what is a good net worth at 30 years of age?

I would say about a million to half a million dollars.

Net? how about anything in the black.

I don't think there is a single answer. At 30 years old I had about $100K total, with $48K of it in 401(k) and IRA retirement accounts. But five years later at age 35 I had about $360K total, with $184K in untouchable retirement accounts.

Hopefully at age 30 your income is ramping up rapidly. At about that age I started making more, and thus was able to save more.

Now the sub-14:00 5K, millionaire, minimalist shoe types can pipe in. And something tells me we'll hear from FW.

money man wrote:

I would say about a million to half a million dollars.

Sure, for trust fund babies and the 1% of working people for which that's actually attainable. The previous poster is a little bit more reality-based. Having no debt and contributing 10-15% of income to a medium-to-high-yield 401K is a bit more realistic goal. I know most young guys also probably don't want to hear this, but the younger you get married, the more wealth you build.

You can never be too rich or too thin.

net worth isn't necessarily as important as earning potential at that age.

having net worth of $1m at 30 but being "stuck" with little growth potential isn't as good as being in a great position to really make some money (ie. very well positioned in a growing company).

when i was 30 my net worth was about zero, now at 41 it's pretty ridiculous (and growing daily)

however, i'm still really slow so you should probably ignore me.

I would say about 100K is a good start. My current financial plan will put me at around 211K with just under half in 401K.

But then again this answer varies from person to person. If you have a lot of college debt then having a clean slate at 30 is a great start (I have friends with 100K plus in loans), there isn't an answer.

The best situation to be in at 30 is

(1) Debt Free

(2) Fit and healthy

(3) A few good friends around the world.

(4) A degree from a good university.

That is all you need.

. . . and no drug convictions.

MAYEROFF wrote:

The best situation to be in at 30 is

(1) Debt Free

(2) Fit and healthy

(3) A few good friends around the world.

(4) A degree from a good university.

That is all you need.

alright! i got that at 25!!! and a master's to boot!

and i'm kinda fast...sub 4 1500 and sub 15 5k.

Perfect answer Jason.

Typical for today is:

huge mortgage

huge credit card debt

2 kids

1.74 dogs

a cat

a wife

no sex

negative savings rate

alright! wrote:

MAYEROFF wrote:

The best situation to be in at 30 is

(1) Debt Free

(2) Fit and healthy

(3) A few good friends around the world.

(4) A degree from a good university.

That is all you need.

alright! i got that at 25!!! and a master's to boot!

and i'm kinda fast...sub 4 1500 and sub 15 5k.

I have all those at 24! Oh except the 1500.

I'm 31

I have negative net worth (50K);..

but just finished graduate professional training about a year ago..and now make a top 1% salary (>200k)

It is vastly more important to have a savings plan and have earning potential when you are young, than to save much when you are in your 20s..I basicly traveled a lot and spent most of my salary in the 20s..and don't regret it at all!

I think it was Henry Ford who said that he never saved a dime until he was 40..hopefully at 40, my net worth will be more substantial..

good post. i'm in a similar situation, but still on the non-earning side of that graduate school graduation (phd...not so fun). the end is in site though. Six figure starting salaries, along with a girlfriend (significant other...whatever) making six figures will have us catching up to people pretty quickly i hope.

If you are 30 and debt free (as Mayeroff said) then you are in control of your own destiny. The goal for anyone with JUST a Bachelor's Degree should be to be debt free by age 30. If you didn't go to college, unless you spent a lot of money on some other kind of schooling or had a family emergency, you should NEVER have been in debt (other than a house that you bought with a 15-year fixed mortgage that takes no more than 25% of your take home pay each month).

Let's say that you finally got all the student loans paid for and a car paid for by the time you are 30 (which should be a goal for any college graduate). Perhaps time now to buy a house, but, with NO OTHER DEBT (no car, no student loans, no credit card debt, no other debt of any kind) you can do that AND invest a lot.

Math time...

Let's say that at age 30 you start with nothing and you are making $45,000. Let's be conservative and say that you NEVER get a raise the next 32 years (pretty much impossible). Put 15% away (with NO company match) into a 401k (that's $6750 a year) and at age 62 (which is now considered early retirement) you will have $1.06 million dollars. Take 4% of that the first year (which you will adjust for inflation each year) and you'll have $42,400 each year without touchng the principle. Add to it the social security you WILL GET, and you'll be making more than you did per year while working. You'll need that too as you'll have to pay for medical care until you are 65 and can get Medicare (US residents of course).

Now, you won't be RICH on that plan, but look how conservative I was there. If you EVER make more than $45,000 a year, you'll have more. If you get ANY company match you'll have more. If you can contribute MORE than 15% you'll have more. If you start earlier or work a little longer you'll have more.

To many of you $6750 a year seems like a LOT of money, but since it is taken out before you are taxed on it, you are taxed less on your income, and so it's not like you're missing $6750 of spendable money there. A little sacrifice goes a LONG way.

I was fortunate enough to see the light and started putting money away for retirement at age 23. Had a financial bad patch at age 28 or so and went into a little bit of debt (though my retirement money was there, but I couldn't touch it without early withdrawal penalties and taxes taking as much as 40% of it), so I took a second job and got those debts paid off by about age 30 and now at age 41 I have been debt free except for my house since.

I would advise doing things in the following order (basic idea from Dave Ramsey):

1) $1000 emergency fund.

2) 15% of your income to retirement accounts (401k and IRAs).

3) Build that emergency fund up to 3-6 months of expenses.

4) Start throwing extra money at the house to get it paid for.

5) Invest further than the retirement account will allow (separate mutual funds, individual stocks if you're a big risk taker, real estate, etc.).

No reason in the world why a 30 year old today with a college degree can't retire by age 62 a multi millionaire.

With George Bush in charge anything could happen...

An interesting view of todays 20-30 year old life plans.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2652827.ece

notarichman wrote:

And something tells me we'll hear from FW.

Nice call.

Sorry -Forgot the quote:The odyssey years cover the ever-widening transition period between student life and adulthood, according to William Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. “The word ‘odyssey’ captures the sense of exploration,” he said. “The three basic undertakings of adulthood are to get a job, to find a mate and to reproduce. There has been a massive deferral of all those commitments.”

wineturtle wrote:

An interesting view of todays 20-30 year old life plans.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2652827.ece