Good to Great: How to Scale With an Outsourced CFO

What are the signs of a typical mid-life crisis? Buying an expensive sports car or boat, moving into a fancy home, getting Botox injections? It's easy to see how such behaviour can be a serious drain on your finances. During this time of life, however, you should be saving as much as possible. A frivolous mid-life crisis can set you back if you're not careful.

Is it possible to have a mid-life crisis without draining your savings?

 

What's a Mid-Life Crisis?

The term "mid-life crisis" hasn't been around for very long. Coined by Elliot Jacques in 1965, the term caught on when Freudian psychologists like Carl Jung began to use it to describe the normal course of adult maturation. 

After the days of young adulthood, people come to a point - usually between the ages of 40 and 50 - when they take stock of their lives and evaluate their progress so far. Some people struggle more than others during this time. It's natural to question the purpose of life and search for meaning, and this is also a time to make adjustments if your life isn't headed where you want to go.

It's not uncommon for people to have an "uh-oh" moment during this time. Time may be going faster than you're comfortable with; your stray gray hairs and your wrinkles may conflict with your idea of who you are. That's why some people go out and buy new cars or new wardrobes or even spend money on plastic surgery. They're trying to recapture their youth.

 

How Can You Have a Mid-Life Crisis Without Draining Your Savings?

If you anticipate that you're going to have to come to terms with getting older, you can use your mid-life crisis as an opportunity instead of treating it like a liability. While it's true that some people use a so-called mid-life crisis as an excuse for bad behaviour or irresponsible actions, most people make it through just fine. The trick is to take the feelings associated with a mid-life crisis and use them to do some good for yourself and for the people around you. 

For ideas on how to do this, check out these suggestions to deal with the symptoms of a mid-life crisis in a financially responsible way.

 

Bored? Try Volunteering

Instead of taking up sky-diving or race car driving to deal with boredom, try volunteering in your community. Think about your life experiences and how you can use them to help others. For example, if you're good at languages, teach English to immigrants. If you're good with children, tutor struggling students at your neighborhood school. Not only does volunteering not cost you a thing, but it helps you to look outside of yourself.

 

Worried About Your Looks? Improve Your Lifestyle

Plastic surgery is expensive (and painful), and a new sports car really doesn't make you look younger. In the end, how you feel is more important than how you look anyway. Feel better by eating well and taking care of yourself. Find a type of exercise that suits your lifestyle, and take care of any health problems that have been bothering you. Not only will you feel better, but you'll have more energy to accomplish your professional and personal goals during this high-production season of your life.

 

Unclear About Your Direction? Create New Goals

Some people experience a mid-life crisis because they are burned out and don't want to think about the prospect of 20 more years in a job they don't care for or have gone through the grind of 20+ years. If you are unclear about the direction of your life, take some time to really think through your situation and create new goals, maybe more lifestylr orientated as opposed to business.

Look ahead to retirement and how much time you have left before then. Do you want to stay in your same job and your same community? Would you like to make some changes? How much do you have saved for retirement? Do you need to make some adjustments in order to have enough saved when you want to retire? Setting new goals can bring energy into your marriage or your career, giving you the motivation to tackle the next phase of your life.

In the end, you can have a mid-life crisis without draining your savings, and if you manage to do so, you'll be very relieved later on when you have allowed your savings to grow instead of ransacking them in search of the fountain of youth. A retirement built on a solid foundation is a comfort for you and for your family. Be gentle with your older self: stay away from that sports car dealership.