When parents think about the future, their thinking is often focused on how their children will manage financially, and they spare little thought for themselves in their more mature years. However, planning for your own future is just as important as planning for your children’s early adult years.

Plan for the future

Your children are, of course, your first priority, so what kind of financial plans should you be making for them? The first big expense they and you will encounter will be their college education, and most people know just how expensive tuition fees can turn out to be. The best strategy is to start saving for college education as early in your children’s lives as possible, but this does not mean simply setting up a savings account at the bank. To enjoy a decent return, it is best to develop an investment portfolio that is biased towards stocks.

However, keeping an eye on money can be tiresome, so it is a good idea to put money into a mutual fund with a finance professional, such as Wesley Edens of Fortress Investment Group. The investment successes of Fortress include Intrawest, the largest ski resort in North America, and Penn National Gaming, a horseracing operator, as well as smaller, private companies and individuals.

Once you have invested money for your children, you should begin investing money for you and your spouse’s retirement. A pension fund is a good choice, and again, the sooner you start investing, the better. If you start when you are young, investing in the stock market is a good option, but avoid putting all your eggs in one basket, so to speak, by investing in several different stocks. As you draw nearer your retirement, minimize your risk by moving your pension fund out of stocks and into bonds, or even cash.

Buying property is also a good investment as this not only ensures you will have somewhere to live out your life but also that you will have something valuable to leave to your children. It is difficult for children who are even approaching their 40s to afford to buy a property, so the family home is a good way of helping them to get on the property ladder.

Invest intelligently, both for your own future and that of your children, to ensure that you have a comfortable retirement and they have the resources to make life that little bit easier.