You need to invest for the future before you get old. Financial advisors focus on the 2nd most important thing, money. They will tell you to regularly invest for your retirement, so you won’t end up poor. That’s good advice but money is secondary.

The crucial investment you need to make is relationships. Being old alone is a drag.

Romantic relationships are especially important. Young people who are married or have a long-term partner, should build up that relationship to maximize the value they get when they become elderly. Do loving things for each other daily. Not tomorrow, today. Work through conflicts in a way that leaves both of you feeling good about each other. If you are thinking of straying, becoming adulterous, think first of how that might affect your main relationship in the long term.

You might think it odd for a 73-year-old guy, who’s been married 50 years to say this, but don’t stay in a loveless relationship. Ditch any partner who doesn’t love you or loves himself/herself more than you. Work toward reconciliation but if that fails it’s correct to divorce a partner who isn’t investing in the relationship.

And there’s nothing wrong with finding a partner late in life. I know a couple who married at the age of 80. Both of them had been in previous relationships. One was twice widowed and the other divorced. Several years later, they are still happy together.

Not everyone can retain their romantic partner through old age. If you have children, keep in touch with them. If they live far away, try to see them on holidays, and talk electronically. Instant messaging and video meetings work for us; they can work for you. And think about building up friendships with people you aren’t related to, ones that last a lifetime. Sometimes, you can start those late in life through shared interests or clubs. I know people who regularly attend church, not for theological reasons, but because doing so brings them closer to other people. That’s one of the reasons churches have so many elderly. (Theologically, though, building friendships is God’s work.)

At this point, I should show off the value of the investments I made (Taughannock Falls near Ithaca, NY) .Someday, one of us will be gone, leaving the other alone. That’s why we try to make the best of our relationship now.