I’m not a huge fan of having regrets. However, as I rush to close out my forties (I’m not rushing per se, but it feels like life is moving pretty quickly towards it), there are some thing I wish I had done sooner in my thirties. What would I tell 30 year old me? Here is financial advice for 30 year olds I wished I had been given.

If you want to feel like you crushed your 30s when you reach the big 4-0. These are actions you can get started on with your finances. It’s never too late to start.

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Rock Your Credit

I had no clue about credit scores when I turned 30. Turns out this is critical part to your financial thriving.

A bad credit score will wreak havoc all over your life. It’s not just about getting approved for loans either. Though that is probably the biggest one.

A bad credit rating can also lead to higher premiums on things like your insurance. It can even prevent you from getting a job (yes I was suprised to find out some employers look into this).

Here’s the scary part. 1 in 5 people have a potential material error on their credit report and it is costing them.

If you don’t know what your credit score is, no worries. You can find out for free.

Credit Sesame offers free credit monitoring and find out your credit score. That way you can start taking steps towards improving it.

Trust me. This is probably the best financial advice for 30 year olds. Getting your credit rating sorted out is a big one.

Forty year old you says ‘Thanks!’

Checking your credit score with Credit Sesame is a Great Way to Monitor Your Credit for Free

Click to get started building better credit today.

Click here to check your credit score for free

Pay Off Your Loans (Golden Financial Advice for 30 Year Olds)

Debt is pretty much a normal thing when you are in your twenties, but if you aren’t careful you can let it balloon on you and it can negatively affect the rest of your life.

When it comes to your debt high interest rats an choke out any hope of quickly paying off your debt. That just won’t do. You can look into refinancing your debt so that you can get a lower interest rate and pay off your debt quickly.

Check out Sofi’s rate calculators and get your free quote to see if how much you can be saving.

Sofi saves people on $19K on average take 2 Minutes to get your free quote

Click to get started get your personal rate

Click here to see how much you can save by refinancing

Start Investing for Retirement

When you are starting out, learning to invest can be a really challenging hurdle,

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Times have changed. With the rise of robo-advisors (investing that is automated and based on portfolio theory) you can start investing with as little as $50 a month.

I personally use and recommend Wealthsimple.

Wealthsimple will build you a portfolio based on your investing preferences in under 5 minutes (it’s all in their quick questionnaire).

By starting to invest today you will be taking the first steps towards your retirement or whatever else you are saving up for. They are easy to get started and you can get a $50 bonus for signing up when you use this link.

Start a Side Hustle That’s Completely Yours

There are fewer things more rewarding than having a side hustle that you love to do. Not only is it rewarding , it’s also incredibly gratifying to get paid to do something that you enjoy.

For me, it’s blogging. I’ve been doing it for over two years and have grown this $3.95 a month investment into a four figure a month blog. It’s amazing!

Plus it has opened up so many other avenues. Things like consulting gigs, writing jobs, and media interviews, are all because of the site you are on right now.

Best of all I’m the boss of this site. If I want to put a giant GIF of an elephant dancing and wearing a hat I can do that.

(FYI I tried to find an elephant dancing in a hat GIF for this and couldn’t find one)

If you want to start a blog and see where it can take you. Then you need to sign up below for our 5 Day Mini Course on how to get started making your own site.

Or if you are ready to dive in you can check out this post here on how to start a blog quickly.

No matter what find something you enjoy doing and find a way to make money around it. You will be shocked how much more you enjoy your days when you have something that you truly enjoy doing.

Get Yourself Insured

This is an important piece of your financial puzzle. I know it’s not something anyone likes to think about, but it’s of vital importance.

Here’s the bottom line.

If you have anyone relying on you to earn a living (spouse, parents, kids), then you must have some form of life insurance.

The last thing any of us want to do is leave behind a burdened family. Your insurance should at least have enough to pay off your debts (including mortgage). Plus provide enough money for your family to live off.

That might feel like a lot but it’s pretty easy to get straight. There are some great online quotes that will walk you through the process in a few minutes.

Getting a quote is quick and easy.

Policy Genius can quickly show you the right amount of coverage you need. You can even apply right there online. You’ll get competing quotes from major life insurance companies. That way you know you are getting the best rate.

You can check out Policy Genius here and see how much insurance you need to have.

Related: Is your family protected in an emergency? Click to find out How to Make an Emergency Binder

Cut Your Car Insurance

You have 3 big areas of spending. They are housing, food, and transportation.

Car insurance is that expense we don’t think about until it’s up for renewal. But there is a new way you can save money on car insurance. It’s called pay per mile car insurance and it’s from Metromile.

It’s exactly how it sounds. Instead of paying your normal monthly rate, you pay a base rate and for every mile you drive. It’s perfect for people who aren’t big drivers.

Find out more about Metromile here

Or if pay per mile isn’t for you, click here to get your free quote with E-surance here and see how much could be saving.

Either way if you could save up to 50% on car insurance. That’s a lot of savings over your thirties.

Decide What Part You Will Play in Your Children’s Higher Education

Every parent dreams of being able to see their kids graduate from an Ivy league school.

We just never think of the price of that school until it’s time to pay for it.

The truth is university is expensive. Especially if your kids go somewhere else in the country.

Add on that you need to think about how you will handle your own retirement and you can feel the pressure mounting. (I’m getting that neck thing just writing about it)

Here’s the deal. Right now you need to decide what part you are going to play in your children’s education.

Whether it’s not helping at all, or paying for everything or somewhere in between. Just make a decision.

If you decide to pay for all or some of their college costs then you should start putting away for it right now. It doesn’t have to be a lot but you will get the power of compound interest working for you.

Things can change but by opening up an education account you will be off to a great start.

Come Up With A Budget You Can Live With

When I look back on my thirties, most of our financial success comes down to this. Our money system.

It was how we were able to become debt free in our thirties (including our $320K mortgage). It was also how we were able to avoid the money fights that so many couples have.

Here’s the deal. You need a money system (or budget, if you prefer) that will adapt and change with you through your life.

The money system we came up with does just that. It’s flexible and it literally changed our lives. You can get our money system here if you are looking for a way to budget that makes sense to you.

Start Saving Money When You Shop Online

One last thing I want to leave you with before taking off. The importance of this can’t be emphasized enough.

You will earn over a MILLION DOLLARS in your lifetime.

The math checks out, if you don’t believe me.

What if you could keep an extra 1% of that effortlessly? That’s $10,000!

What about 2% that’s an extra $20,000 that is being kept in your hands.

That’s why I believe every cent is so important.

When you look at 2 pennies you think: “Nah not a big deal“.

But if you were saving 2% on every dollar you spend and it was done automatically then you would be foolish to pass it up.

That’s why using a site like Ebates and Swagbucks is so important. They give you cash back just for shopping through their sites.

Swagbucks not only gives you cash back for shopping online, but they also pay you for your other online activities like watching video, surveys and tons of other things. Plus you get a $5 sign up bonus to start with Swagbucks.

Related Reading: Ebates Review: How We Used Ebates to Save $100 in minutes

Swagbucks is a great way to save money by purchasing through their site you can save between %1 and 20% cash back on different stores.

Get your $5 signup bonus today!

Taking Control Of Your Finances Doesn’t Have To Be Hard.

Taking these few steps in your twenties towards your financial success will help you go a long way in your thirties and beyond. These small steps that you take today can have a huge impact down the road. Get started and know that you are taking control of your financial future years before most other people do!

Here’s to your success

Family Money Plan Recap

Start Monitoring Your Credit – Credit Sesame offers Free Monitoring
Pay off your loans – Click here to see how much you can save by refinancing
Start a Side Hustle
Pick up Extra Money Doing Side Gigs – Check out places like Uber Eats, Uber and Fat Lama
Look for Ways to Cut Costs on Insurance – Get a free quote from Metromile to see how much you can save
Use Swagbucks and Ebates to Save Money Shopping Online
Use Apps to Put More Money In Your Pocket – Trim and Paribus are a great place to start
Start Investing – Wealthsimple is a Great Place to Start
Find a money system that works and stick with it. Check out ours here
Start side hustle that grow into something you are proud of. Check out our free course on starting a blog

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3 Comments

June on April 24, 2018 at 9:46 am

I’m curious what you think about paying of student loans versus saving to buy a house. Some people think student loans is the one debt that is ok to keep for a while, especially if it means buying a house and then paying it off?
- Andrew on April 24, 2018 at 4:34 pm
  
  Great question June. Personally I think paying off your student loans is a better way to go if possible. At the end of the day it’s all debt and needs to be paid off, if the student debt is at a lower interest rate than other debt it might make more sense to keep it around and focus on paying off other things.
Angela on May 5, 2018 at 4:59 pm

Love this post, as I am in my early 50s I can see where I did and did not do well. If I did it again I would put money aside for my son’s education. We did put his inheritance from my mom in a 529 and it doubled in 6 years so that paid for most of the first year. We have been scrimping and saving and paying each semester in full as it comes up. Only one more semester to save for (while putting 20% of my income in my pre-taxed retirement accounts (playing catch up on this as I should have started much sooner to take advantage of compound interest)).

Financial Advice for 30 Year Olds: Smart Money Moves to Make In Your 30s