THE BIG ‘FIVE – OH’! 

In our last edition of Spotlight (our client magazine), we had a loose theme of ‘milestones’ and some of our wonderful clients wrote about their own personal challenges and celebrations, so I’m sure that some of the content will have resonated with you.

During our planning sessions for the magazine, it was interesting to note that we talked less about ‘when’ and more about ‘what’ our own (and clients’) milestones looked like.

Whilst we make a point of celebrating ‘big’ birthdays and ‘big’ anniversaries, these aren’t necessarily the momentous occasions that mean the most to us.

For many, the milestones are educational, or career-based, or ‘stage of life’ – buying your first home, getting married, having your first child (or grandchild), clearing your mortgage, retiring, receiving care or going into a care home and of course the deaths of important loved ones.

These are the moments in our lives when we often consider all the effort it took to get there and the (often emotional) rollercoaster as we look ahead to our new ‘normal’.

That’s not to say that the traditional milestones aren’t important anymore – as one who is facing the big ‘five-oh’ later on this year, I find myself strangely serene about the aging process.

Ten years ago, the thought of becoming ‘middle-aged’ filled me with dread … but now that I’m comfortably there (!) it doesn’t bother me in the slightest.

As I reflect on my almost 50 years on this planet, I count my blessings often – my family, my health, a roof over my head, a great career. The future looks bright and I’m looking forward to doing more, seeing more and learning more.

My personal milestones are many and varied and I relish the fact that I have so many more to look forward to.

We have an ongoing conundrum here at Solomon’s – whenever we talk about ‘life is short’ there is an immediate contrast that ‘life is long’ too!

We advise clients for many decades (and often look after two or three generations of the same family) and yet through loss and grief, we know that our time here is not guaranteed. So there is always an element to our work of planning for longevity but accounting for brevity.

We cannot plan for every eventuality – our future milestones aren’t guaranteed – but we must surely seek to achieve as many of them as we can while we can.

And when I turn 50, I’ll be sure to celebrate all that I have achieved in my life to this point and embrace hope and expectation for a long and well-lived future.