Introduction
Life admin isn’t one big task — it’s a series of smaller ones that make sense at different ages. We’re all really good at putting things off, procrastinating and then worrying we’ve not done enough. This page breaks down what’s worth prioritising in each decade, so you can focus on what actually matters now, rather than everything at once.
What to sort in your 40s
Your 40s are often the busiest decade with careers, kids, ageing parents, mortgages all at once. That’s exactly why it’s worth putting a few foundations in place now: a will, life insurance review, your own Power of Attorney, tracking down old pensions, and starting a Life Folder.
Full guide: What to Sort in Your 40s
What to sort in your 50s
Your 50s tend to bring a shift where children maybe becoming independent, parents needing more support, retirement starting to feel real rather than distant. Priorities are now: reviewing your will as circumstances change, checking your State Pension forecast, thinking seriously about long-term care conversations with parents, and starting to model what retirement actually looks like financially.
Full guide: What to Sort in Your 50s coming soon
What to sort in your 60s and beyond
This decade is often about consolidation and clarity: finalising retirement income decisions, reviewing or setting up Power of Attorney – if not already done, making sure your will reflects your current wishes, and starting conversations about later-life care preferences while you’re fully able to shape them yourself.
Full Guide: What to Sort in Your 60s coming soon
Retirement Planning
Retirement planning here isn’t about investment strategy because that’s a job for a financial adviser. It’s about the practical side. This means knowing your State Pension age and forecast (via gov.uk), understanding what income will actually come from where, and making sure legal and care preferences are settled before you need them, not after.
Consider where you worked during your career. Did you contribute to a pension; were there company schemes that you have paper work for; have you contributed to your own personal pensions. Understanding the potential value of all of your pensions is one thing and knowing how to maximise that value is another. Engaging an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA) is one route, the Pension Tracing Service is another route. Make time to go through and check what you might have and where it is.
Once you have all of the information then you can assign beneficiaries so they can benefit in the event of your death. Once you’ve done all of this then that is Retirement Planning Sorted!