Re: My son is 40 today
We've got one who is 44 shortly - nobody really said much on his 40th and his path was more or less set.
It's our daughter's 40th next month and she's not taking growing older gracefully to be honest.
My 40th coincided with a period in my life where everything was turned upside down
again but I'd had a good, stable job for three years - an achievement in itself for me - plus I'd made the decision that I should be paying into a Pension since 1989, which turned out to be a very wise decision.
My advice is the same as I give my grandchildren, and the children
if they listen, and that's do the best you can with the abilities that you have and be always be honest and true to yourself.
When it comes to financial matters I told our kids how important it was
not to rely on a State Pension in the future but they haven't heeded that so I'm directing my attention now to the grandchildren.
Only our daughter's actually buying her own flat.
The others are just scraping by all the time with little prospect of ever being home owners; in one case it's mainly due to massive debts run up with Credit Cards, despite our constant warnings!
Unfortunately, the world's different know since 1991 when I turned 40 so whatever advice you give just be honest.
It's going to be harder for them and they've got to learn that the things they will actually need are more important than the things they would like. stevmk2