First focusing on accomplishing the 5 benchmarks of your 20’s, it’s important to review and complete those first. Your 30’s should be focused on growth and establishment. Using this season to solidify who you are and reflect and respond on how you need to make adjustments going into the new decade will help you calibrate. The first step is to take a look at where you are in life. Are you where you hoped you would be? Allow the setbacks that you may have experienced in your 20’s to be a setup for refocusing. Looking at how you can look at a setback like carrying unsecured debt and figuring out how to intentionally get rid of it!

Developing a vision for your life in your 20’s will be a key benchmark in order to make sure the path you are on is aimed toward that vision. Previously we looked at the 7’F’s that help you define the components of your life that are most meaningful to you. Defining your vision based on your faith, family, friends, fitness, finances, fun and focus may help you get started. Focusing not only on wealth preservation as well as wealth generation when it comes to this vision will be key.

Looking at the fourth benchmark, this focus is moved to the offense of personal finance. More specifically taking action on income growth. Determining how to grow your income by focusing on making sure that you hit three key components to find the work that matters most to you. Your 20’s should be a decade of learning, to try things out, and to strategically explore. Once you land that job or start that business, looking at how to expand your abilities to invest will then be greatly important for long-term wealth-building.

Looking at benchmark #3, it is focused on giving. Which may come as a great surprise to many. Money makes you more of what you already are, so being sure to spend the time on how to best give back will ensure that you are always generous, whether it comes natural or not. What is your ‘why’ that would inspire you to support an individual, organization, or a cause otherwise? Figuring out what amount of time, energy, or resources you will commit to giving back is an essential part of your financial plan. Building in this behavior early-on, will ensure that you have your priorities in the right place moving through life.

Looking at benchmark #2, it is focused on what you are saving for and how to save through aspects of life that you will spend on anyways--housing and transportation. Being intentional about setting a savings goal for you to purchase a home or even rent a home that you can then house hack will be the first component of this to look at. This simple rule will allow you to save and invest more than your peers. The second largest expense is typically your transportation. Buying a vehicle intentionally to ensure that the vehicle is either something you break-even on or one that even provides an income is key. This income will then allow you to put aside money into a Roth IRA early, in order to allow compound interest to work in your favor.

It can be difficult to be in a season of life that typically has the greatest amount of change. Whether that is a college career, starting your career, getting married, having kids or a myriad of other changes, it’s especially important that you have a financial plan. There is a lot of mixed information and recommendations around personal finances, so following the first simple benchmarks can set you up for financial success. You should be a lifetime learner in figuring out how to adjust your finances based on the season of life you are in, but in all seasons living within your means. Building a budget and automatically saving toward an emergency fund will ensure that you are carrying this rule out.

We’ve often heard that our finances impact our health, but what about our health impacting our finances? Having healthy habits may not prevent unforeseeable health issues, but they can definitely put the odds in your favor. But what about these habits having a compounding impact into your finances? Putting your health ahead of your job, success, and career can ensure that you will be in the proper health for the long haul whether you are at your current employer or not. Not waiting until you have an external event or health issue forcing change will ensure that you are being mindful of the legacy you are actively building.

We’ve often heard that our finances impact our health, but what about our health impacting our finances? Having healthy habits may not prevent unforeseeable health issues, but they can definitely put the odds in your favor. But what about these habits having a compounding impact into your finances? Putting your health ahead of your job, success, and career can ensure that you will be in the proper health for the long haul whether you are at your current employer or not. Not waiting until you have an external event or health issue forcing change will ensure that you are being mindful of the legacy you are actively building.

Education is a necessary process in life, whether formalized or self-taught. Financial education is no different. Asking questions like where have you learned your personal financial management habits from? Are those habits healthy and have you tested those habits as to whether they truly work for the life you want to live? Asking yourself a few simple questions around your personal finances can make all the difference. Your past performance or knowledge around your personal finances does not need to define your decisions today and the new direction you choose to take. So I decide to continually be a student, always learning and see what opportunities and possibilities it opens up.

Looking at an overview of the topic of lifestyle from a standpoint of building out a vision, backing-out the steps, and seeing whether or not what you want from life aligns with how you currently live life. This all starts with figuring out where you are at from a standpoint of what or who surrounds you. This won’t happen without having a compelling why. So taking a serious look at where you are at and the decisions you have made that have led you to this point in life will ensure that you are making decisions intentionally going forward. You cannot pursue what you have not defined, so find out your why and make the pivot today.