Missed the boat when you were younger? Starting to invest in middle age here

Personal finances
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Everywhere, people preach about how investing should be started as early as possible due to the compound interest effect. However, not everyone has heard this message in time, and the start of investing has been postponed to a later age for various reasons. Whether the reason was ignorance, life circumstances, or something else – it’s hard to say.

In my own case, there were certainly several reasons. I was aware of stock and fund investing 20–25 years ago, but I don’t feel I received sufficiently good guidance on risk and return expectations for funds. I remember that when I was offered bank funds, they were named according to risk levels. Of course, I chose the lowest-risk option, but I got tired of it because it didn’t yield anything, and I withdrew the money. About 20 years ago, the bank also almost forced me to take out a pension insurance, into which I put a few tens of euros a month until recent years.

My life between the ages of 25 and 40 was spent amidst the births of children and a busy family life. Sometimes it bothered me that nothing was saved, and when a larger expense came up, the cash deficit was covered with credit cards. There were never any payment difficulties as such, but money almost always ran out before the next payday. At some point, family vacations also came into play, which I paid for with credit, but I only made minimum repayments – I didn’t understand then how much interest accumulated on them.

The awakening happened 4–5 years ago, in my early forties. I started to overhaul my finances and monitor where my money was going. I began reading blogs, watching videos, and became interested in investing. I managed to pay off my credit card debts, and money started to accumulate as savings. I built up my buffers and started investing. Currently, the situation looks roughly like this:

Funds, stocks, cash, and pension insurance: €33,000
Other (share of an apartment/employer’s fund): €25,000

  • own apartment, for which there is still some debt

What do I seek from saving and investing? Mental well-being has become highly valued. I notice that I no longer stress about unexpected expenses at all. Now I’m almost fifty, so there’s still plenty of time to make money grow. I won’t reach a million-euro portfolio, nor even half a million. Perhaps €200,000–€250,000 is a realistic goal. The aim is to build additional income for retirement years – calculations show that about €1,000/month could be possible. Perhaps the most important thing, however, is what I didn’t get from home myself. I have encouraged my own, now adult children to invest, and both have had portfolios for several years already. I hope they take the advice to heart and continue investing patiently.

I believe that this forum will find other fellow sufferers who have only discovered saving and investing after their forties. Where can you get to, even if you have “wasted” those most important years of investing? How did you get started, what are your goals, and where are you now?

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Thanks for the post. This is almost a perfect description of my own situation too. I could later write a longer story about my investment history, as I received K

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Well, I guessed there are others of us late bloomers! It would be great to hear a more detailed story from you, but also from others who have felt they weren’t on top of their finances early enough. I think this is very important because it’s never too late to get your finances in order. Please bravely share your stories, those of you who have risen from a pit of poor financial management, lack of knowledge (I had this myself), or some other reason, to become investors and perhaps even succeeded at it later in life.

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Well, this is such a thread opener that I, having followed from the sidelines for a long time, finally have to jump in, especially since my own age is already starting with a five.

Investing has been familiar territory for a while now, for example, by saving small amounts monthly into funds offered by my own bank, so I certainly started before actual middle age. However, I feel that my true, independent journey as an investor began in spring 2020, when I was 46 years old.

In autumn 2019, my then-wife and I ‘split the spoons’ (a Finnish idiom for divorce), thankfully in good spirits. At the same time, an opportunity arose to independently consider what to do with the small amount of money that remained at the bottom of my wallet after the divorce, now that all decision-making power regarding it was solely my own.

The next big hammer blow came right after, with the ‘corona sniffles’ (a Finnish colloquialism for the pandemic), and when the markets took a deep dive then, in March 2020, I opened an account with Nordnet, invested 5000 euros into a Finnish index fund when it was cheap, and from there, my current investment portfolio began to build.

A lot has happened in just over five years, and surely a large part of the mistakes have also been made (panic selling, jumping into hype stocks, poor personal choices, chasing high dividends, etc.), and they will probably continue to be made in the future, but hopefully a bit less often. Fortunately, there have also been some successes, and my portfolio is currently around 200K€, and my goal would be to get it to 500K€ before the official retirement age, preferably much earlier.

What fascinates me about this hobby, at least, is the continuous learning and development of my own expertise, especially since I mainly do stock picking myself nowadays, as well as the psychology related to investing, which is a whole art form in itself, if you like that kind of thing.

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Thank you for sharing your story. And you’ve already built up an amazing size portfolio in a very short time!

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Hello from here too. I recognize familiar things from previous threads. I myself received a small inheritance when I was about 18 (would have been just under 5000 euros converted) and surprisingly I put it into a fund instead of buying a car, for example.

I invested a certain amount monthly without a major strategy. In other areas of life, I have taken a lot of risks, but foolishly my investments were in low-yield funds, and nothing came of them. Slowly, however, the portfolio size has grown as I’ve continuously invested more.

I’m approaching 50 years old. During the corona years, I got a bit more enthusiastic. I started calculating what kind of portfolio I would need to somehow live off capital gains once the mortgage is paid off. I concluded that a 500k securities portfolio would be a good goal before the age of 60. Now the portfolio size is just under 250k, so with about a 7% annual return, its value could be doubled, and hopefully, I can continue saving monthly.

My investment strategy is still quite chaotic. By far the best investment has been in the US technology index, but I’ve put too little into it for my own style. In addition, the portfolio contains just under 10 other funds and a few dozen stocks managed quite passively. There are losses and also some gains.

I also started experimenting more boldly with cryptocurrencies on eToro (Etorossa) in the summer and copying investors there.

I’m trying to clean up my stock and fund portfolio to make it more compact so that I can fully utilize the losses for tax purposes.

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As the thread starter, I’m providing a small update here on the current situation.

Investment assets were over 40,000 euros at the end of the year (investments, cash assets), with growth of over 12,000 euros. The goal for this year is for that figure to grow to 50,000 euros, and in all likelihood, that will be exceeded. I have not included money put into my own home or a loved one’s home in this.

Net worth was just under 30,000 euros in 2022, and at the end of the year, it was 86,000 euros. We should break the hundred thousand mark this year.

Even though not long ago it felt like I was starting very late and that the famous train had already left, now, in my late forties, I feel like I can still influence things a lot. My financial situation has changed significantly in a few years, and wealth growth seems to be taking massive leaps forward every year. The goal is to reach a 100,000 euro investment portfolio before 2030.

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My situation was somewhat similar, although for different reasons.
I’ve been a late bloomer in everything :slight_smile:

My education followed the long road and a stable job was only found at age 39; before that, I was briefly an entrepreneur and twice unemployed for quite long periods.

The golden phase lasted about 10 years, during which I actually managed to save something.
I bought my own home at age 40. Later, a property in the south as well. Actual investments besides the properties total 120k. Gross assets are 720k and net wealth is 620k. So, that 100k difference in debt remains. Now that one loan is paid off, my income is sufficient for saving even at a reduced level and with the tax rate dropping; I haven’t calculated the exact amounts, but I also pay down the loan at an accelerated rate at times, which might be foolish. I have 22k in repayment flexibility in the loan now, which prepares me well for sudden expenses.
Additionally, a medical condition has been diagnosed that might even force me onto a disability pension. I intend to enjoy life to the fullest once I get through the acute phase.

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The plan is to check investment assets once a year, but I had to do the calculations now. The 50,000 euro mark is almost full, so the goals for this year will easily be met. Or rather, goals and goals, as long as I keep these small interim checks for myself.

Although the amount is not huge, I have to give myself credit that only 5-6 years ago I was still up to my ears in credit card debt and the only investments I had were an 8,000 euro pot in a pension insurance, and that too was only tied up in some small interest.

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