The Empty Nester Stage

The Empty Nester Stage in the life-cycle is where a shift occurs in how time is spent and how priorities are set. This is a time in life where the kids are off at college or on their own. The house is a lot quieter than it used to be and it may now seem much too large. Those college bills may linger for a few years. This may be a time to reevaluate careers and go back to school, or change career directions completely. The Empty Nester Stage is a time where retirement looms just around the bend, a time when we discover that more money needs to be put away. It is also a time where the kids are getting married and may need help buying their first home. It is a time of transition from raising a family to helping with the grandchildren. While the exhaustive work of raising a family is nearly over, the challenges of this phase are plentiful. As the kids get older their financial needs grow larger -- a college education isn't free and someone has to pay for it. Weddings can be expensive and assisting the kids with their first starter home may further stress an already stressed financial situation. In a few short years retirement will start...or not, depending on how much you have saved. The Empty Nester Stage is a time to take a hard look at home finances and determine how much needs to be saved, what living expenses can be reduced and to consider down-sizing to a smaller home. It is a time in life where much thought needs to be given toward what retirement should cost and where you should live...Is a condo in your future or a place by the lake? Will you live in a golf course resort or in a high-rise in the middle of the city?

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

• Use Loan Management from the Loan toolkit to:
  • See what the impact of prepaying can have on the cost and duration of your loans.
  • Plan for paying off your credit cards by treating them as installment loans.
• Use Loan Planning from the Loan toolkit to:
  • Model loans and see the projected costs and time it will take to pay them off.
  • See the impact of prepayment on a loan's cost and duration.
• Use Mortgage Management from the Loan toolkit to:
  • Determine how much to prepay to pay your house off in an acceptable period of time.
  • Get a reasonable projection of how much equity you have in your home currently or how much you may have in the future.
• Use Retirement Planning from the Retirement toolkit to:
  • Model your projected living costs
  • See how much you need to save to provide for your retirement.
  • See the impact inflation can have on your retirement
  • See the impact a change in interest earned before and during retirement can have on your retirement.

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