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5 Ways to Build Wealth From a Young Age

Jiffy Avril / Shutterstock.com
Jiffy Avril / Shutterstock.com

Building wealth allows you to live the lifestyle you want, retire comfortably and leave a legacy for your heirs. Unfortunately, the wealth disparity in America is shocking: The bottom 50% of households have just 2.8% of total wealth, while the top 1% of households have more than a third, according to 2021 data from the Federal Reserve.

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There are many challenges to wealth building today, including record amounts of debt, rising inflation and staggering housing costs. The good news is that by learning the right habits early, you can overcome these challenges and grow your net worth. Plus, the earlier you start, the more you stand to gain.

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Here are five ways you can start building wealth from a young age (or help a young person in your life get started).

Get Comfortable Talking About Money

Autumn Lax, a financial advisor at Drucker Wealth, said the best way to help build wealth at a young age is to start talking about money.

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“In many households, money is a taboo topic of conversation, or it may be thought of as an ‘adults only’ conversation,” she said. “However, kids can learn the basic concepts at a very early age; and, the sooner they develop a money mindset, the better off they will be later in life.”

Pay Yourself First

One of the best ways to build wealth is by putting money aside for your future before spending any of your earnings — even on bills. It’s a concept known as “pay yourself first.”

In fact, Lax said she’s helping her 13-year-old son learn it now.

“He gets an allowance every week that is split between his savings account and his checking,” she explained. This way, he develops the habit of automatically setting aside savings when he gets paid.

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