Top Money Moves for your 30s

Introduction

Welcome back to another episode of Black Girl fly. I'm your girl Tenisha Nicole. And I'm Shana Dixon. And we're continuing the journey through the decades and the money moves that you should be considering. Now we're in the 30s. So I know, this is where I'm at y'all. I love to hear what we have to say about this. What are your thoughts on this?

Understand Where You Are and Where You're Going

What money moves should we be considering in our 30s? So for most people, and I think you talked about this in an earlier episode, it's you are on the rise to get into your peak income. So I think it's so important to at all times, understand where you are, and what that means to where you're going. Yeah, so in the 30s, I think that the best thing that you can really understand is you need to be preparing for that next phase in your life.

And so I'm thinking about just like, like, Look, you come to your 30s, you got some debt, you still got student loans, stick around for 10 years, if you graduated at 22, you got at least till 32 with that student loan, right. And so it is going to be so important for you to really concentrate on kicking that debt. And then I think the other thing that people don't think about is thinking about how you're going to create income now, for when your income starts to decrease. So we told you guys, before that your income peaks for women, I think in your 40s, for men in your 50s. But at some point, you got to acknowledge that you are going to come to the height of your income. And with the height of your income, typically guys keeping it real, your lifestyle is also higher. And so at some point in your 40s, for women and in your 50s. For me, you're going to either have to one a decrease your lifestyle, or hope that you came up with another way to compensate for a shrinkage in the income that you're bringing home. That just made me very depressed.

Like, you literally have you have you have, like you've been working since you're 20. Dog, you got like 25 years to plan for it. You can't plan for some 25 years. I mean, well, we just spoke to a lady in our church, she's 80. And she just got laid off.

80 Can we just No, I don't want to worry if I'm at so far. So I was gonna say I don't think it's your choice. And you got to acknowledge that, yeah, it's not really within our control. It's not like a lot of employee or employers, they let you go. And then because they don't have a commitment that they had, you know, back in the 60s and 70s, and even 80s. And when you go back out to the work field, I'm going to tell you this, you are more desperate, you are more desperate than a 30 year old coming in competing with you to get the same job. And not only are you more desperate because you have these heightened expenses, but that 30 year old is going to work for less than you will. Yep and do the same job. Yeah. So like faster, the likelihood of you being able to keep going up, goes down. That's reality, but it's not bad, but it's not bad. So I'm gonna say this. This is why because you can plan for another career, you can plan for self employment where you're your own boss, you don't have to, you know, talk to you. You have a plan for passive income where you could choose not to go nowhere, right? Like, like, there's so much opportunity and figuring out how to plan for that next phase.

And that okay, that gives me a little bit

all right, but that's a harsh reality that I wasn't particularly you know, thinking about in that way, but you're right, we're in our pink earning years right now. I think that's been my biggest focus. I need to milk all the cows all they got because the time is now right well, not only that, so

You're Getting Older- Acknowledge It

So I spoke about like your peak earning years, but also you're getting older. Your body is a crack in the morning. I didn't crack it my I'm like

a little bit

though, like guys, like some people are worse than others. So you might be a little bit more flexible. But you have to acknowledge that your body will change in you. Yeah, then

but not only, you know, are you changing in your your earning trajectory that's coming out, but your physical health, you know, even like your capacity. One thing that I've never thought about before until my mom get older is I didn't notice before, I guess I was too young to notice it. But your capacity for handling things, you get older, it decreases.

That ashame lack capacity is pretty low. No, but it's I do have to look up this way. So how this came to me was like, on time, I was like, complaining about my mom, like, I was like, Oh, she used to be, you know, whatever. A muffin. And that's like my cousin. She's like, my mom do the same thing. Somebody else they're like, why is it that my mom can do?

But no, but but I do want you to pay attention that that your overall capacity? Yeah, yeah. I mean, what you do today is different from what she'll do tomorrow. And I think that for me, it's also lack of understanding or lack of knowledge of what it will be like then. Right, but you know, what you are today, you know, what your capacity is today? You know, you can do today. And I think that that's, that's useful to know, and that you should take advantage of it. And I think it's I think it's interesting not to take us on another road. But I think it's interesting that women peak before men and just wondering what that says about, you know, what we should be doing like that our salary peaks performing? Exactly, yeah.

Maybe that is part of the design of why we shouldn't be single, right? Because then we can ride the wave a little bit longer if we have a partner. I wonder if that has anything to do with that.

Of those two different peaks? Well, I was thinking, even about like your children. So women typically have children in their 20s and in their 30s. And by the time you're 44, your kids are out of the house. So like my thing is like imagine, no one is dependent on me. Like they were depending on me. I'm not required to, you know, deliver, like I was required to deliver before. Yeah, that makes sense. That's what one thing I'm not guys, I didn't that didn't that check that.

As a mom, like, like, right now, it's really important to me that I establish a good foundation for my children financially. And I just don't think that I feel the same way when you're 20. You're on your own.

If I didn't teach you now, you ain't gonna give exactly. There's no hope for you. Sorry.

Tips for the 30s

Any other things you would say about the 30s? What else? So So I say it's kind of pay down your debts? Yeah. And and so you're working on making sure that if you want it to, you could increase your lifestyle increase, like, like your ability to produce income in the future? That was one that was number two without I mean, that requires less of you that there's some caveat around it being somewhat passive. Yep, yep, yep. And so that whole idea is in really preparing for a reduction in like your wages in the future.

Um, I would say, enjoy yourself. Um, when we do that in our 20s, well,

I think, but like, give, like, enjoy the things that you're interested in now.

And, and that, to me is something that I don't think I've really spent a lot of time on. But as I think about like, all the aging people that I've seen, like, there's so many people who I've heard, say, Oh, I wish I would have done this. So I didn't get to do this or, or that. And I told you like you're in the peak in your prime, I think in your 30s, where you've established yourself enough to be able to do some things. So take a part of what you've earned and accumulate to really kind of do some things that are interesting to you. Because I don't know that you will

always have the ability to enjoy it or the opportunity to do it. In other scenarios. That's also very depressing. But I get where you're coming from. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So do some of those bucket list items you're talking about? Yeah.

And don't take yourself so seriously.

Like, in life? Yeah, that's a good rule. Because I feel like when we look back on our 20s, like, we thought we knew everything and we took ourselves so seriously. And then the 30s are like we just doing what we have

to get by. But everybody in the getting by that I think sometimes like my focus was on getting by and not on enjoying and maybe it's a little different. It wasn't on enjoying I actually had a conversation with someone recently. And they were like, you're like seem pretty good. Right now. You

showing it like, are you really stopping to smell the roses? And I was like, You know what?

I should do some more of that. Like I should, like, just sit down and be like, I'm good right now. Like, yeah, like, yeah, the I always have these desires of moving further and whatnot. But, guys, I'm healthy. My family is healthy. We all still like each other.

Yes, even after two years.

That's a blessing.

Like, and we can genuinely just smile. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's a lot to be grateful for. Yeah. And to sit back and enjoy that. And realize how far we have come? Yes. Yeah. The decades that we've talked about previously. We've We've come a long way. Yeah, I was saying, we have a conversation about value. I mean, like, in just understanding how different you are today and where you are before, I think that's huge. Yeah. And I think we can't really see it, you know, in the day to day unless we take a step back and realize, yeah, how far it was from where we used to be. Yeah. What about you anything else in your 30s? Oh, I'm still at the beginning of my 30. Young Miss compensate.

Still learning and figuring it out. But I mean, I think, again, I've talked about this that nauseum. But I think the family thing is really important. And, you know, I think just understanding better understanding yourself, and like, how you can use your gifts to impact people. And hopefully, that's the kind of work that you can be doing, you know, after you finish the grind work, or that you've transitioned your grind into that kind of work, or blessing. If you figure that out. You know, it's I think that that is the goal, if you can attain it in your 30s. I think that would be something Yeah, I do think I do think that's something that you can obtain, like, you got. So now, like, think about your peers. So for me, I am now 36. And I remember at 22, I was the youngest one in the office, I was at this point where I had to prove myself, I so I worked long hours, I tried to be show people I was good at it, that I was learning that I was, you know, can provide value. Yeah. Now fast forward to 36. I have the experience, I have a track record. And and quite literally, because of that I have a lot more flexibility in what I can do. And I think that's one of the things that I've done in my current career, or my current company, is that, because I have the experience, I've been able to leverage that to do more of the things that I want to do. And no one restricts me, right? Yeah. And you wouldn't have had that your 20s in your 20s. You're trying to prove yourself that. So I think thank you for bringing that up. Great point. But now is a great time to transition your work into doing things for money, your purpose, yeah. And something that you can enjoy, because you'll you'll last longer, you'll contribute more value, you'll you'll really be more of an asset, if you can transition it into be something that you love. Yeah, I definitely agree. And as you're saying that I was thinking about the people that I know who are doing that, but I think it's people who are mid 30s and later who have really been able to hone in on this, and I feel so far away from this at the moment.

So I think that's true, like just getting like, I think in the last couple years, I mean, you're 30 Hidden 30 You have established that I am an asset to you. And so with that establishment and when people around, you know that you have a lot more flexibility, you kind of started that in your transition from an employee to you know, self employed individual working for these organizations, you were able to say, because of your track record because of what you did in your 20s that I'm a value of you. So let me manipulate this relationship to get more what I need out of it.

Maybe sound a little bit more than that, but we're gonna talk about that.

I think there were a lot of nuggets, a lot of gems gems in this for you 30. So yeah, if there's anything else y'all have ideas about, please let us know because you girl needs help.

I'm still figuring out my way. But until next time, y'all. I'm Tenisha Nicole, I'm Shana Dixon and we are black girl fly