Time for another the Ask the Astrologer question! Once or twice a month, I answer a question in a way that aligns with what you might hear in an actual astrological consultation. This is not your usual advice column, and not your usual astrology column, either. The frequency of it may increase if I receive enough letters, so if you have a question, please ask! See the end of this post for how to submit.

I am in my late fifties and have found myself concerned about my impending retirement. My husband and I have worked together for 30 years as general contractors in the construction industry. We have investments in different things meant for our retirement, but since my husband’s health issues from a heart attack, I find myself feeling anxiety regarding our golden years.

I did some reading about Saturn in the second house. Mine is in Capricorn. It said that people with that placement find financial security later in life.

Do you find that to be true? Do you see any of our investments coming to fruition? - Sunset Granite

I wrote back and asked, “To clarify, when you say ‘investments,’ what do you mean? Are you investing in something that you hope will make you money but hasn’t yet, or perhaps you can’t be sure of making any money at all?”

SG’s response: We do computer recycling. We have always saved rocks. We always thought we would be vendors at rock shows in our retirement. I make some money (from the computer recycling) but not big money. Cash has always been tight in the winter and ample in the summer. It has always been feast or famine.

I’ll start by answering your question as worded. To find it to be true that people with Saturn in the second house find financial security late in life, I would have to have been practicing astrology for decades, I would have to have seen enough clients with Saturn in the second for a valid representative sample, all of those clients would have to have been old enough to retire sometime before now, and all of them would have to have contacted me after their retirement to tell me that they were indeed financially secure. How likely is that?

I’m early in my career, and even if I had been practicing for decades, there’s no way I could prove or disprove that statement. As for whether your investments will come to fruition, I’m an astrologer, not a psychic.

That said, here’s what definitely is true: the second house is your money: how you make it, how you spend it, how you manage it. Your second house sign, its ruler, and any planets in it paint a picture of your approach. Saturn is the slow and steady planet, the tortoise as opposed to the hare. If Saturn has a say in your approach to money, which it does if it’s in the second house (or rules it), Saturn says work diligently, save what you earn, and spend frugally. That’s a recipe for financial security late in life. Provided, of course, that your work brought in enough money overall and you didn’t encounter a disaster that caused you to lose everything.

If Saturn had full say over your second house, that would be your approach. Probably, you would never want to take financial risks of any kind. You would need to know your income is guaranteed. Now and in the long term.

If your second house cusp were in Capricorn, and you had no other planets in the second, Saturn would indeed have full say over your second house, being the ruler of Capricorn, and placed there, too. That’s a domiciled Saturn, whose message is entirely the same as that of the sign it’s in. If you think of your chart as a business, with you as the owner, Saturn is one of your strongest employees, and, because this is how domiciled planets are, he needs to be a manager, of his own department. He’s not good at taking orders. He can’t work under another manager.

But Saturn is not your only planet in the second, and not your second house ruler. Its cusp is in Sagittarius, making Jupiter its ruler, and Jupiter itself sits right on that second house cusp. Jupiter is also domiciled, also one of your strongest employees, to rival Saturn, and also needs to be a manager. Being the actual second house ruler, Jupiter really is the manager of that department. Jupiter and Saturn are, in fact, the only domiciled planets you have. They are your strongest employees. And they’re both trying to rule the same area of your life. With very different approaches.

Jupiter is the big planet. Think big, earn big, spend big. With Jupiter in charge of your second house, your natural approach to money would be that of a confident, maybe even over confident, entrepreneur. You would be very willing to take risks, and might not even feel that they’re risks, because if you genuinely are making your money through Jupiter, it tends to come to you when you need it. Jupiter, especially a Sagittarius Jupiter, does not take Saturn’s approach of saving and budgeting, just trusts in the universe. And the universe tends to deliver. But, if Jupiter shapes your entire approach to money, you are just as good at spending it as making it, if not better. Jupiter’s “easy come, easy go, easy come again,” is at sharp odds with Saturn’s insistence on frugality and conserving what you have.

It sounds like what you’re actually doing is a mix of Jupiter and Saturn. You own a business. You have a sideline or two. You’re taking some risks. But if you’re making it through the winter on your summer income, you’re not spending your money as fast as you make it. Maybe you’re not as frugal and risk adverse as Saturn would have you be, but you’re not as casual about money as Jupiter would have you be, either. You probably don’t just trust in the universe. Perhaps, with Saturn putting a hand in it, you’ve found that the universe doesn’t reliably deliver.

Time for a nod to your Moon. It’s in the second house as well, in Sagittarius with Jupiter but at the Capricorn cusp. Being in the highly charged final degree of its sign, your Moon may be extra Sagittarian, in a way, but also starting to take on a tinge of Capricorn. Moon being where our sense of security lies, I expect you feel the conflict between Jupiter and Saturn approaches to money very deeply. It might even be deeply distressing for you. Jupiter’s approach makes Saturn panic, making you panic, or at least anxious. Saturn’s approach makes Jupiter irritated and restless, and forces her* to spend energy on quelling the mutiny (she is, after all, the real manager of your finance department) rather than bringing in cash, which would make you ill at ease in another way.

Perhaps you’ve bounced back and forth between those approaches, as Saturn tries to be heard, tries to manage the department, and Jupiter reasserts control. But neither approach can be entirely comfortable for you. 

Both of these planets work for you. You need both of them. They can’t really work together, since they both need to be in charge, but you don’t have the option of moving them to different departments. For better or worse, they both work in your personal finance department. So, what to do?

I give credit to one of my teachers, who always says this: when you have more than one domiciled planet, give them different jobs.

Saturn and Jupiter need to each be in charge of one particular facet of your finances. I suggest that you make your money through Jupiter and manage it through Saturn.

Use Jupiter’s approach to bringing in money. Trust in the universe. Let yourself see unexpected opportunities when they appear. And when the money comes in, turn it over to Saturn. Save, make prudent investments, pay off your debts if you have any and keep out of debt if you don’t, stick to a budget. If Saturn gets to manage his own accounting department within that second house, he won’t try to overthrow Jupiter. If Jupiter isn’t getting any mutiny from Saturn, her fundraising department will not only meet but probably exceed expectations. 

*Traditionally, the only astrological planets referred to with she/her pronouns are Moon and Venus. All others are dubbed he/him, even Mercury, who is actually a gender fluid planet (truth!) and would probably prefer they/them pronouns. When I personify the planets, I gender them as I see fit. If Saturn is a he, then to balance the genders in this reading, his “boss” can be a she.

Do you have a question for Ask the Astrologer?

This feature currently runs once or twice a month, and may increase if there are enough submissions. Click here to read the ground rules for Ask the Astrologer questions and here to submit your question. Pseudonyms are used for all letter writers, including the one above.

Interested in a more in depth consultation?

Contact Megan to inquire about current rates and availability. Consultations last an hour and a half for new clients and an hour to an hour and a half for returning clients. Available everywhere in the world by Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangout. For residents of the San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA, in-person options may also be available.

New to astrology? See an unfamiliar astrological term in the above post?

Look it up in the astrological glossary. If you don’t see the term you’re looking for in there, please drop me a line. The glossary is an ongoing work in progress.