When is it too late to start over?

[So_Cynical]

You have 2 choices in life, live like you are going to die tomorrow or you are going to live forever. Personally I don't plan to die tomorrow, so starting over is possible at any time.

On a lighter note, live each day like it was your last and one day you will be right.

Cheers from the Bumhead

With the average age of death well over 70 years of age, the average person will see 25000 tomorrows and will only experience 1 day where there is no tomorrow...thus living like there's no tomorrow is pretty dumb and defies experience and reality.

 

[Pager]

So, since you have no savings, do you have some sort of back up plan should you be unable to keep working/trading? Loss of earnings insurance?

No plan B, maybe though saying no savings is extreme, I own my own home outright but don’t really class that as savings, have money in Super, only because I cant withdraw it and contributing some trading profit is tax effective, i also work part time as i enjoy it so there is more Super being contributed from that.

If one day I cannot trade through losing all my trading capital then I guess I would have to get a full time job until I had saved enough to re start trading if through an accident or something horrible I could not work/trade then to be quite frank I don’t think I would want to live.

 

[pixel]

So when do you think it is too late to start over?

I'd say "when you're dead."
Maybe a little earlier: "when you're non compos mentis", which can be as early as 20 (what are you smoking in your avatar? ); but it needn't happen at all this side of the final curtain.

It's quite amazing what a mentally alert person can do - at any age.

 

[tigerboi]

I'm not sure it does all come down to how desperate you are, TB, but perhaps rather your attitude of believing you can do it.

Plenty of people just give up, believe themselves victims and have no capacity to envisage themselves as successful.

You've done the opposite. Wish there were more like you.

Best wishes for continuing to achieve all you deserve.

yes plenty give up but not a chance i was giving up,if you got the drive & ambition to succeed then you can overcome any lifetime hardship,getting diabetes only drove me more to start again.
i set myself 2 years to fully get back on my feet then a total of 6 years up to 2016 when im 50 to be really flying.happy new year...tigerboi

 

[chiasm]

From my point of view the amount of risk you take depends on your life stage. With a wife whose not working, a toddler and baby, my priorities are giving them a secure future. I'm not going to be changing jobs or risking too much on the stock market. It would be different if I was single and had no other responsibilities. I might be tempted when my kids are older to either have a career or sea change.

Good luck

 

[Wysiwyg]

Financially it is never too late to start over but physically, over 40 y.o. and you can forget about 20 something women unless you're filthy rich. Well in Australia anyway.

 

[Smurf1976]

From my point of view the amount of risk you take depends on your life stage. With a wife whose not working, a toddler and baby, my priorities are giving them a secure future. I'm not going to be changing jobs or risking too much on the stock market. It would be different if I was single and had no other responsibilities. I might be tempted when my kids are older to either have a career or sea change.

I'd say that most people would be in a similar situation. Once the kids come along, it is not really an option to be making major life changes (other than deciding to get fit etc) since you need the regular income to pay the mortgage, feed the kids and so on.

You can work 100 hours a week, study or whatever when you are single since you have only yourself to consider. But that's not really an option for someone with a wife and kids (well, not unless a divorce is their idea of starting over...).

 

[niknah]

You never really have to start over. If you've had a job or was doing something you've accumulated skills, which is an asset that can be used to earn you more income than others.

On another note, I watched a film the other day, the Curious case of Benjamin Button. It maybe fun to watch if you're worried about being too late.

 

[tech/a]

I'd say that most people would be in a similar situation. Once the kids come along, it is not really an option to be making major life changes (other than deciding to get fit etc) since you need the regular income to pay the mortgage, feed the kids and so on.

You can work 100 hours a week, study or whatever when you are single since you have only yourself to consider. But that's not really an option for someone with a wife and kids (well, not unless a divorce is their idea of starting over...).

This is the SINGLE biggest killer of moving financially forward if I add this.

Having kids too early
In a larger majority of cases there is a divorce or separation.

Father becomes chained to maintenance---no home of his own--rent bound.
Mother to raising the kids--no job and often difficult to find another partner as most are not in a position to help support someone else's kids.

I see it all the time.

 

[awg]

I cant answer the main question, too many variables

but, one thing I can add, is that I noticed what a big difference it makes to recipients of Age Pension, too have as little as 50k behind them.

The difference between severe hardship and ok life.


depends on your mental and physical toughness, and skillset.

I do know several gents that drove away in their ute with clothes, leaving wife, house and kids ( after getting flicked ) and started again in their 40s, but they had trades or business.

I partially agree with Tech in that divorce = bad finance, but I didnt have my kids early, which means my wife and myself still work, only so that they can go to Uni

 

[Smurf1976]

This is the SINGLE biggest killer of moving financially forward if I add this.

Having kids too early

Agreed.

There's nothing wrong with having kids per se, but a LOT of doors slam shut the moment you do so. Some re-open when the kids have grown up, others are shut for good.

Having children is for most people the most serious decision they will ever make. It can be good, it can be bad, but it is often taken far too lightly.