“If you had to retire in 10 years, would you have enough money; would you be ready?”

I’ve asked this question recently of every woman over 45 with whom I’ve been in contact with during the past two weeks.

Their responses all have the same tone. 

My friend, Niala, blurted out a horrified, “No!” She has seven years to go before her youngest son goes off to university. Saving for her retirement is on her mind but certainly not on the front burner of it.

“I’m preparing but heaven help me if I need an emergency fund to survive two years without income from my business.”  This is from my sister, Judy, an entrepreneur, focused on building an education based business in a very tough economy.

Another woman’s take on the question, 5 years after her divorce, offered real and considered insight. “Money can be a never-ending problem if I  allow it to consume me” she said. “Of course I think about my life at 60, 70. I wonder if I will have enough. I plan but I certainly don’t panic about it.” 

I asked my question mainly for two reasons.

One, I’m curious to know if we’ve changed our relationship with money as we’ve aged. Do we handle it better? Do we ascribe to it certain values as we do beauty, for instance?  

The second reason I’m consumed with the question is because as a community we can only learn from one another and there is a great comfort in getting and sharing information, even hearing from an expert, who by her own example, allows us to see that the question need not be met with fear. 

In our Forty Questions interview series, I followed business analyst, Maria Daniel, from her office to a nearby coffee shop to ask her questions we all want to know the answers to, but maybe we’re too scared to ask like:

Should we limit the number of credit cards we carry around?

What’s the one thing we should know about money once we get to a certain age?

And what should a recession teach us about resilience?

ClickThe Video Below to learn some really valuable points about money and then have a look at the 7 financial lessons you should be mindful of in 2018.

How much should I save this year? Your savings are important to get a handle on. If you bank online, the figure will be easy to assess. It is important to reflect. Over the past year could you have saved more? Did you plan to have more? If yes, what accounted for the shortfall? Can you add to your saving plan next year? Yes? No? Be honest. You want to work in a realistic manner with your savings.

Should I be doing do more? If you have the time, the energy then sure. Can you do more work, can you take on extra projects to make a bigger income? Can you freelance? Don’t be afraid to use your skills and the technology to earn more.