Financial needs of an individual change according to their stage in life. Therefore life stage segments are important indicators of their priorities, spending habits, desires and needs.

Being aware of these helps you position advertisements and products to better attract and convert them.

1. Post-graduation and Early Career

For males at ages 21 - 24 years old and onwards, and for women at ages 18 - 22 onwards.

They maybe getting additional career training, attending college or university, starting a new career, or finding a life partner. Spending is often greater than income during this period. In a country with a strong saving culture like Singapore, these individuals usually associate themselves with cost saving options like discount sites, Telegram channels, and promo apps. These individuals may also be planning to get married by their early 30s. They are also largely living with their parents.

Their financial goals may include:

• Paying for post-secondary education (study loan)
• Saving for a car or home furnishings
• Building savings
• Building a good credit history
• Increasing coverage for themselves and parents/sibblings

2. Family and Career Building Years

Family and career building years can overlap with early career years. This typically occurs from ages 26 - 30 onwards.

They may be switching from a part time to a full time position, changing jobs to enhance their career, starting a family, or saving for a child‘s education. Income typically rises during these years as the individuals strive for promotion. They are working late and spending lots of time at work. During which, their attraction towards leisure (hobby, getaways, exercise) activities increases as they seek a sense of wholesome balance in their lives. Their social group is limited by interactions with work and family.

Their financial goals may include:

• Buying a house and life insurance for themselves and kids
• Paying off a house mortgage and other debt
• Buying a university study plan for their kids or sending kids to college or university
• Reducing taxes
• Growing savings
• Opening a Savings Plan
• Starting a new/side business

3. The Pre-Retirement Years

This occurs typically around ages 50 onwards

Their expenses is finnally going down. Their assets like car and house are almost or fully paid for. Their kids are also graduating soon or have graduated. In the coming years they are looking to spend more time focused on self-actualisation while maintaining the same amount of income. The idea of income replacement becomes more attractive to them. Doing something meaningful to leave a positive legacy for themselves also becomes more attractive. Their scope of friends actually widens as they find more time to seek people with similar interest and life stage - the idea of retirement community becomes more attractive to them.

Their financial goals may include:

• Finishing up on payments for mortgage and debt
• Reducing taxes
• Growing retirement savings
• Starting a retirement business
• Planning for retirement
• Writing a will

4. Early Retirement Years

This occurs from ages 65 and onwards.

They may want to work less and their health may still be good enough to support an active lifestyle, perhaps with travel, volunteer work, or continued part-time work.

Their financial goals may include:

• Investing in a new business (low commitment and passion driven)
• Turning retirement savings and pensions into income
• Managing taxes
• Managing savings to last
• Making changes to their will and estate

5. Later Retirement Years

They may become less mobile, and may need to take care of health problems. Their social circle drastically decreases and the attractiveness of a strong nucleus family increases.

Goals may include:

• Optimizing taxes
• Managing savings to last
• Estate planning
• Considering options for assisted living

Throughout theses changes, they are constantly seeking (consciously or not) new advice and products that will help them achieve their goals. They will want to receive the right advice at the right time from someone or a platform which they trust. So to access these markets you will need to:

1. Create avenues to address their specific and changing needs
2. Access, edify or create communities where people feel safe to ask other people at their stage in life how they handled their finances.
3. Encourage strong financial habits through financial literacy (education) and promotion (eg. bring a colleague/buddy promo) and encourage a culture of talking about finances (with family and at their workplace).
4. Position the adviser right. Help them realise that there is an adviser for everyone and help them find out what other kinds of advisers there are.
5. Create opportunities for change. As their financial goals changes identify the gaps in their pre-existing financial plans and offer ways to complement reach their goals and move on from their current financial advisers.