Half of Millennials expect to become millionaires at some stage in their lives, and most expect to retire around age 56. But in order to complete these ambitious goals (which come courtesy of a 2018 Millennials and Money Survey by TD Ameritrade), it’s important that they reach certain financial milestones first.
Here are five realistic goals to complete by age 30 in order to make your next life stage less stressful.
Goal 1: Build your human capital
Out of all of these goals, this one is probably the most fun. Your twenties are a time to invest in yourself, whether that be saving to go back to school, travel or other life experiences.
Jamie Hopkins, director of the Retirement Income Center at the American College of Financial Services, says this is the first thing he recommends to young people. Your twenties are a stage in your life where you have fewer commitments and can easily find time to do things you are passionate about.
Start by making a list of your goals, whether it be a trip to France, a summer music festival or admission to Harvard Business School. Then, it’s time to start saving.
Jean Fullerton, a fee-only advisor with Milestone Financial Planning, says the most important step is to develop the discipline to save a little with each paycheck. Live below your means is a must.
She suggests having the savings taken directly from your paycheck so you aren’t tempted to spend that money. With each raise you get, increase the amount you are saving until you are socking away 15% of your income, she suggests.
There are also multiple apps that will help you save. Qapital, for example, allows users to choose goals to save toward and then apply rules that will send money automatically from their checking account toward their goals. Rules can be things such as saving $5 every time you run a mile.
Goal 2: Manage your debt
Average personal debt has climbed higher than ever to $38,000, with more than half of Americans citing debt reduction as their top 2018 financial priority, according to a Northwestern Mutual Planning & Progress Study. (This number doesn’t include mortgage debt and doesn’t average in those who have no non-mortgage debt.)
In fact, the study found that Americans are twice as likely to have accumulated $5,000 to $25,000 in debt than in personal savings. For this reason, it’s important to get a head start on managing your debt – whether it’s student loans, credit card debt or car loans – when you are young.
“If you fall too far behind, you start defaulting on payments and your credit score gets hammered,” Hopkins says. “That can put you behind from the start.”
There are multiple strategies for paying off your debt. One of the most publicized is the snowball method, made popular by personal finance expert Dave Ramsey. In this strategy, you list your debts in order of smallest to largest, then make minimum payments on all of your debts except the smallest. On the smallest debt, you pay as much as possible, until it’s paid off in full. Then, you’ll repeat the process with the next smallest debt.
Another popular method is the debt avalanche method. It’s similar to the snowball method, but instead of listing debts by their balance, the avalanche method requires that you list them by their interest rate. The one with the highest interest rate is the one that should be paid off first.
A Boston School of Business study in 2016 found that the snowball method was the most effective for most people, as people preferred to pay off their debts one at a time, starting with the smallest because it created the greatest sense of progress.
You don’t have to have all of your debts paid off by age 30, but it’s a good idea to have started a repayment plan in your twenties.
Goal 3: Start saving for retirement
If you do nothing else before you turn 30, this one is the most important: Contribute enough to your employer’s 401(k) or 403(b) to maximize the employer match, Fullerton says.
While 66% of Millennials work for an employer that offers a retirement plan, only 55% of Millennials (compared to 80% of Boomers) are eligible to participate in an employer’s plan, according to a report from the National Institute on Retirement Security. (Workers may not be eligible for their employer’s plan because they haven’t been on the job long enough or don’t work enough hours to qualify.)
Take advantage of your employer’s plan—and the employer’s match—as soon as you are eligible. Your 70-year-old self will thank you. The sooner you start saving, the longer your money has to grow due to the power of compound interest. Remember to increase your contributions every time you get a raise or – even better – every year.
If you don’t have access to an employer-sponsored retirement fund, start a Roth IRA, which allows tax-free withdrawals later in life. Even if you do have a workplace plan, try to fund a Roth IRA too. The beauty of a Roth IRA is that you can take back your original contributions without taxes or penalty at any time, meaning you can tap into it should you decide to return to school—remember, Goal 1 is to build human capital.
Fullerton also recommends putting beneficiaries on your retirement accounts, as well as on your bank accounts and, sometimes, even your house.
“Even if you don’t have a will, it will make it a lot easier on the person handling your affairs,” she says.
Goal 4: Get a credit card
It’s okay that your credit score isn’t perfect yet. Building credit responsibly with a credit card can get you there.
In addition to building credit, a credit card also can essentially get you free money through cash back bonuses. Depending on which credit card you decide to get, there can also be other perks, like airline mileage rewards.
If you are still in school, there are multiple student credit cards you can apply for. For example, the Journey Student card from Capital One accepts those with an average credit score, and allows you to earn 1% cash back on all purchases. If you pay your bill on time, Capital One will bump this up to 1.25%.
And if you don’t have average credit, you can try a secured credit card, which requires a security deposit to open the account. Though secured cards typically have low credit limits, they are easier to get than unsecured credit cards and still help you build up your credit history and score.
Goal 5: Get comfortable with investing
Typically, you’ll get your first taste of investing when opening your first employer-sponsored 401(k). But there are other ways to start investing in your twenties.
While it may be too early to start talking with a financial advisor, there are many robo-advisors aimed at Millennials with lower fees and minimums. For example, mobile app Acorns rounds up each debit or credit card purchase to the nearest dollar, investing extra pennies in a diversified portfolios of low cost index ETFs. For $2 a month, you’ll also get access to Acorns Later, the startup’s IRA option, allowing users to begin investing with $5 in a Roth IRA, Traditional IRA or SEP IRA.
Another option is mobile and web app Robinhood, which offers basic stock trades for free and a Gold service, starting at $10 a month, that gives you more buying power and larger instant deposits. It also launched Robinhood crypto, allowing users to trade bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies commission-free.