Someone once said, “The journey from your first pay cheque to the time you turn thirty is the most important time in your life, a defining period especially in regard to accumulating wealth.”

This statement got me thinking, on average, most 20 year old start working early in their twenties. Compared to 30 year olds, 20 year olds have less financial responsibilities meaning they are at an ideal age to start accumulating wealth.

Are you on the path to accumulating wealth? Below are a couple of financial mile stones, searched up from the internet, which you ought to have covered by the time you turn 30. You could use it to assess if you are in the right path.

Start earning money

The first major milestone is to stop depending on your family for financial support and start making your own money. How can you achieve this? You could start by getting a job, or better still, start your own business. It’s quite encouraging to see young guys who have opened shops in the neighbourhoods. Some of these small ventures have turned to be very successful, going as far as to offer other young people employment.

Pay off your debts

You probably heard of a candidate to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) who was disqualified from the interviews after it emerged that he had not cleared his Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) dues, 19 years down the line.

Debt restricts your freedom. Clear most if not all of your debt while still in your twenties. Based on the fact that you have less financial obligations, while in your 20s’, you could devote a larger chunk of your money to repaying your debt, meaning you’ll be able to get out of debt faster.

You probably get married at the 30 or late 20s’, meaning you’ll have more financial responsibilities. The higher your financial responsibilities, the harder it will be to pay off your loans. You goal is to have all your debt cleared by the time you are 30.

Start saving early

Finance experts’ recommend that you should at least save 10 percent of your net income every month. If you earn KES 35,000 as net income, you should save KES 3,500 every month, in a year you will have saved KES 42,000 in 10 years you would have saved KES 420,000.

Gen Y Wealth recommends’ that you should build an emergency fund that covers a minimum six months of expenses, by the time you turn 30.

Start investing

It’s never too early to start investing. One advantage of investing while in your 20s’ is that you have room to make mistakes and undo those mistakes.

Picture this; you are in your 30s’ with a family of your own. You make your first investment which unfortunately backfires meaning lose your investment money which will subsequently translate in losing interest in ever investing money again.

It’s better to lose money when you are young, and alone,  than to losing money when you have a family.

Master the budgeting concept

You should have learned to manage your money by the time you turn 30. This means you should be able to know how much is coming in and out every month. Adequately budget your income and learn to stick to your budget.

Sticking to a budget can be difficult, meaning you constantly need to practice budgeting so that it can become natural way of managing money. If you start budgeting early, by the time you are 30 with a family of your own, managing your family expenses will be as easy as ABCD.

Consider owning a house

It’s much easier managing a mortgage when you are single with less financial obligations as opposed to managing one when you are married with a family to rise.

Buying a huge house when you are single might seem a little bit unpractical, though you could buy or build a huge house then rent it out until when you are ready to settle down with a family of your own.

Monitoring your financial milestones is a sure way of securing your financial future. How are your financial milestones coming along?