Money Matters: How To Manage Finances In Your 60s

60s, those golden years are here! This is the time you reap the benefits of all that you have sown over time. Let’s get one thing out the way; while this is the decade where investments should liberate you, it does not mark the end of financial planning.

Financial expert, Dhaval Gohil opines, “Ensure safety first and then longevity of the corpus in current times of longer life expectancy. Reduce the frill expenses, and plan for not having monetary dependency on next of kin. Medical expenses will be up so either have medical cover or have savings enough for those emergencies.”

Elaborating on the thought of medical concerns, he states, “Go with an insurer who settles old age policies or with an insurance broker who has more senior citizen clients. He or she would know the T&C when it comes to managing medical policy emergencies for the elderly. A good guide with that experience comes in handy when one is in the hospital attending to a near one.”

The general notion would state that your 60s is no time to build wealth. It is in fact the time to benefit from compounding. While this is true, this decade offers ample opportunity to grow your investments, should that interest you. “If your passive income is above your expenses and emergencies, investing is advised to beat inflation. Here again, go for simple low cost products,” advises Gohil.

In case you haven’t planned for your retirement, and now don’t know the way forward, there are a few options that can save the day for you. “Don't panic and buy products which aren't suitable at this age. If you don’t have a regular income, like business or rent, and have a limited corpus, try to plan investments which take care of your expenses for the next three years, while money required beyond that can take a nominal risk.”

This age group is not immune to risks, and the world of financial investing is large and it’s common for people to sometimes make incorrect decisions. However, a few things, according to Gohil one must avoid include, “Investing in anything which is risky, where capital can be stuck for longer periods of time. Second, you can take risk in portfolio if you and your spouse can manage within the corpus, and if you want to invest the sum as legacy to the next generation.”