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Vishesh Raisinghani
Updated Apr 14, 2026
Do you feel like you’re falling behind financially? You’re not alone.
A survey by Navigator found that 53% of U.S. adults feel financially behind where they expected to be, and 28% say they are falling “far behind”. If you’re experiencing this kind of financial anxiety, it’s completely normal.
To get a more accurate perspective, it helps to compare yourself with peers in your age group. Younger workers haven’t had as much time to develop the skills or experience needed for higher pay, while older workers often have more time to climb the corporate ladder.
With that in mind, here’s the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on median earnings by age groups.
Fundrise Flagship Fund
Buy real estate through Fundrise's $1 billion private fund
20s
Your 20s are the early stages of your career, so it’s no surprise that most workers in this age group earn less than their older counterparts.
According to BLS data from the third quarter of 2025, the median salary for workers aged 21–24 is $41,392, while for those aged 25 to 34, the median is $59,800.
In other words, if you earn more than $60,000 a year and were born in the 2000s, you are earning more than half of your peers.
But here’s the key: the biggest financial advantage in your 20s isn’t how much you earn — time is.
Starting to invest early lets you tap into the power of compounding, where your money grows on itself over time.
Think of it this way: investing $200 a month in your 20s can potentially grow more than investing $400 a month starting in your 30s, simply because your money has more time to compound.
And if getting started feels overwhelming, tools like Acorns make it effortless — automatically rounding up your everyday purchases and investing the spare change so you can build wealth without even thinking about it.
Beyond its round-up feature, you can set up recurring contributions in just three minutes and keep your investments growing on autopilot.
Plus, as a Moneywise reader, you get a $20 bonus when you set up a recurring deposit.
Your 20s are also the prime time to diversify into larger asset classes that were once reserved for the wealthy.
Real estate has long been a proven wealth-builder, but the high cost of entry often keeps younger investors on the sidelines. However, starting early allows you to weather market cycles and maximize the long-term appreciation of physical property.
New platforms have lowered the barrier to entry, allowing you to invest in a diversified portfolio of real estate with flexible minimums.
For instance, The Fundrise Flagship Fund¹ is a $1 billion private real estate fund that lets you invest in an expertly crafted strategy without needing hundreds of thousands of dollars. You don’t need to be an accredited investor, and you can get started with as little as $10.
With 4,700+ single-family homes and 2,500+ residential units owned by the Fundrise Flagship Fund, you get exposure to institutional-style scale and diversification.
Industrial
215 Interchange
Las Vegas, NV
Build-for-rent
Pine Ridge
Fountain Inn, SC
Build-for-rent
Omnia
Richmond Hill, GA
These are a few examples of properties powering the Fundrise Flagship Fund. For a full list of the Fundrise Flagship Fund's portfolio properties see the Flagship Fund website
After you place your first investment, the Fundrise Flagship Fund will work to find and add new assets to your portfolio over time and send you transparent updates along the way.
It only takes a few minutes to sign up now and become a real estate investor today.
Fundrise Flagship Fund
Buy real estate through Fundrise's $1 billion private fund
30s
If you’re fortunate, your 30s are prime years for career growth. You’ve built enough experience to command higher pay, while still having the energy to take on bigger roles and responsibilities.
Economists often point to this decade as the early rise of your earning potential. According to the Tax Foundation, income follows an inverted U-shape over a lifetime — and your 30s mark the beginning of that upward climb.
For workers aged 35–44, median earnings reach about $72,020 (BLS), the highest of any age group.
But as your income grows, so do your responsibilities.
This is often the decade of major life milestones — buying a home, raising kids, or supporting a family. That makes building a healthy emergency fund essential.
A solid cash buffer (typically 3–6 months of expenses, or more with dependents) isn’t just a safety net — it’s what protects your progress when life throws the unexpected your way.
And where you keep that safety net matters. Parking your emergency fund in a high-yield account like the Wealthfront Cash Account can be a great place to grow your uninvested cash, offering both competitive interest rates and easy access to your money when you need it.
A Wealthfront Cash Account currently offers a base APY of 3.30% through program banks, and new clients can get an extra 0.75% boost during their first three months on up to $150,000 for a total variable APY of 4.05%².
That's ten times the national deposit savings rate, according to the FDIC's March report³.
Additionally, Wealthfront is offering new clients who enable direct deposit ($1,000/mo minimum) to their Cash Account and open and fund a new investment account an additional 0.25% APY increase⁴ with no expiration date or balance limit, meaning your APY could be as high as 4.30%.
With no minimum balances or account fees, as well as 24/7 withdrawals and free domestic wire transfers, your funds remain accessible at all times. Plus, you get access to up to $8M FDIC Insurance eligibility through program banks.
For money you won’t need right away, a Certificate of Deposit (CD) lets you lock in a fixed rate for the long term, ensuring your money grows safely and predictably while you focus on life’s major milestones.
For those seeking such predictable, reliable growth, a platform like CD Valet can help you find higher-yield options that work for you, whether you’re saving for something soon or building a cushion for the long haul.
CD Valet tracks over 40,000 verified rates from FDIC-insured banks and NCUA-insured credit unions nationwide. Unlike other websites, they show every publicly available rate, ensuring you have a comprehensive view of the market.
CD Valet offers free tools to help you save smarter, including an earnings calculator to compare rates and terms, and a real-time CD rates map by state — so you can find the best offers nationwide and open accounts online even if the bank isn’t local.
With their CD rates updated continuously, you can shop, compare and open CDs with ease.
40s
For most people, the 40s are more about stability than growth. You may not have reached the top of your career ladder, but you’re likely approaching it.
According to the BLS, median annual earnings for ages 45–54 are $71,604, roughly the same as the 35-44 cohort. Hitting six figures at this stage already puts you well ahead of many peers.
Even if your income is below the median, there’s still time to catch up. Controlling expenses, saving aggressively, and making thoughtful investment choices can position you for a strong retirement.
If you still have any substantial high-interest debt, this is the time to lock in and get rid of it as soon as you can.
Consider consolidating your high-interest credit card balances to a personal loan with a much lower rate to reduce the amount of interest you’ll pay over the course of the loan.
Platforms like Credible help streamline this process by allowing borrowers to compare personal loan offers from multiple lenders in one place, making it easier to identify lower-rate options without applying to each lender individually.
Through Credible's online marketplace, the process of finding the right loan becomes much simpler. Credible lets you comparison-shop for the lowest interest rates with just a few clicks.
In less than three minutes, you’ll see all the lenders willing to help pay off your credit cards or other debts with a single personal loan.
If you owe a substantial amount, you may also want to see if you qualify for a debt relief program to help clear a significant portion of your debt.
With Freedom Debt Relief, you can speak with a certified debt relief consultant for free, who can show you how much you can save by partnering with them.
If you're eligible, they can negotiate settlements with your creditors until all of your enrolled debt is resolved.
Once you’ve made progress on debt, you may find even more breathing room in your budget by focusing on cutting down on fixed costs.
Car insurance costs, for example, have surged by 38% between 2020 and 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This significant increase suggests that many people are overpaying for car insurance simply because they don't regularly compare rates.
By using a comparison platform like Insurify, you can instantly view quotes from top-rated providers to ensure you aren't paying a hidden ‘loyalty tax’ to your current insurer.
Just answer a few basic questions, and Insurify will show you the most affordable deals in as little as 3 minutes.
Not only is the process 100% free, but you could also save up to 15% by bundling your car insurance and home insurance together.
50s and 60s
The data paints a clear picture for people in their 50s: this is often a period of declining earnings but peak wealth.
Many workers at this age are approaching retirement and considering reducing work hours. In fact, most millionaires in the U.S. reach seven-figure net worth in their 50s and 60s, according to Empower’s analysis of government data.
That combination — less reliance on income and more wealth to protect — naturally shifts the focus from accumulation to preservation.
This is the protection phase of your financial life. While growth still matters, the priority shifts to safeguarding what you’ve already built against inflation and market volatility. That’s why some investors begin allocating a portion of their portfolio to assets that have historically held their value during uncertain periods.
Gold is one example often cited in this context. Unlike stocks or bonds, it isn’t tied to corporate earnings or interest rates, which is why it’s commonly viewed as a potential hedge against inflation and market downturns. For investors looking to balance risk, adding a stabilizing asset like gold can be one way to help smooth out portfolio swings over time.
One way to invest in gold that also provides significant tax advantages is to open a gold IRA with the help of Priority Gold.
Gold IRAs allow investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets within a retirement account, which combines the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of investing in gold.
If you’d like to convert an existing IRA into a gold IRA, Priority Gold offers 100% free rollover, as well as free shipping and free storage for up to five years. Qualifying purchases will also receive up to $10,000 in free silver.
To learn more about how Priority Gold can help you reduce inflation’s impact on your nest egg, download their free 2026 gold investor bundle.
Another way some investors look to diversify their portfolio is through real estate. That said, sourcing and managing properties on your own can be both time-consuming and capital-intensive.
And while you may not want to spend your 50s or 60s dealing with tenants and maintenance, newer platforms have made it easier to gain exposure to real estate without taking on the responsibilities of being a landlord.
For example, Lightstone DIRECT provides accredited investors with access to single-asset multifamily and industrial real estate opportunities.
Lightstone DIRECT’s direct-to-investor model ensures a high degree of alignment between individual investors and a vertically-integrated, institutional owner-operator — a sophisticated and streamlined option for individual investors looking to diversify into private-market real estate.
Featured
Residential
Columbus, OH
Featured
Industrial
Tobyhanna, PA
Featured
Residential
Beverly Hills, MI
These are a few examples of past properties or acquisitions from Lightstone. Explore more investment opportunities when you register with Lightstone DIRECT.
With Lightstone DIRECT, accredited individuals can access the same multifamily and industrial assets Lightstone pursues with its own capital, with minimum investments starting at $100,000.
How it works is simple: Just sign up with your email, and you can schedule a call with a capital formation expert to assess your investment opportunities. From here, you just need to verify your details to begin investing.
While gold, real estate and other alternative assets can play an important role in protecting your wealth, they’re just a portion of your entire financial puzzle. And with only 10 to 15 years to go before retirement, it’s essential that you have a solid financial plan for retirement.
Working with a trusted financial advisor can bring clarity and direction, whether it’s catching up on savings, optimizing taxes, or creating strategies to hedge against inflation and market volatility.
Platforms like Advisor.com make it easy to connect with vetted professionals who can help protect your wealth and position you for a smoother, more confident transition into retirement.
Just indicate what you need help with — like tax optimization, retirement planning, or budgeting — answer a few quick questions through their online form and the platform will match you with a vetted financial advisor in 5 minutes.
If you prefer a hands-off, digital approach to building wealth, Vanguard Digital Advisor puts the investing expertise of one of the world’s largest asset managers right at your fingertips.
It takes the guesswork out of investing by building a personalized portfolio for you using Vanguard’s well-known low-cost ETFs and mutual funds — then keeps things running smoothly with automatic rebalancing.
The platform also offers guidance on saving for retirement and lets you set additional goals as your life evolves.
It can even help you think through debt repayment strategies, potentially freeing up more cash to invest toward your long-term plans.
With a minimum investment of just $100, it’s an easy way to get started with professionally guided investing.
For every $10,000 in an all-index portfolio, you'll pay approximately $15 to $16 per year².
You can even test-drive the Vanguard experience with no advisory fees for the first 90 days.
Vishesh Raisinghani
Freelance Writer
Vishesh Raisinghani is a financial journalist covering personal finance, investing and the global economy. He's also the founder of Sharpe Ascension Inc., a content marketing agency focused on investment firms. His work has appeared in Moneywise, Yahoo Finance!, Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine and Piggybank.
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