Well I'm not 60 but 50 is well in my rear view mirror so I figured I would let you know something I would have done differently.
My wife & I have been together a long time and we both grew up w/o a lot of money which meant we did not have as much stuff as others during our school years. We both managed to go through college and got good jobs. Since we did not have a lot when we were young we bought "stuff" (clothes, stereos, tvs etc...) as soon as we could afford it. When we had children we bought them lots of stuff too. Then one day we woke up and realized that our house was full of a lot of "stuff" much of which we never used. Thus, our attitude has changed. Over the past few years we have tried to let go of some of the excess stuff we already have and buy less new stuff. We have been moderately successful. There is an exception to this - we really like our pictures of friends/family more. It's the memories we value most now.
I hope this helps a bit.
Nine years have passed since I made this post. I guess my thoughts are a bit different today. 60 is now in the rear view mirror. So instead of mentioning what I would do differently I will suggest what you need to prepare for.
Loss.
In the past four years I have lost a number of friends and family. Many of those who passed were the folks who lived hard. Smoked/drank a lot. It really makes a difference. But a number of the folks who passed just drew the short straw on life.
In August my family did a 2fer. That's where you bury two family members on the same day. My cousin and my sister in law. The kicker is that I watched two fathers and mothers bury their children that day. That was a suckfest.
Meanwhile my brother is battling stage 4 cancer. He's down to about 100 pounds. Looks like an anorexic on a diet.
I am not looking for any sympathy here. My story is not unusual. Just want to point out what's going to happen as you age. Either you die young or your friends die. Everyone dies in the long run.
