7 Money Commandments for your 30s

So, you are now in your 30s and you have given your 20s a goodbye. On the other hand, you are probably already in your late 30s and maybe feel like a late bloomer. Don’t worry, this is for you too – money commandments for your 30s.

Your 20s were for laying a base or a foundation for your finances and the beginning of your journey to financial security. Well, it’s time to intentionally build and protect your wealth in your 30s.

While in your 30s, you should work towards becoming money smart, more cautious and more serious about your finances and your life beyond.

Considering the responsibilities that come along with the increase of age, you need the smartness and cautiousness when it comes to money.

Advance your career.

Most people earn a living through their careers. If you are among them, consider advancing your career in your 30s as this will help advance your income.

Use the skills and abilities you have to increase your earnings by researching on jobs you can do and companies you can work for.

Learn about the career path for people with your skills and abilities and decide on what you want to do.

Consider going back to school for masters, an advanced degree or take up free courses online to help boost your career.

Know where opportunities in line with your career path are and consider aligning yourself with those opportunities. This can even include moving to a different city, town or country.

Consider revamping your Budget.

As you advance in age, your budget is bound to change. Your needs and wants change in your thirties and you are no longer the ‘carefree’ twenty something old.

Your income has changed from that of your 20s and so have your dreams, goals and expenses. You are even possibly not doing life alone now and have a spouse, a child or maybe a company you are running.

There are some adjustments you need to make here and there since you now have new expenses to consider in your budget.

Try to come up with a way to balance everything up in your budget to take care of your goals, your dreams, your spouse, your babies, your business among other needs and wants.  

As you revamp your budget, remember to revamp your savings and not just the expenses. Your income/salary is probably higher now and you can now upgrade/rise the amount you set on your savings.

Remember your Emergency savings and increase those savings.

In a previous post, we talked about starting an emergency savings account/fund in your 20s. You probably just set aside 10% of your income to your emergency savings.

But now that your salary/income has increased from that of your twenties, you now have to increase the amount you set aside for your emergency savings account and increase your balance.

Emergency savings in your thirties is different from emergency savings in your twenties considering the responsibilities that come with the increase of age.

You perhaps have a family to think about now in-case anything happens since life is unpredictable. Your business might run into a financial crisis or you might lose your job etc. You have to be financially ready in-case of an unforeseen emergency or crisis.

Finish up paying your debts.

While in your twenties, you probably came up with a plan to clear up your debt –student loans etc. You have probably added up new debt in your list such as mortgage, a loan to start your business or to buy a car etc.  

All these loans need to be repaid and if you can, please stop adding to the list. You need to readjust you debt repayment plan and finish those loans.

Clear your debt list and get to your forties on a cleaner slate. With this, you can focus on building up your investments and other important things in your late thirties, your forties and beyond.

Seriously think about your retirement plan.

Probably you never really thought exhaustively about retirement while you were in your 20s.  And now that you are in your 30s and life is moving, it’s time to start thinking about life after retirement.

If you don’t have any individual retirement plan started already, it’s time to start a plan and don’t think it’s too early to start. Time flies really fast and the faster you start, the better as your retirement savings will have more time to grow.

If you had a retirement plan started in your 20s, you were probably saving 5% of your income for your retirement account. In your 30s, you need to work towards ramping up the percentage you set aside. Financial advisors actually recommend a 15% of your gross income for your retirement plan savings.

If your company has an employer-sponsored retirement account for its employees, just add up the remaining percentage to reach the recommended 15%.

Diversify and balance your investments.

So, you have probably just entered the third level or you are probably in the third level peeping into your forties already. That means you have probably already considered investing and have one or two investment plans running such as an emergency savings account etc.

However, as you go up the age ladder and income ladder, you have to go up the investment ladder too. The investments you started in your twenties are just not enough to carry you through to financial freedom years beyond your thirties.

What that means is, have a diversified investment plan and have several investments running here and there. Add to the list other investments you were quite skeptical about while in your 20s.

Go for real estate and other ways of investing smartly. Don’t concentrate on getting liabilities, instead, focus on investing in assets that will give you concrete returns as time goes.

Don’t try keeping up with the Joneses.

You chose your path or your path chose you, whatever it is. On the other hand, your sister chose a different path and seems to be doing pretty well financially than you are. She has that big house, big car, big everything you can think about. And, you feel you have an average of everything and you are trying to keep up.

Don’t try keeping up with your friends or relatives just because you feel like everyone is doing better than you.

Why are you trying to keep up with the joneses knowing too well that your earnings/income cannot keep up with the joneses? That is how you end up over stretching your budget, breaking your bank and with debt you cannot handle.

Over stretching your budget just to keep up will eventually ruin your finances.

Live a lifestyle you can handle with your income and earnings comfortably without breaking your bank and your credit score. Just focus on your financial goals and work towards them and be happy for those who seem ahead of you.

Conclusion.

Your finances in your 30s are pretty critical and should be taken as such. Be smart about your planning, budgeting, savings, investments, debt and retirement too.

The tips above will help you strengthen your financial cautiousness and strengthen your financial security as you go. There are definitely other ways you can consider in your 30s to help boost your financial security such as insurance for example life insurance or finding a finance advisor etc.

In short, be on track with your finances in your 30s to secure your future financially.