Turning 40: health and money skills to add
At 40, add a screening calendar, your key health numbers, breast self-awareness, family health history, the heart attack signs women get, menopause signs, bone health, balance and squats, a retirement account, beneficiaries, a will, and your parents' documents and wishes.
Forty is not a deadline, but it is a sensible moment to take stock. Screening recommendations change around this age, perimenopause can begin, and the money decisions of your thirties start to show up in retirement statements. This set is a check-in, not a list of worries: learn which screenings to book, read your own numbers, know the heart attack signs more common in women, and write down your family health history. Add two strength habits that protect bones and balance for decades. Then the paperwork: your retirement account, beneficiaries, a basic will, and, if your parents are aging, the documents and the conversation about their wishes.
The skills, in order
- Health screenings every woman needs by age: A written calendar beats memory, and the recommended checks change as you age.
- What blood pressure and cholesterol numbers mean: Reading your own results sheet lets you ask better questions and notice trends.
- How to do a breast self-exam: Knowing your normal is how you notice a change worth reporting.
- How to write down your family health history: It can change when your screenings start, and it takes a few conversations.
- Heart attack symptoms in women: Women more often have symptoms beyond chest pain, and knowing them prompts the call.
- What every woman should know about menopause: Knowing the signs means you can name what is happening and ask for help early.
- How to protect bone health as a woman: Bone loss speeds up after menopause, and habits built earlier protect you later.
- How to improve your balance at home: Balance fades quietly from midlife, and practicing it is one of the simplest ways to protect against falls.
- How to do a squat with good form: Sitting down and standing up is the movement you use most, and a good squat keeps it easy for decades.
- How to open a retirement account: Longer average lifespans and career gaps make an early start matter more.
- How to check and update your beneficiaries: Beneficiary forms usually override a will, and old ones often name an ex.
- Do I need a will and what goes in one: Without one, state law decides who gets what and who handles it.
- What documents to gather for aging parents: In a hospital hallway is the worst place to learn that nobody knows where the papers are.
- How to talk to aging parents about their wishes: Knowing what a parent wants turns a crisis decision into carrying out a plan.
More sets are on life moments, and the guides connect them.
Last reviewed . First published .
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