As you move from second base to third base you potentially face a difficult stage of life: Sending kids off to college, those kids graduating and you moving into the empty nest phase of life.
Third base can be a difficult stage. Kids going off to college and completing college brings changes to both home and financial life.
Home life changes because children are not there all the time while in school. The home dynamic changes. Your relationship to your kids changes.
After they finish college, kids may be there more than you want if they are still living at home. In this case, definitely set ground rules that include some financial contribution on their part if they have income. That helps keep the parent-adult child relationship on a proper footing and helps the adult child develop experience and maturity in the area of financial independence.
Financial life changes because you may have a whole new set of college-related expenses including everything from tuition and room and board, to college loan costs and travel costs.
Once you are a complete empty-nester you may find that some expenses completely disappear with kids gone completely. Make sure your financial plan is adjusted to put extra funds to productive use. Focus on paying down debt, if any. Then, work on maximizing retirement saving if you are nearing retirement.
At the same time, begin to work out how you want to live in retirement comes. Be realistic about what your regular expenses will be before you plan for all the “retirement activities” in which you want to engage. Remember also to consider the possibility of retirement coming earlier than planned or desired as the result of job loss or disability
Be prepared! Now you’re rounding third and heading for home.