6 Life Questions You Should Know the Answer to By Age 40 - Fairygodboss

6 Life Questions You Should Know the Answer to By Age 40 - Fairygodboss If the 30s are the new 20s, then the 40s are the new 30s. Whether or not you agree, the milestone age of 40 comes with the advantage of more experience, and thus, a little more life insight. Neither the new kid on the block nor the fruchtwein senior, your 40smark a new era of wisdom and introspection gathered from young adulthood. And theyshould includethe answers to these six life questions.1. What are my strengths and weaknesses?Understanding your strengths and weaknesses is crucial for both personal and professional development. For example, understanding your strengths makes it easier toleverage one of your best skills for a promotion or raise. As for the value of recognizing your shortcomings, perhaps its so that you can work on themor not.Actually, according to brand strategist and consultant Rebecca Horan, its important to distinguish between weaknesses that need improving and weaknesses that youre better off delegating to others or letting go of altogether.By the time youre 40, says Horan, you realize its OK to just let some weaknesses be. We dont have to constantly be working on improving everything about ourselves. We can be a bit choosier about what we will and wont pursue (both professionally and personally).2. Does this make me happy?From both a professional and personal standpoint, Holly Wolf from SOLO Laboratories labels this life question as the most important one in her eyes.By 40, you should know if spending time with people makes you happy or if spending money on something will make you happy, Wolf shares. If it doesntdont do it. Your no thanks doesnt require an explanation.Knowing what to say yes or no to is a critical piece of your mental well-being, and by age 40, you should be able to distinguish between what invitations to accept or forgo.3. Am I taking care of my health?The likelihood of chronic illnesses increases with age, making year 40 an optimal time to evaluat e your health if you havent already been giving it due diligence. After all, bone mass begins declining at age 40, andcan lead to feeling more aches and pains. With that in mind, its important to know whether youre taking adequate care of your body. Knowing the answer to this life question can help you take preventive measures to ensure even more healthy decades ahead.4. Do I want kids?Although the average age of parenthood has steadily risen over the last decade, over 98% of women have their first child before the age of 40.Small business owner Deborah Rogers shared that she first began having kids at 38 years old, a choice that allowed her to travel and pursue a second degree more flexibly in her 20s and 30s. However, Rogers also notes, Being in my 40s with young kids, I feel so much older than my kids friends parents... Im constantly aware of my age as I attend events at school for my kids. When my son was in kindergarten, a classmate asked if I was his grandmother.Thats not to s ay that women over 40 shouldnt have childrenthere may even be upsides, such as greater financial security from more work experience. However, the fact remains that pregnancy beyond age 40 comes with a higher risk of medical complications, for both mother and baby.5. If anything happens to me, what will become of my children and assets?Taking a more pragmatic stance, business expert Taylor Johnson from Legal Templates advises getting a headstart on estate planning by age 40.Its not too early to begin planning, especially when you have young children in your care, says Johnson. By setting up a last will and testament, you can designate who will be your childrens legal guardian if anything happensas well as who your beneficiaries are and how your money and property should be distributed.While a last will and testament cant prevent the unfathomable from happening, it can at least help your loved ones carry out your final wishes without the need for a judge.6. Am I on track for retiremen t?At age 40, standard retirement is still a ways off on the horizon, but that doesnt take away from its importance. Unfortunately, a recent survey by GOBankingRates found a dismal fact nearly 37% of Americans between the ages 35 and 54 have less than $10,000 in savings.By age 40, if not sooner, you should have a realistic goal of how much you will need to save for retirement, and how you will accomplish it, says Drew Parker, founder of the Complete Retirement Planner.Parker notes that time is still on your side when it comes to compound interest, and every dollar invested now will have greater returns than if itsinvested in ten years.--Joyce is a digital marketer and freelance writer who focuses on writing about personal finance on Twitter.