Just like everything else, the best place to start is determining what those milestones are.
Do you want to get married? Will you have a big wedding? Destination wedding? Small intimate wedding? Will your parents contribute or will you need to fund it yourself? Where will you go for your honeymoon? What’s your budget and timing?
Do you want to buy a house? Where? What sort? What’s your budget and timing?
Do you want children? How many? What paternity leave options do you have? Do you have a mortgage that allows for flexibility with repayments so you can manage more easily on one income for a while? Will you return to work? How long will you take off? What’s your timing and how will you manage financially while working less?
Do you want to create a legacy? How does that look? What’s your goal?
How do you plan to spend retirement? Will you be a grey nomad, travelling the country in your van, or a frequent flyer, flying all over the globe, or lauching into grandparent duties, escaping to the quiet life, or continue life as usual without the interruption of work? What’s your timing and how much money do you think you’ll need?
Whether we plan for them or not, these milestones are going to come up and I think it’s always better to be prepared than surprised, don’t you?
