Wealth Mapping Your 20s | Your Best Financial Moves at the Start

The journey to wealth attainment begins in your 20s. Here are the key moves you can make to set yourself on an early course to financial freedom. #thewealthmap #money #personalfinance

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1. HIT THE GROUND RUNNING

During your childhood years you were too busy being a kid to care about what was going to be on the table for dinner or what bills needed to be paid. Fresh out of college - it's time to get after it. Mama loves you, but she doesn't need to be cooking your meals anymore.

Gap year? That's one less year of a paid salary, one fewer year of retirement funding, and one less year of networking and skill-building.

Take the knowledge you've earned, polish up your resume and show the world how hungry you are.

The question is do you want freedom for a single gap year or for life?

Take a page from Sean at www.mymoneywizard.com. At 28 he has already amassed over $250,000 in savings and investments. Debt? What debt? If he stops setting aside money right now, he could have anywhere from $1.6 to $2.2 million dollars by retirement age.

The time is now!

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2. CONSIDER THE ENTIRE PACKAGE

Far too often we look at the salary of a position or the reputation of the company before applying to a job. Even worse, we take a position just because our friend or family member landed a job there.

Salary and company reputation are important, but there's so much more to consider.

Here's what you should be looking out for:

• Salary and bonuses

• Medical, dental and eye coverage

• Retirement offerings and company match

• Vacation time and accrual

• Maternal and paternal leave (for down the road)

• Teleworking

Medical costs continue to rise; retirement offerings, even in 401(k)s, have been known to be less advantageous to employees; and fewer vacation time is being utilized by employees.

Good companies and bosses recognize that in order to attract the top talent it's important to offer comprehensive benefits.

Don't just glean over the salary. Consider everything!

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3. Start investing. Now!

Think about your future self. What would you like to be doing in 20 or 30 years? Do you picture yourself working as hard as you will in your 20s? If not, start investing in your secure financial future.

Some of the best companies offer a 100% company match of up to 6% of your salary in your 401(k). All you have to do is meet a baseline percentage contribution yourself.

This is free money, people! After a certain number of years, you will be vested and the money will be yours. Change jobs? Roll it all over to your new company's 401(k) and continue to let it grow.

The ideal percentage for contributions is around 15%. 20-30% is the ultimate goal, but it's all about getting a start. Say your new company offers 6%, that means you only have to contribute 9% of your salary. That's not bad at all!

Public employees, such as teachers and state troopers, don't have access to employer-based 401(k)s, but they can elect to have money taken out of their paychecks on a pre-tax basis and placed into a deferred comp, 403(b) or 457.

This is an advantage that a lot of employees can jump on, since it will lower their taxable income during tax season. Just remember Uncle Sam will come looking for that money later on.

The key here is you have time on your side. The sooner you start investing the sooner you can retire. Imagine investing like chopping years off the end of your work life, and you might have more fun seeing the money come out of your paycheck.

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4. Start Killing Debts. Now!

Wait. So you say I should invest up to 15% of my salary, while killing off debts? How does that add up? I won't have enough money to live on.

I get it. Hear me out.

You could be debt free by your 30s. That's the goal! All the while, you've been investing and growing your retirement fund, cutting years off of your work life.

Here's how you set aside money for retirement and take a large chunk of your money each month to kill off debts:

• Ride cheap. Still driving a hand me down vehicle? Keep at it! You could either pay $150-$350 towards a brand new ride that loses value every mile its driven, or take that money and accelerate your debt reduction.

• Eat cheap. You're 20! Most of us can still get away with eating just about anything at this stage. Bring your lunch to work and don't go out to eat all the time.

• Live cheap. This is the age where you can split rent and live with other people to cut your costs. It's a great way to free up your monthly income and maintain your social life.

Don't carry debt into your 30s if you don't have to, and don't borrow money from anybody if you can help it.

Fresh into our new careers it's easy to think we can spend, spend, spend. Trust me, when you're staring down the barrel of your wedding, first house and first child you will be happy you are debt free!

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5. Gather Wisdom from the Oldest Living Generation

You might not want to imagine yourself at 70, 80 or 90 years old. But with good health and strong work ethic you could be there one day.

These older folks have seen some things.

Gather as much wisdom as you can before it's gone.

Some of the most frugal individuals are often the wealthiest. Learn how they weathered the storms, and your ship might just land in the harbor of wealth too.

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You can message Adam at wealthmapblog@gmail.com.