Midlife Age or Stage

Your midlife years--just where this time period is in your life is based on more than age alone. It differs based on the stage of your life as well. Usually though, the middle years are after you've been out of college for a few years, maybe you're married and maybe you have a family too. You may have already bought at least one home or you're at least thinking about it. If you want to look at your midlife years from a strictly numerical point of view, you're generally looking at anywhere from your late thirties through your fifties.

Of course, you may technically be in your midlife years age-wise, but not stage-wise. It is not uncommon for many people to be starting families when they're over forty or at the opposite end of the spectrum, trying to retire when they're fifty. Based on where you are in middle years, you'll need to tailor your investments to fit your needs. If you're investing strictly for retirement or for your heirs, you're still at the point where you can take some risks to get a higher return on your investment. However, since you no longer have the luxury of youth on your side, the time lost means you must challenge your saving mindset, tempering some of your risk to make up for the loss of both the compounded interest and the time needed to ride the ups and downs inherent in any investment.

This time of life also brings other more immediate concerns into play for most people. Purchasing a home and paying for college are the two investment biggies for most people in the middle stage of their life. In addition, marriage, children, divorce, remarriage and changing a career are events that influence your investment ability. Ironically, these are years where your financial responsibilities are most likely to be at their highest level, leaving you with little to spare for investment purposes, while these are the most critical years for making the investments that will shape both your and your family's lives in the future.

Financial Calculators Use this Asset Allocator Calculator to help create a balanced portfolio of investments. Your age, ability to tolerate risk, and several other factors are used to calculate a desirable mix of stocks, bonds and cash. The calculated asset allocation is a great place to start your analysis in building a balanced portfolio. Click on the "View Report" button for a detailed look at your results. Meeting your long-term investment goal is dependent on a number of factors. This not only includes your investment capital and rate of return, but inflation, taxes and your time horizon. Use this Investment Returns Calculator to help you sort through these factors and determine your bottom line. Click the "View Report" button for a detailed look at the results.

Investment vehicles that may be appropriate at this point of your life:

• Stocks
• Bonds
• Mutual funds
• Educational investing
• Real estate
• Insurance