Hey there, fellow thirty-something dreamers! So you’ve hit the big 3-0 and suddenly realized that your bank account isn’t exactly matching your life ambitions? Trust me, I’ve been there. A few years back, I was staring at my sad savings account wondering if I’d ever be able to afford more than just paying bills and the occasional takeout splurge.
But here’s the thing – your 30s can actually be the perfect decade to build serious wealth. You’re old enough to have some experience under your belt but young enough to take some risks. Today, I’m gonna spill all my secrets on how I managed to get rich in my 30s without winning the lottery or having a trust fund.
The Mindset Shift That Changed Everything
Before we dive into the practical stuff, let’s talk mindset. It wasn’t my job or the economy that kept me from being wealthy; it was what was going on in my head.
When I turned 31, I made a decision that changed everything I stopped thinking like an employee and started thinking like an owner This mental switch flipped everything for me
Here’s what this looked like in practice
- I stopped seeing my salary as my only income source
- I began viewing setbacks as expensive but valuable lessons
- I committed to continuous learning (at least 1 hour every day)
- I embraced calculated risks instead of running from them
Revamp Your Budget Like You Mean It
Let’s be real – are you still using the same budget system you cobbled together in your twenties? If so, it’s time for a serious upgrade.
In my early 30s, I threw out my old budget and created something I call the “50/30/20 Rule on Steroids.” Here’s how it works:
- 30% for living expenses (housing, food, necessities)
- 50% for investments and wealth building
- 20% for personal development and experiences
This was a HUGE shift from the typical advice. Most financial gurus tell you to save 20%, but I flipped the script. Yes, it meant living below my means for a while, but the payoff has been enormous.
Multiple Income Streams = The Fast Track to Wealth
One job ain’t gonna cut it if you want to get seriously rich in your 30s. Period.
When I realized this, I went from having one income stream to five within 18 months:
- My day job
- A side business consulting in my field of expertise
- Dividend investments
- Real estate rental income (more on this below)
- Digital products that generate passive income
Each stream started small, but they compounded over time. By 37, my side hustles were making more than my main job!
House Hacking: How I Lived for Free While Building Wealth
One of my absolute BEST wealth-building moves was house hacking. If you haven’t heard of this before, you’re missing out BIG TIME.
Here’s what I did: I purchased a duplex, lived in one unit, and rented out the other. The rent covered my entire mortgage and most expenses! This meant:
- I was essentially living for free
- Building equity in a property
- Getting tax benefits from owning real estate
- Learning property management skills
After two years, I repeated the process with a fourplex while renting out both sides of my duplex. Within five years, I had five properties generating positive cash flow every month.
The Magic of Compound Interest (It’s Not Boring, I Promise!)
I know that the term “compound interest” sounds like the dullest subject ever, but it’s actually the most magical thing in the world of money.
In my early 30s, I committed to maxing out my 401(k) contributions (which was around 15% of my income). My employer matched the first 6%, which was essentially free money. But I didn’t stop there – I also opened both traditional and Roth IRAs and contributed regularly.
By 39, these retirement accounts had grown WAY more than what I’d put in, thanks to compound interest and market growth. The secret? Starting early and being consistent, even when it was tempting to skip a month.
Emergency Fund on Steroids
Most advisors tell you to have 3-6 months of expenses saved. I decided to build what I call an “opportunity fund” that could cover a FULL YEAR of expenses.
This might sound excessive, but it changed how I approached risk. When an amazing investment opportunity came along, or when I wanted to start a new business venture, I didn’t have to worry about basic survival. This freedom to take calculated risks accelerated my wealth-building tremendously.
The Digital Product Revolution
One of my most successful wealth-building strategies was creating digital products. With just my knowledge and a laptop, I built assets that generate income while I sleep.
I started with a simple e-book about a topic I knew well from my day job. It only made about $200 the first month, but I kept creating – online courses, templates, and digital tools. These products required intense work upfront but now generate thousands in passive income every month.
The great thing about digital products is that once they are made, they are almost free to send, which means that you can make huge profits.
Investing Smarter, Not Just More
In my early 30s, I was just throwing money into random stocks without a strategy. What a mistake that was!
I eventually educated myself and developed a more balanced approach:
- 70% in low-cost index funds (boring but effective!)
- 15% in carefully researched individual stocks
- 10% in real estate investments (both physical properties and REITs)
- 5% in higher-risk investments like startup companies and cryptocurrency
This diversification has protected me during market downturns while still giving me exposure to high-growth opportunities.
Getting Rid of Toxic Debt ASAP
Not all debt is created equal! I distinguished between “good debt” (like my rental property mortgages that generated income) and “bad debt” (high-interest credit cards and consumer loans).
I made it my mission to eliminate all toxic debt by age 35. This meant:
- Creating a debt snowball plan
- Using balance transfer offers strategically
- Putting any windfalls (bonuses, tax refunds) toward debt
- Cutting expenses temporarily to accelerate payoff
When the bad debt was gone, I had hundreds more dollars to invest every month, which really sped up the process of getting rich.
The Power of Your Network
This might sound cliché, but it’s TRUE: your net worth is influenced by your network.
In my mid-30s, I joined several mastermind groups and professional organizations where I could connect with people who were already wealthy. These relationships led to:
- Investment opportunities I’d never have found otherwise
- Business partnerships that multiplied my income
- Mentorship from people who’d already achieved what I wanted
- Referrals that brought high-value clients to my business
Taking Advantage of Employer Benefits (Free Money!)
This is something so many people in their 30s overlook! Your employer might be offering several wealth-building tools that you’re not maximizing.
I made sure to take full advantage of:
- 401(k) matching (never leave free money on the table!)
- Health Savings Account contributions (triple tax advantage!)
- Employee stock purchase programs with discounts
- Professional development funds for courses and certifications
- Commuter benefits and other pre-tax perks
These benefits added thousands to my bottom line without requiring extra work.
The Uncomfortable Truth: Lifestyle Matters
I’m not gonna sugarcoat this: if you want to get rich in your 30s, you probably need to live differently than most of your peers.
While my friends were:
- Buying luxury cars with hefty payments
- Upgrading to the fanciest apartment in town
- Taking lavish vacations on credit
- Eating out at trendy restaurants 5 nights a week
I was:
- Driving a reliable but unsexy used car
- House hacking to minimize housing costs
- Taking meaningful but budget-conscious trips
- Cooking most meals at home and being selective about dining out
Did I miss out on some experiences? Maybe. But the financial freedom I’ve gained was 100% worth the temporary sacrifices.
Health Is Wealth (Literally)
Something that surprised me was how much my physical and mental health impacted my ability to build wealth.
I invested in:
- Regular exercise (which boosted my energy and productivity)
- Quality sleep (essential for making good financial decisions)
- Stress management (meditation and time in nature)
- Preventative healthcare (to avoid costly medical issues later)
These investments in myself paid dividends in my career performance, business success, and ability to maintain the hustle during key wealth-building years.
Giving Back: The Secret Ingredient
Weirdly enough, one of the things that accelerated my wealth-building journey was giving some of it away. I started donating to causes I cared about and mentoring younger professionals.
This practice:
- Kept me grateful and grounded
- Expanded my network in unexpected ways
- Provided tax benefits
- Gave me perspective during challenging times
The Bottom Line
Getting rich in your 30s isn’t about following some get-rich-quick scheme. It’s about making consistent, strategic decisions day after day, year after year.
I’m not special – I didn’t inherit money, I didn’t get lucky with a startup acquisition, and I didn’t have some unique talent. What I did have was determination, a willingness to learn, and the discipline to play the long game.
Your 30s are a financial sweet spot where you have enough experience to make good decisions but enough time for compound interest to work its magic. Start today, be consistent, and by your 40th birthday, you might be amazed at how far you’ve come.
What wealth-building strategy are you most excited to implement? Drop a comment below – I’d love to hear your thoughts!
P.S. If you found this helpful, make sure to subscribe to my newsletter where I share more detailed strategies on building wealth in your 30s and beyond!
These money habits will help you avoid debt, save more, and plan for the future.
By Bobby Hoyt, Founder of Millennial Money Man Sponsored by Regions Bank, Member FDIC. All thoughts are my own and Im not a Regions client.
When I was in my 20s, people told me that I’d have everything together in my 30s. I’d know exactly what I want out of life and how to get it. What I found to be true about your 30s is that you start to get more comfortable with who you are and your priorities for the future come into focus.
Whether your experience is similar to mine or completely different, your 30s are a great time to learn some new money skills that can help you take control of your finances. These money habits can help you avoid debt, save more, and create a solid plan for your future.
5 money habits to build in your 30s
Many people start earning more as they get older. At least, that’s the idea. But something can happen as you start earning more: you start spending to match your income. This is sometimes referred to as lifestyle creep or lifestyle inflation.
The idea is that as you start to make more money, you can spend more of it on non-essential items… a nicer car, eating out more, more expensive clothes, etc.
After years of budget living, it feels good to finally make enough to afford some small luxuries.
Trust me, I get it. I recently took up golf, which is probably the least budget-friendly sport out there.
There’s nothing wrong with spending a little more on yourself as you begin to earn more money, but the problem is when you put those extras before the overall health of your financial life. It’s possible for some people to still feel broke and unable to save money even when their income lets them.
Here are some ways to avoid lifestyle creep and focus on spending less than you make:
- Don’t forget to make a budget. Your budget will help you decide how to pay off your high-interest consumer debt and save for retirement.
- Be smart about what you give yourself as a reward. Reward makes you want to keep working hard, but don’t think you need a new car or a fancy vacation. Instead, think about a nice dinner out or a special bottle of wine.
- I often tell people in their 20s this, but I still see it in my 30s: stop trying to keep up with your peers. We love to compare ourselves to other people our age. Don’t let what other people do with their money affect how you spend yours.
- Increase your spending slowly. When you do start spending more on extras, make small changes at first (as long as you still meet your savings goals). For instance, instead of buying new furniture for the whole house, pick out just one room or one piece of furniture that needs to be replaced.
I mentioned in the last section that you need to prioritize your savings, and one of the easiest ways to do that is to pay yourself first.
This is the kind of personal finance advice your parents may have given you, and you’ve probably seen it mentioned in other places, too. It’s one of those things that seems too simple to be effective. The reality is that it’s one of the most effective ways to save money.
Here’s how it works: every month before you pay any other bills, put some money in savings. That’s before you buy groceries, pay your mortgage, and even before you make your student loan payment.
It’s like skimming a little money off the top. Instead of waiting until the end of the month to save what’s leftover, you save first.
There are a couple of different ways to pay yourself first:
- Set up direct deposit for your paycheck. It’s easy to do and will save you a lot of money. You can also split your direct deposit between more than one account, so some of it can go to savings and some can go to bank account.
- Make a plan for money to move automatically from your checking account to your savings account as soon as you get paid.
Payment to yourself first works like magic and is a great habit to form because it teaches you that your money is the most important thing. It allows you to build wealth so that you’re better prepared for emergencies, able to save up for retirement, and ready to reach your future financial goals.
This is truly one of the times when future you will be grateful that you put in the work.
By your 30s, you might be married, in a long-term committed relationship, or heading towards one. And you and that person are going to need to get comfortable talking about money.
What works for my wife and me is that we have a money date once a month. She’s pregnant right now, but before that we’d sit down with a bottle of wine and go through all of our accounts – personal, brokerage, and business accounts. It feels less like a chore this way.
We talk about our goals, make changes to how much we spend, and keep each other focused on our shared financial future when we go on money dates.
This has been a huge help throughout our marriage, and I even remember the money date when I told her I wanted to quit my teaching job to blog full-time. The look on her face was calm, and she said, “Okay, let’s make a plan.”
If you’re not doing something like this yet, build it into your routine. Find a time that works for the two of you and go in with an open mind and speak honestly about your concerns and goals.
Regions offers great guidance for talking about money with your partner, from setting an agenda to what to do if things get heated.
Here’s the hard truth: Being in your 30s means you’re about halfway to retirement age. If you actually want to retire one day, you need to be making regular contributions to your retirement savings and investing in your 30s.
Retirement accounts build your savings using compound interest, which is the process of earning interest on interest. It’s how you see exponential growth in your savings. With compound interest, time is on your side.
That doesn’t mean that if you haven’t started saving for retirement now that you’re out of luck. Instead, it means you need to make a plan to start saving now.
I highly recommend that you check out this guide to saving for retirement. It explains the following steps:
- Make plans for the long term. Picture what you want your retirement to be like to figure out how much you need to save.
- Discover more about compound interest: how it works and why it’s so important.
- Look over your options. This is how you will get money in retirement: an IRA, a pension, an employer-sponsored retirement plan, or something else.
- Check your company’s benefits. Learn how to look at your company’s 401(k) and how to talk to them when you switch jobs.
- You should learn about Social Security. Most people in their 30s won’t need it, but you should still make sure you understand it.
- Make a budget and start saving. Your current income and spending can change how much you save for retirement.
- Change your goals as needed. Your retirement plans will change as your life does.
Your credit score is one marker of your financial health and how lenders determine how risky it is to let you borrow money. The higher the risk (low credit score), the more expensive it is to borrow money. The lower the risk (high credit score), the less expensive it is to borrow money.
Having a decent credit score is increasingly important in your 30s if you’re thinking about buying a new house, refinancing your mortgage or student loans, or taking out any other kind of loan. Because your credit score directly affects the interest rate and terms of your loan.
I used the mortgage comparison calculator to see how much it would cost to borrow a $250,000 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. I ran two different interest rates based on credit scores:
- Loan 1: Fair credit score (620), interest rate of 4. 5% interest rate, you’ll pay $206,016 in interest over the life of the loan.
- Loan 2: Excellent credit score (800), interest rate of 2. 7% interest rate, you’ll pay $119,804% in interest over the life of your loan.
In this example, a better credit score saves you over $86,000! So yes, while it’s good to avoid taking on debt, we don’t live in a world where the majority of people can pay cash for major purchases like a house. You need a decent credit score to save money when you borrow. Learn more about understanding your credit score. The best thing you can do to grow your score is to always make on-time payments and watch your credit utilization rate (this is how much debt you have).
The final word on how to build wealth in your 30s
I’m really enjoying my 30s right now – amazing wife, baby on the way, and a job I love, but that doesn’t mean that being in your 30s isn’t stressful at times. We have a growing list of responsibilities, and future plans like retirement are only getting closer. With the money habits I’ve explained here, you can build a healthy financial life for yourself now and in the future.
About Bobby Hoyt
Inspired by a mentor to reach for more after starting MillennialMoneyMan.com and paying off his loans, Bobby Hoyt began a pursuit of all things personal finance. Unsatisfied with the financial condition of his fellow millennials, he applied his knowledge as an educator to his blog. His mission is to encourage fellow Millennials (and generations beyond!) to adhere to four main principles:
- Live below your means until you don’t have to anymore.
- Don’t finance stuff you don’t need.
- If your friends are better than you, don’t try to keep up with them.
- Work really hard, then make your money work for you.
Through his work on Millennial Money Man, he hopes to help change the face of personal finance in Gen Y by challenging his readers to slay their debt, increase their income, and plan for their future.
Since quitting his band director job after earning $3 in ad revenues (a tactic he doesn’t recommend to students of his blogging courses) he has grown his blog to reach over 2 million readers each year. He’s a regular personal finance columnist for the American Psychological Association and has made appearances on major media outlets such as Forbes, CNBC, and MarketWatch. A firm believer in the importance of the side hustle (and an educator who values sharing his knowledge), he partnered with former high school classmate Mike Yanda to teach others how to grow their income by running Facebook ads, along with two other active blogger-focused courses at Laptop Empires.
Bobby lives in the Houston, Texas area with his wife Coral, their wonderfully strange dog Strider, and can usually be found on the golf course, or boating on some body of water when they aren’t traveling.
A Step-By-Step Guide to Building Wealth in Your 30s
FAQ
How can I become rich in my 30s?
Personal Insights How to Build Wealth in Your 30s with 5 Money HabitsSpend less than you make. Many people start earning more as they get older. Pay yourself first. Talk about money with your partner. Regularly contribute to your retirement account. Keep an eye on your credit score.
What creates 90% of millionaires?
The statement that “90% of millionaires are made in real estate” is a widely circulated claim but is considered a myth by financial experts like those at Nasdaq.
How rich is the average 30 year old?
| Average wealth per adult | Physical wealth | Total wealth |
|---|---|---|
| 20 to 24 | £10,625 | £32,135 |
| 25 to 29 | £15,618 | £75,393 |
| 30 to 34 | £20,169 | £90,730 |
| 35 to 39 | £23,167 | £146,722 |
How long will it take to become a millionaire if I invest $1000 a month?
Those who invest $1,000 a month at a 9.1% rate of return would become millionaires in 23.6 years.
How can I build wealth in my 30s?
From investing for retirement to cutting your debt, these steps can help you build wealth in your 30s and keep you financially healthy for years to come. Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right Loading Home Buying Calculators How Much House Can I Afford? Mortgage Calculator Rent vs Buy.
How much money should you invest in your 30s?
The exact amount will depend on your individual situation, but saving and investing 10-15 percent of your income is generally a safe bet. Remember that money you invest during your 30s should be worth more than the money you save in your 40s and 50s because it will compound for longer.
What should I do in my 30s?
Your 30s is a time to clarify your financial goals and start ramping up your savings, aiming to set aside 10-15 percent of your income. Choose the right tools — a workplace retirement plan and an IRA — to put your money to work.
Can a 30 year old be a more aggressive investor?
With decades until retirement age, people in their 30s can afford to be more aggressive investors, even in a volatile market. Your 30s are when a lot of things start coming together. When you reach your 30s, life starts to become a balancing act. You’re (hopefully) starting to hit your career stride and earning more.
How can you increase your wealth in a free-market economy?
From having multiple streams of income to investing your savings, there are many ways you can increase your wealth in a free-market economy. “In a free-market economy, anyone can make as much money as they want,” emphasizes self-made millionaire Steve Siebold, who has also studied over 1,200 of the world’s wealthiest people.
Should you invest in stocks in your 30s?
In your early 30s, it’s fine to stay heavily in stocks, but you might consider mixing in some bonds and other safer investments as you get older and closer to retirement. It should be noted that if you’re invested in a target-date fund, that rebalancing will happen automatically as you get older. 5. Get Rid of Existing Debt.