This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
I was recently interviewed by Leeds Building Society about my money saving habits throughout my life. Of course this is something we drum into our kids but we may not have been so good at it ourselves. As I have grown older it has been an issue that I have become increasingly worried about. Most of us are not born with a silver spoon in our mouths and with life expectancy increasing we need to think about the time when we will not have a regular income and will have to survive on a pension and our savings.
These are some interesting stats that the Leeds Building Society have gathered from their survey about money saving:
- 42% of full time workers say their biggest regret is not saving enough money when they were younger
- People fear loneliness and outliving their savings more than death
- 54% of employees aged 40 and over think they will have to work longer to live the life they want
- A quarter (25%) of 50-60 year olds regret not saving enough to retire early
I have worked most of my adult life apart from the time when I was having my 4 children. During those years I always had jobs that I could juggle around my needs as a mother – family has always come first. So when Grace and I set up this online magazine, it fitted in with our family, our semi-retirement (I never want to completely retire) and having fun. We had various money saving habits over the years but each of us had enough to get website started.
One of the joys of running an online magazine like Annabel & Grace is that you can run it from anywhere in the world that has wifi. So long as you are in agreement with your partners you can do as little or as much as you want to in order to fit in with your life. However be warned as the more successful your business is the more time you will need and want to put into it.
One of the worries of growing older is dementia and whilst we have no scientific proof I am sure that keeping your mind active will help keep memory loss at bay. Running your own business will also make you and your life more interesting. We all regard Annabel & Grace as a hobby that we are now quite good at. If we had taken up golf and had become good at that then we would want to play more, so it is the same with your own business. It can become quite addictive; checking social media, seeing if anyone has commented on a post etc.
Hopefully, if you can do some money saving earlier in your life, not only can this fund your business, it will also keep you going until your business makes money. We have met so many interesting people who have completely reinvented their work lives and are now running their own business from home, whether as a hobby or as a money-earner. Sometime life throws you a curved ball and you have to adapt to circumstances. When my mother was seriously ill I used to take my laptop and sit with her. When she was sleeping I would be working on Annabel & Grace.
I have listed below some of the companies that we have got to know through Annabel & Grace and they have started a business late in life for various reasons. Read for yourself what others like us are doing now in our retirement or older years:
- Look Fabulous Forever – Tricia Cusden’s website of make-up for older women
- The Boost Box Company – thoughtful, practical and comforting Cancer Gifts, Care Packages, and Get Well Gifts
Like Annabel & Grace they all needed funds to get started so my advice is to try to organise saving some money for that ‘rainy day’ when you just might think about doing something different and you will be so pleased that you have funds set aside.
It is never too late to start saving and I have found the Leeds Building Society a great website to help with planning and ideas for money saving. They have an expert, Andrew Hagger, and founder of Moneycomms.co.uk, who has answered most of the questions you are likely to have. It is worth having a read as it may help you with your long-term planning so that you can maximise your retirement.
To read my full interview with Leeds Building Society together with the interviews with other interesting women of a similar age click HERE.