8 money moves you must make at 50

By Liz Pulliam Weston

If you're turning the corner into your sixth decade, you've probably heard the jokes about getting older. The ones that start, "You know you're 50 when …":

• The elevator is playing your favorite song.

• Dinner and a movie are the whole date, not just the warm-up.

• You look like the morning after and you haven't been anywhere.

• You throw a party and the neighbors don't call the cops. In fact, they don't even realize you had a party.

All the aches, pains and startling glimpses of that stranger in the mirror drive home the point: You're not going to live forever, and it's time to get serious about your future, financial and otherwise.

The good news, for most 50-somethings, is that they're in their peak earning years. Many (but not all) are done with child-rearing, which leaves more money in the kitty for other goals, like retirement. Most are homeowners, and past boom years have added nicely to the typical 50-something's net worth.

FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT: AGES 50-59
Median household income	$60,586
Median net worth	$182,300
Percent with home equity	80.70%
Percent with credit card debt	50.30%
Median amount owed on cards	$2,700
Percent with traditional pensions	38.10%
Percent with minor children	40.30%

Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, 2004

But dangers abound. Inadequate savings or high debt levels can cripple retirement plans, as can illness, disability or layoffs (see "The hidden threats to your nest egg"). Poor planning, insufficient insurance protection and boomerang kids (adult children who return to live at home) pose additional risks. And by making some crucial decisions now, about timing your retirement or where you might live, you'll be better able to map out your plans.

If you want to get yourself in the best financial shape possible at this milestone, take the following steps:

Reconsider your career

Most baby boomers say they want to work at least part time in retirement. Work can have social, emotional and, especially, economic benefits: The longer you're employed, the less you need to save for retirement.

But what if you hate your job or your industry is downsizing rapidly? (Think airlines, newspapers and U.S. auto manufacturing.) You can wait to get fired, or you can figure out what you'd really like to do when you grow up -- and see if you can get there from here. A session with a career counselor could help; so could that venerable career changer's guide, Richard Nelson Bolles' "What Color is Your Parachute?"

Beware the temptation to pitch it all and go back to school for years on borrowed money, however. You're unlikely to recoup the investment, and you could end up saddled with student loans in your 80s. If you need additional training, night school is usually the better bet. If you're dying to start your own business, do it as a sideline first to see if you can make your idea fly.

Put retirement on the front burner

Sure, you've got other obligations. You may still have kids to raise and educate (two out of five 50-something households include minor children), and your folks may need financial help as well.

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