Financial Targets to Aim for Before Your 30’S

PAY OFF ALL DEBT.  ASAP!

One of the largest hindrances for people under 30 in getting ahead of their finances is the debt they continually accumulate and acquire and forgo paying off.  Student loans, for example, haunt many millennial's after college and plague their finances for years and years after graduation.  So my advice would be to create a plan for paying off your debt and stick to that plan rigorously.  Set out a goal and a timeline of when you can realistically pay off your debts. commit to that, and be vigilant about making your payments on time in full.  One of the worst things we can do is to pay only the minimum amount on a debt.  This not only results in us having to pay more money than we need to, but it can also be disastrous to our credit score.  Debt is not always a bad thing though!  Almost all of us will at some point in our lives have debt in our names.  Whether we are purchasing a home, a car, or going back to school and need to take out loans, many of us will have debt, and that is perfectly fine!  We just need to make sure we have a specific plan in place to pay off the debt in a timely manner!

EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE.

Many of us have a general sense of money management.  Keep your money safe and growing on its own in a certain bank account.  Spend within your means.  Put away some money here and there in a savings account for emergencies.  These are all great things to know and practice as a young adult, however, there is TONS more information out there that can greatly increase your wealth.  For example, I recommend befriending someone more successful and more prudent with money and seek their advice and their help.  Some of the greatest information you can learn comes from people who have already been in your shoes and walked the path of life that you are on and made similar mistakes.  So seek out those who are smart and knowledge with money,  pick their brain and ask for advice when you need it!  These people will almost always be willing to help you because they’ve been in your shoes before and understand the struggle!  So get out and expand your knowledge and your network!

KEEP TRACK OF YOUR FINANCES.

Now that we have a plan to tackle our debt and expand our knowledge so we can make prudent investment and money decisions, we need to make sure that we keep track of our finances.  It’s imperative to check credit card statements and financial statements so we know exactly what we are spending our money on.  It can be a rude awakening when we actually sit down and allocate our expenses and find out we are spending way more money than needed in a category we probably shouldn’t have been spending much money.  A budget can also be extremely useful in keeping track of your spending in the sense you can see exactly how under budget, or over budget, you are for each category and make the necessary changes for the next month or quarter.  Knowing where your money is going and keeping track of it keeps you attuned to your spending habits and ultimately trains you to think twice before making purchases.

If you take a couple of months to really follow these three suggestions I can almost guarantee your finances will be in a better place after a few months than when you started.  The hardest part is just getting started and putting in the work taking your finances seriously enough to buckle down and do it!  What you do now really does shape your financial future.  So I hope these tips help, and I hope they get your finances tracking toward long term success!