Money dangers in your 30s

I have posted previously about how to screw up your finances in your 20s.  And now that I am half way through my 30’s I can see a few money dangers that I would like to warn you about.  My wife and I started to notice some things in how we looked at money and maybe this isn’t about how old you are, but how long you have been taken personal finance seriously.  I feel like we are hitting a point of frugal fatigue.  I have been frugal for a long time now, most of my adult life actually.  And there are days I am getting quite tired of it.

Here are some dangers to look out for…

1. Spoiling your child – We were determined not to do this, in fact for the first 6-8 years we really didn’t buy much for our girls.  We were very blessed by friends who gave us a lot of toys and grand parents that did most of the new buying.  Recently, however we are finding that our girls have A LOT of stuff.  We even started storing bins of different types of toys in the garage and rotating them out so they would play with different things.  Kids don’t need as much as they want.  It is easy to try to give them more and more stuff, but they want your time and attention more.
2. Spoiling yourself – This one is actually harder money dangers for me than spoiling the kids, at least right now.  We are still struggling with the right decision for our house.  It is nice to look at all the big new homes that we could “afford”, but are obviously able to live in something smaller.  Our (my) pride is pushing me to buy a bigger house than we need.  It is easy as you are coming into the prime of your career to want to buy more and more but this is the time to stay the course and live simply to help those in a world of need.
3. Ignoring Insurance needs – Look, no one likes to talk about this, but if you have a growing family you need to look at insurance.  Life insurance is meant to take care of your family if something happens to you.  Do you really want your spouse struggling to keep your home and your family together?  You should really chat with an insurance professional and decide what is best for your family.
4. Ignoring a will, POA and survivor checklist – along those same lines, if you have a family and don’t have a will, “shame on you”.  You don’t want your spouse struggling over decisions surrounding your death, or arguing with your family over who gets what or who has power of attorney.  Anyone can make a will and power of attorney through Legalzoom or prepaid legal.  Also if one of you takes care of most of the money matters, you need to let your spouse know who to contact and where the money is located along with passwords for those accounts, and all the other information they may need.  Check out how you can use lastpass to make that easier..
5. Still having consumer debt – Come on now, it is high time you paid off those mistakes from your 20s.  Debt can keep you from pursuing your long term goals, and can cause rifts in your marriage that you don’t want to have to deal with.
6. Not funding retirement – It is closer than you think.  Retirement needs to be planned for, some would say it is even more important than a childs education planning because there are scholarships for school, but not for retirement.  Time and compound interest is still on your side but you need to start sooner rather than later.

What are some mistakes you think make your 30’s harder?  Let us know below.

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