I'm 46, done no financial planning and I'm no longer working. Am I scared? Well, no. However, I do not have a mortgage on my home. I carry next to no credit card debt and when I took a buyout from my company it was basically a pension buyout that I will get when I am 55 so I will be able to live quite comfortably on that. It has been very well invested by a financial services firm.

The drawbacks of no financial planning in your 40's is that it is sheer stupidity. My husband has a lot more money than I have and I believe he has invested it well. He doesn't share this information with me, for very legitimate reasons. He also inherited quite a lot of money. I honestly believe that financial planning should begin as soon as a child opens a bank account and we are raising our daughter that way.

Now, my elderly parents, whose house was paid for, took out a huge mortgage on their home. They can't pay it. I pay it. I'm not happy about it but I still pay it. My father had an excellent job while he was working but thought that retirement would take care of itself. Doesn't work that way. Someone got left holding the bag. Guess who?

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