A financial checklist for each decade

Financial priorities change substantially across a life, and a great deal of anxiety comes from applying the wrong stage's concerns to the current one.

Twenties

Where habits form and time is the largest asset.

Open a pension and capture any employer match, since contributions made now have decades to compound.

Build a starter emergency fund.

Understand and build a credit file.

Avoid or clear high-cost debt.

Understand your payslip, tax code and student loan position.

Get contents insurance if you have anything worth replacing.

Automate savings, however small.

And prioritise income growth, since the return on skills and career development at this stage exceeds anything investment can produce.

Thirties

Where commitments accumulate.

Increase pension contributions with every pay rise.

Build a full emergency fund and a sinking fund.

Consider protection: life insurance and income protection once anyone depends on you.

Make a will and, if you have children, name guardians — which is the single most important document a parent can have.

Set up powers of attorney, which are relevant at any age.

Manage housing costs and any mortgage deal end dates.

Understand childcare costs and entitlements if relevant, and protect pension contributions during any career break.

And check that beneficiary nominations on pensions and policies are current.

Forties

Where the arithmetic becomes more pressing.

Review whether pension contributions are adequate using a retirement calculator, which is generally sobering and useful.

Trace and consolidate lost pensions where appropriate.

Review protection against current circumstances.

Reduce debt with a target date.

Review the mortgage term and rate.

Start conversations with ageing parents about wills, powers of attorney and their wishes.

Consider education costs for children if relevant.

And review the will after any life change.

Fifties

Where planning becomes concrete.

Model retirement income properly rather than assuming.

Check state pension record for gaps and consider voluntary contributions, which are frequently excellent value and have deadlines.

Increase contributions if the projection falls short, since this is the last period in which meaningful accumulation is possible.

Aim to clear the mortgage before retirement if feasible.

Review investment risk relative to the timeframe.

Consider phased retirement options.

Review estate planning and any inheritance tax position.

And review protection, which becomes more expensive and harder to obtain with age and health.

Sixties

Where irreversible decisions are made.

Use free pension guidance services before making any decision about accessing pensions.

Shop around for any annuity rather than accepting the existing provider's offer, and disclose health conditions which may increase income substantially.

Understand the tax consequences of withdrawals and spread them across tax years where beneficial.

Claim the state pension, or consider deferring where that increases it.

Check entitlement to pension-age support, which has poor take-up.

Review the will, powers of attorney and nominations.

Consider care funding and long-term arrangements.

And be alert to pension scams, which target people at exactly this point.

Seventies and beyond

Where the emphasis shifts.

Simplify: fewer accounts, fewer products, consolidated where sensible.

Ensure powers of attorney are in place and registered.

Ensure someone trusted knows where everything is, through a written summary.

Review income sustainability if in drawdown.

Claim all entitlements, including attendance and disability-related payments which are not means-tested in many systems and are substantially under-claimed.

Review estate planning.

Protect against fraud, since older people are disproportionately targeted.

And consider care costs and how they would be funded.

What applies at every stage

The constants.

An emergency fund.

Manageable fixed costs.

No high-cost debt.

Appropriate protection.

Current will and powers of attorney.

Current beneficiary nominations.

An annual review of renewals, rates and contributions.

Claiming everything you are entitled to.

And someone else knowing where everything is, which is the item most commonly missing at every stage.

What changes the plan at any age

The events that should prompt a review regardless of decade.

A change in relationship status, which affects wills, nominations, joint liabilities and entitlements.

A birth or adoption, which affects protection, wills and guardianship.

A death in the family, which affects your own arrangements as well as the estate.

A significant change in income or employment.

A diagnosis affecting health or capacity, which makes powers of attorney urgent.

Moving house or country.

And receiving a windfall, which is the point at which decisions made quickly are most often regretted.

Each of these is a prompt to revisit the documents and the arrangements rather than to assume they still fit.

General information only, not financial advice. Rules and products vary enormously by country — consult a regulated adviser and use free guidance services.