Reach These Financial Milestones Before You Turn 30

In your twenties, you usually spend most of your time just struggling to make ends meet. That’s understandable since, at that point, most people are students or are working in “jobs” rather than “careers.” By the time you reach about thirty or so, though, it’s time to start getting serious about your finances. In fact, it can be a smart idea to set some “When I’m thirty…” goals for yourself. If you can reach these financial milestones around or before the big 3-0, your finances should be in good shape.   

Milestone #1: Get (Mostly) Out of Debt

Debt is the kind of thing that can follow you around for your whole life and make it pretty miserable in the process. That’s why you want to try and get all the way out of debt or at least mostly out of debt by the time you reach your thirties. Look at your budget and come up with a debt payment plan so that you can start paying off student loans, credit card debt, and other debt you may have acquired up to this point. Once you’ve done that, you can stop putting all your extra money into debt payments and start putting it into saving and building a great life for yourself.

Milestone #2: Save to Buy a Home

The next step, once you’re out of debt, is to start saving to buy a home. You want to save as much as possible for this account since the larger the down payment you can make, the easier it will be to qualify for a mortgage and to get the home of your dreams.  You don’t have to be completely ready to buy your home by the time you hit 30, but at least having a home savings fund alive and thriving at this time can be smart.

Milestone #3: Create Good Habits

Finally, make sure that, in your 30s, you have established and are sticking to some good financial habits. This means things like managing your credit properly, paying bills on time, adding to your savings regularly, and sticking to a budget. If you can do these things and follow the other advice here, you will set yourself up for a lifetime of financial success.