Quick Tips for Sorting Your Finances in Your 20s

People often joke about poor financial habits in their 20s, but life doesn’t have to be this way! Although it’s true that you’ll likely have a smaller income and working with a tight budget at this point in your life, there are still ways you can improve your financial situation, to help you now and later on. Your future self will thank you!

🤍 Keep a journal, planner or diary

This is so handy for planning your incomes and outcomes and getting in to the mindset of mapping out your expenses, goals and dreams! Also schedule in some small treats and rewards here and there, and include some helpful quotes and mantras that empower you and make you feel good.

🤍 Start saving for retirement

You may be wondering why on earth you need to worry about retirement when you’re in your 20s, but this is actually the perfect time to develop positive financial habits that will help you save money throughout your life. If you want to retire comfortably or retire early, it’s vital that you start saving money for your pension as early as possible, as you can then save gradually throughout the years.

One potential complication is that young workers tend to change jobs much more often, which means you may forget about all of your old workplace pensions once you hit retirement age. To solve this issue, you can track down your old pensions with the Pension Tracing Service and then transfer your pension with Wealthify, allowing you to bring all your pensions together.

🤍 Create a budget

To help you figure out how much you can save each month, you should create a budget. Write down all of your income sources and expenses, identifying problem areas along the way. Then, you can set appropriate spending targets for each category and take control of your finances.

🤍 Reduce spending

When you’re in your 20s, you can sometimes end up spending too much and spending impulsively, especially if you’re not yet focused on saving for big purchases like a car or a house. However, reckless spending when you’re young can have an impact on your finances when you’re older, delaying things like saving for a mortgage.

Using your budget, you should be honest with yourself about your spending habits and figure out where you can cut down. It’s good to treat yourself now and again, but you need to think about the future too.

🤍 Open a savings account

To reduce your spending, you should consider opening a savings account. By transferring a set amount of money to this account every month as soon as you get paid, you won’t be able to overspend, and you’ll also start building up a nice amount of savings. Use your budget to calculate how much you can safely set aside each month.

🤍 Focus on your career

Your 20s are the perfect time to focus on advancing in your career and increasing your salary. Since you’re likely to have fewer responsibilities at this time, you may be able to devote more time to your work and professional development, enabling you to get the promotions and raises you deserve. If this doesn’t work out, remember that you have much more flexibility at this time to change jobs if you need to.

Disclaimer: these tips are just a guideline and there’s nothing to say you can’t do the whole thing backwards and spend your 30’s/40’s/70’s advancing your career instead! Are you in your 20s and worried about your finances? Try out these helpful tips to gain more confidence and take control of your financial situation.