my finances when there seems on paper little to cause this insecurity.
Has anyone any words of wisdom to sooth my worried brow.İs it just middle age angeist??

SevenOfNine

I think you just reach a certain age when you feel you should 'own' the things you have, (home/car etc) with rainy day money set aside as well.

As you get older the thought of something bad happening (redundancy perhaps) and the possibility of having to 'start all over again' doesn't appeal AT ALL. Coupled with the fact that you've grown out of the sort of bravado the 30+ seem to have probably makes you slightly more nervous than you need to be.

I think when you've cleared your mortgage completely you'll feel more secure (or when you have enough savings to clear it if you felt like it).

Look on the bright side, you'll be a member of SAGA soon!

de1amo

the mortgage is a bit of a red herring because i have 2 homes that i class as suitable to be my main residence but i rent 1 out to 'friends and acquaitenances-1 is in the uk and the other abroad!-i keep the mortgage to offset against tax.
Anyone advice or wisdom of what they wished they had done in this insecure period!

de1amo

i had a lot of bad things happen to me at 38-health -marital and job wise so there is not much else to look forward to!!-what can go wrong has done!!--the bravado of the 30s is a good point--even though i had a crumbling marriage i never felt this insecurity--my health went and i was medically retired --and they say life begins at 40!!
i have remarried and feel all round happier in that respect -my wife with my financial backing has started a business that seems to be looking like a success-but i still have this lack of security/confidence!--i have a 12 yo step daughter now and i want to give her a financially good start to her adult life--i always think all the burden is mine as well!

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

I was exactly the same around 10 years ago when I was the same age as you are now.
We had no reason to worry as we had everything sorted out and have planned well for our retirement but I started to panic badly and was convinced everything would turn out wrong.
I think it's a natural thing at your age to be honest when you realise that no matter how hard you try to ignore it you just are'nt getting any younger.
Just live your life and stop worrying.
Life's too short is'nt it.