20 Financial Milestones For Your 20s

Umm, no. But I should get on this. I feel like my 20s are passing me by without any significant experiences under my belt. Boo.

#2 – Pay off your student loans
Not quite, but I did pay off my private student loan and I’ve been very successful at knocking the interest rate down on my federal student loan. So, I’m working on it.

#3 – Automate paying your credit card bill in full
No, but I don’t think this is an option with my credit card. I do pay the balance in full every month, though, on the due date. I’m giving myself a check on this one.

#4 – Get rid of all bad debt
Work in progress.

#5 – Build an adequate emergency fund
Work in progress.

#6 – Make your first, and last, investment mistake

Check! My big investing mistake was to delay investing. Now it hurts so much more to put money away than if I had just been making automatic investments from my first paycheck. Lesson learned.

#7 – Develop a statement of cash flows

Check! I write a new budget every month and update it every couple of days.

#8 & 9 Max out a Roth & Contribute to your 401(k)
Not even close. I have a Roth, though, and I never plan on contributing to my school district’s 403(b) because frankly, it sucks.

#10 – Get a degree or certification that increases your earning power
Check! I got a master’s degree in 2007 (when I was 22) that put me in a much higher salary bracket from Day 1 of my teaching career than if I had just had my bachelor’s.

#11 – Take a career risk
Nope. I don’t know how well this applies to my field, though.

#12 – Negotiate something

Check! I negotiate everything. See the latest example here.

#13 – Earn your first side grand

Check! I earn a couple grand extra every school year, from teaching summer school, tutoring, reading AP exams, etc.

#14 – Start a sub-savings account for an upcoming financial goal
I’ve had sub-savings accounts in the past, but have never followed through with keeping up with them. Maybe I need to connect this back to #1 and get on it….

#15 – Set a target retirement date
Check! 2050. I’ll be 65. But for the moment, retirement seems like a pipe dream.

#16 – Monitor your credit
Check! I monitor all bills and expenses and check my credit score once a month.

#17 – Say no to a financial salesman
Check! I say no all the time. It feel like once a week – or once a day if you count all the credit card offers I throw out every time I check my mail.

#18 – Give just enough to make it hurt
Nope. This needs to be an area of focus for me for 2012.

Two Milestones for the Over Achiever

#19 – Invest $1 for every $1 you spend
Haha, yeah right.

#20 – Start a 529 College Savings Plan
Not applicable.