Kiplinger

Are You on Track? Financial Planning Goals for Every Decade of Your Life

Your career and lifestyle look completely different when you're in your 20s compared with when you're in your 60s: Your financial focus and planning in each decade should follow suit.

Each decade is riddled with its own risks and problems, so it's important to know what to expect. Which decade can you afford to take more risk? Which decade should you really start to plan for retirement? Which decade should you focus on managing debt?

Set yourself up for future financial success by living each decade to its fullest.

Written by Jamie Hopkins, Esq., LLM, MBA, CFP®, RICP®. He serves as Director of Retirement Research at Carson Wealth and is a finance professor of practice at Creighton University's Heider College of Business. His most recent book, "Rewirement: Rewiring The Way You Think About Retirement," details the behavioral finance issues that hold people back from a more financially secure retirement.

Planning In Your 20s

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Tip No. 1: Invest in Yourself

When you are in your 20s and just starting a career, take time to invest in yourself. This might mean going back to school to earn a master's degree or professional certification. Take the time to grow your human capital, life experiences and knowledge -- it doesn't get easier to invest in yourself later on in life.

Tip No. 2: Build Your Positive Financial Behaviors

Start by saving. Put money into your employer's 401(k) or set up an IRA. Even if you can only put a few hundred dollars away, work on developing and automating your savings.

Tip No. 3: Take Some Risk

When you're young is

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