Your 20s are a fun, exciting, yet confusing time of your life.
For many people, your 20s are when you’re starting to live on your own, get a full-time job, and try to figure out who you are as a person, your interests, and how to navigate the real world. While you’re spending the time to learn and grow as a person, there’s a lot of things that you can do and invest in, in your 20s that will pay off big time in the long run. Investing in certain things in your 20s can impact your future in ways you can’t imagine.
I’ve put together a list of 10 Things that Everyone Needs to Invest in Their 20s.
If you haven’t implemented and invested in any of the items below and you’re not in your 20s, you can still start investing in these items. When it comes to investing in all sense, financially, mentally, and physically, there’s no better time to start than right now.
Stock Market
Financial investments can seem super intimidating at first regardless if you’re in your 20s or 50s. I know I was super intimidated with the thought of investing. I originally thought I didn’t have enough money to start investing and honestly had no idea what to do. The best thing to do when you don’t know much about a topic, like investing, is to do your research. After watching countless YouTube videos and reading articles,
I learned that the best time to start investing is right now.
The longer you wait when it comes to investing, the more money you’re missing out on. You don’t need to be making millions of dollars a year to get your investment portfolio started. Starting small and learning the ropes in your 20s of investing is a great place to start.
Robinhood and Index Funds like Spaceships is what we’ve been using to get into investing. Robinhood is a super simple App available in the U.S. that allows you to buy individual stocks in all major companies like Uber, all major airlines, Microsoft, Disney, Starbucks, and more. It’s completely free to download and if you use my link: here you can get your first stock free just for signing up!
If you join the app, Spaceships, with the code S8S6UW1BKW after investing your first $5, you will automatically get another $10 invested into your account. The great thing about Spaceship and other index funds is that it does all the work for you and invests in multiple companies under one investment. If you’re just starting out with investing or want something hassle-free index funds are a great option.
After doing some research on investing, I realized that having my money in just a standard savings account, I’m actually losing money because of inflation. Not only does the stock market give you a larger return most the time than any savings account ever would, but it help
ensure your money is working for you and not against you.
Retirement
Along with the stock market, starting to plan and invest in retirement now, is essential.
When you look at calculations all about compounding interest and how with saving smaller amounts in your 20s verse your 30s or 40s and how much more money you can have in time for retirement is mindblowing.
Albert Einstein refers to compounding interest as the most powerful force in the universe.
A lot of employers in the U.S. match your 401K retirement account. This is something you should 100% be taking advantage of and be putting in the maximum amount available. This is free money and should not be overlooked.
If you’re like me and living abroad, with the future being uncertain of where you may end up or live when it comes time to retire, it’s important to cover all your basis. Since I’m living in Australia and don’t have an employer to set up a 401K, I set up a ROTH IRA or individual retirement fund this year.
The sooner you start planning for retirement, the better you’ll be off when it comes time to retire.
Here are some great articles that talk all about why your 20s are a crucial part of investing in your financial future.
The Balance: Why Your 20s Are Crucial to Your Financial Future
CNBC: Here’s what you should be doing in your 20s, 30s, and 40s to retire wealthy
Jemma Financial: The Power of Saving for Retirement in Your 20s
A Mattress
As you get older, you start to realize the value of sleep and how it can truly affect your mood, productivity and mental health.
Getting a good quality mattress that is right for you and your body type is a great investment to make. I personally went way too long with sleeping on a bed that wasn’t working for my body type and in turn, led to unnecessary restless nights, lower back pain, and plenty of days of having bad attitudes.
A couple of months ago, I was able to partner with Emma Sleep Australia to try out their Emma Original Mattress. I did a full review of my experience with my Emma mattress, but I can honestly say that both my partner and my sleep has dramatically improved since we received our Emma mattress. Not only do we feel so much better mentally, but we’ve seen positive aspects such as being more productive during the day, waking up feeling refreshed, and also my lower back pain is completely gone.
The college days of sleeping on a mattress on the floor are over and having a proper bed frame and a mattress that works for you and your body type is something that you need to invest in your 20s.
You can check out my full review of the Emma Original Mattress 2 months later below.
With Emma mattresses having free shipping, a 100-night trial period, and made for all body types, I highly recommend you look into getting an Emma mattress for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.
If interested, you can use my promo code WANDERING15 for 15% off your purchase.
Education
Your early 20s is when a lot of people spend the time investing in their education further whether that be attending a university or apprenticeships. However, what I’ve learned after post-grad and entering the workforce is that it’s always important to continue your education and learning to keep up.
Especially when it comes to your career, just getting your college degree, most of the time, isn’t enough to stay up-to-date with your chosen industry.
A college education is important, but it’s not for everyone. Regardless of your education path, further educating yourself on a daily basis is important for you to become a well-educated, well-rounded individual. Investing in learning by taking free online courses or YouTube tutorials, but also furthering your educating in areas that may not necessarily interest you, but are so important like politics, human rights, and finances will help you grow as an individual.
A lot of these areas, the traditional school doesn’t dive into but are essential for you to feel competent when it comes to everyday life.
There is so much being discussed in the U.S. and the world right now when it comes to human rights, politics, and health care. When you’re well educated in different areas you can feel informed, form your own opinions on issues, and also avoid being taken advantage of.
It’s also important to note that you don’t need a college education to be educated. There is an abundance of information all at our fingertips with the Internet. Investing time into listening to informative podcasts like Stuff You Should Know, reading books, subscribing to news emails, watching YouTube tutorials, or taking free online courses as I mentioned in a previous blog post or on websites like Skillshare, are all ways you can further your education without going to college.
Learning to Cook
The start of my 20s is when I started to notice that I can’t, in fact, eat or drink anything I want and be fine the next day.
For most people, your 20s is when you realize that your metabolism isn’t going to be fast forever. Although in your 20s you don’t have to deal with a lot of the side effects of aging, everything you do right now will affect how you feel when you’re older.
Eating a proper, healthy diet is the fundamental of having good health and mental well-being. Food is fuel and healthy eating helps you not only maintain a healthy weight but reduces your risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and developing cardiovascular disease and some cancers.
It is possible to eat healthy when eating out, but it’s not easy. Learning some key, staple recipes that you can make perfect is a great skill to develop in your 20s and something you should invest your time in learning. Not only will these recipes come in handy if you have a dinner party, meal prep, or if you one day have a family, it’s also a great way to save you money with avoiding take out.
In my 20s, I really started to experiment when it comes to cooking and take pride in my dishes. I highly recommend you start a food board on Pinterest and save all the recipes that look good to you and start slow working in new recipes into your menu until you feel confident cooking.
Exercise
Along with eating well, investing in the habit of daily exercise will benefit you as you age. I always think about my 97-year-old Great Grandmother who’s still fully mobile that her secret when it comes to being in great shape in her late 90s is that she was always moving around when she was younger. Although she meant that she was always doing things around the house, cooking, cleaning, and never taking a break, I took the general underlying idea of it as an inspiration to just keep moving.
Regardless of your busy scheduling, setting aside time to exercise is something that you need to invest in and take the time to schedule it in your day. Before, I always thought that “working out” was going to the gym, which would be daunting to me sometimes. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve been kinder to myself and came to my senses that exercising every day doesn’t actually mean I need to go to the gym.
Yes, going to the gym can be great and I do like to do my spin classes a couple of times a week, but telling yourself you need to go to the gym every day is unrealistic and can actually deter you away from getting up and getting your 30 minutes of exercise a day.
I incorporate exercise in my everyday life by first thing in the morning taking my dog on a mile + walk. This starts my day on the right foot and with my 30 minutes of exercise already completed. Also, my Apple Watch is a great indicator if my move and exercise goals are met each day. It takes anywhere from 21 days to 3 months to form a habit. Your body will be thanking you as you get older if you invested in this habit in your 20s.
Be kinder on yourself and creating a habit of 30 minutes of fun exercise that you can maintain every day is something you should invest time doing in your 20s.
If you’re looking for more motivation when it comes to working out, check out my posts How to Workout at Home and 5 Easy Ways to Stick To Your Workout.
Skincare
Your 20s is the time to start being proactive and not reactive.
Skincare can come in many different forms in your 20s but it’s all-important areas to invest in. Investing in moisturizing undereye cream and incorporating it into your daily routine, making sure to always remove your makeup off before going to bed, and moisturizing your face and body constantly are all things that your body will thank you now and later for.
Another huge aspect of your skincare routine is wearing SPF. Most of us want to age well and although it’s great getting a Summer tan, it can be extremely harmful to your skin and increase your risk of fine lines, wrinkles, and skin cancer. Investing in a good SPF for not only your body but your face as well as key in your 20s so you can start preventing premature aging from the get-go.
I personally love using the Simple Daily Moisturizer with SPF 15 every day under my makeup. It’s an easy way to incorporate SPF into my daily routine, doesn’t break me out, and something that I remember to do year-round. Remember, you can get sunburned in the Winter too which is why it’s essential to wear SPF every single day.
Emergency Savings
2020 has truly shown all of us the importance of having a comfortable savings account.
An emergency savings account isn’t a quick process and is something that can take years and years to reach your emergency savings goals. Life is unpredictable and having a safety net like an emergency savings account can give you the peace of mind that whatever life throws at you, financially, you can handle it.
A good rule of thumb is to have 3-6 months of expenses saved in your emergency account. This includes rent/mortgage, grocery budget, all bills, gas etc. All the necessities that you need to “survive” for 3-6 months without any income is what you should start as your emergency savings goal. After looking at your budget and determining your 6-month amount, can be a little intimidating. I recommend the first year to aim for saving around 1-2 months of your savings into your emergency account. The second year, work on saving a couple more months and by the third year, you should have 6 months of savings in your emergency.
Once you hit the 6-month mark, you can take a step back and not be as intense with your savings plan. That being said, with the pandemic that is currently going on for over 3 months, a 6 months emergency fund may not cut it anymore.
A good rule is to invest every year after that by extending your emergency account by a month or two until you get to a place where you feel comfortable and secure with it.
If you’re looking to tighten your budget and save more money, especially during the pandemic, you may find my post helpful: How to Financially Survive the Pandemic: How to Budget and Keep Afloat.
Travel
I personally believe travel is such a huge component in growth as an individual.
Some essential ways that travel can benefit you include:
- Improve Social and Communication Skills
- Ensure Peace of Mind
- Help You Get Original and Creative Thoughts
- Broaden Your Horizons
- Enhance Your Tolerance for Uncertainty
- Boost Up Your Confidence
- Get You Real-life Education
- Create Memories for Lifetime
You have your whole life to travel, so why is investing in traveling in your 20s so important?
Chances are, in your 20s, you have less responsibility and excuses than you will have later on in life. Whether you want kids and a family or not, things like children, mortgages, bills, relationships all start to get in the way of traveling as you get older. Investing in traveling while you’re in your 20s is also taking the steps to invest in your personal growth and figuring yourself out, your beliefs, and your passions. Traveling and experiencing other cultures is a great way to be educated and form your opinions and beliefs outside of your immediate community.
I have tons of posts of how you can incorporate traveling more into your life. Check out the posts below for some travel inspiration:
How to Travel While Working Full-Time
The Best Sites for Finding Cheap Flights
How to Stay Healthy and Avoid Getting Sick When Flying
How to Afford to Travel More in College
A Side Hustle
Side hustles are getting more and more popular every year.
If you haven’t heard, side hustles are a “side gig” and something that you can make money from unrelated to your full-time job. Side hustles are great for reaching a financial goal, pursuing your passion while working full-time, or paying down debt. I personally have a handful of side hustles including blogging, freelancing, copywriting, and a gourmet cheese platter business. All these side hustles give me additional income to my full-time job and allow me to invest more money, pay off my student debt, and invest in financial goals we have, such as buying a house one day.
Why is investing in a side hustle so important in your 20s?
You can start your side hustle anytime in your life. However, in your 20s you are new to entering the professional workforce, you need experience in industries to start working your way up the pay ladder, and a lot of time you have a lot more energy and drive to succeed. Investing in your side hustle in your 20s will allow you to hopefully achieve passive income later on in life so when your older, you can reap all the benefits of working hard during your 20s and enjoying the benefits later on.
A huge motivation for starting a side hustle is to pay down any debt, such as student debt. Getting ahold of any credit card debt and student loans and getting that 100% paid off in your 20s will set yourself up for a more comfortable life later on. Being stuck paying off your student loans in your 50s or 60s is not ideal and working a little harder in your 20s to avoid having to do that is a much bigger savings stress-wise and financial wise as well.
I hope you found this post helpful of 10 things Every One Should Invest in Their 20s. Investing in all these things in your 20s will set up financially, mentally, and physically later on in life and you’ll be happy that you did when you’re older.
Is there anything that you think should be added to the list? Let me know in the comments down below!
