Money and Aging

Money plays a major role in your retirement. You need money to retire, as well as to continue a similar lifestyle that you lead while you are working. Even if you decide to modify or simplify your lifestyle, you still need money.

Yes, money plays a pivotal role in aging and longevity, as well as how you are going to live the rest of your life. Given the importance of money, you need to know what money is all about, especially as you continue to age.

With that goal in mind, you need to estimate the amount of money you need throughout the rest of your years. The amount is also influenced by when you want to retire. That is, retiring at the age of 55 is not the same as retiring at the age of 70, because life expectancy affects your retirement savings. You need to know your assets and liabilities: assets are the things you possess that have value when you exchange them for cash; liabilities are the debts you owe. Your net worth is all your assets minus all your liabilities, and it changes over time because your assets, expenses, and liabilities change too. Therefore, you need to review your financial situation and re-calculate your net worth annually or on a regular basis.

Your aging and longevity are impacted by your spending, which has to do with the value of money, which plays a pivotal role as you continue to age. 

In the past, people could enjoy the blessings of life without spending real money. Nowadays, to many people, enjoyment of life requires money — and lots of it! According to Buddha, craving or desire for material things is the source of all human miseries. Jesus also has this to say about money: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven.” (Luke 18:25)

So, what is the value of money? More importantly, what does money mean to you? Your perceptions of the value of money determine two of the most important things in the rest of your life: how you are going to live the rest of your life; how you are going to spend your money. 

The value of money should be based on your core values in life, such as integrity, which has little to do with money, and which is an important value that our Creator has bestowed on each one of us. Essentially, integrity is the value of what life has to offer, not the value of things purchased with money. Your core values affect your attitudes towards how you are going to live the rest of your life, irrespective of how much money you have.

The bottom line: spend money wisely according to your needs, and not your wants; be grateful for what you have, and be generous to those who are less fortunate than you age.

Read my book: Your Golden Years and Santa Claus. Find out how to age gracefully and happily in your golden years, just like Santa Claus.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© 2016 by Stephen Lau