How to Save on Your Midlife Crisis

NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- Ask people how much their mental health is worth and most will tell you that you can't put a price tag on sanity. Ask someone who's recently gone through a midlife crisis, though, and you might get a different answer entirely.

Regret is a hard pill to swallow at any age, but when an expensive decision is designed to make life better for the 40-something American who's lost his or her sense of youth and vigor, the bitter aftertaste can put a person's entire retirement in jeopardy.

Kimberly Foss, a wealth adviser for high net-worth individuals (people worth $1 million or more, generally) with 29 years of experience, has seen plenty of clients of a certain age come to her wanting to make big purchases and trying to convince themselves that they are entirely rational decisions.

It may seem like a simple procedure, but the cost of looking younger can easily last to old age.

"Most of these people's interest in such things is short-lived," Foss says, "so if a client of mine wants to make a purchase that is clearly over the top and will cause financial distress, I would show them the ramifications but I try to give them a piece of it."

While some people simply won't be satisfied by just a "piece" of a midlife crisis, Foss remembers clients like the guy who bought a Ferrari and drove it only about 2,500 miles in the 10 years it sat in his garage.