Spending Habits and Age

How you spend your money has a lot to do with how old you feel. People save, donate, spend and plan what to leave to their heirs differently at different ages. While they found younger people are more likely to spend on youthful indulgences which can often be frivolous, the researchers at the Modern Elder Academy, also found that age itself was not responsible for the elders spending habits.

The elders who were in good health and felt that they had a long life ahead of them, had a very different attitude to investing money than those who were suffering from illness. Most elders have been through what is termed as the “great midlife edit.” This is the point in their lives when they took a long hard look at what they have accumulated in their youth, and how they can use it going forward.

Elders like to have a realistic plan about how much money they can generate from the resources they already have, in order to continue living the life they always have. While some are ready to make cuts in non-essentials, the essentials are different for each individual. Perhaps it would make an interesting science project to survey elders and come up with ways that they prepare themselves to live longer lives than what they expected to.