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Inheritance Advice for Millennial Women

Trying to Build Wealth in Your 30s? Define ‘Wealth’ First.

Financial Advice

July 17, 2025

If you’re trying to build wealth in your 30s, you may want to think beyond dollars

What does it mean to build wealth in your 30s? The question seems simple enough. But you may find that reconsidering the definition of “wealth” changes your perspective.

Table of Contents: Trying to Build Wealth in Your 30s? Define 'Wealth' First. hide

1 2025 Update: How to Build Wealth in Your 30s During a Volatile Stock Market

2 The Highest Forms of Wealth

3 Why “Wealth” Has Different Meanings, Even in Your 30s

4 Will Building Wealth in Your 30s Make You Happier?

5 The Role That Time Plays When You Want to Build Wealth

6 To Build Wealth in Your 30s, Aim to Think About Money Less

7 Your Career Helps You Build Wealth in Your 30s in Multiple Ways

8 Build Wealth to Build the Life You Want to Live

9 What Questions Do You Have About How to Build Wealth in Your 30s?

2025 Update: How to Build Wealth in Your 30s During a Volatile Stock Market

One of the highest forms of wealth is not thinking about money too often.

Understandably, this becomes tougher when news headlines flash negative financial news. But this is when you should double-down on your approach to wealth building. If you stick with the plan that you set during easier financial times, you can ignore the short-term noise.

Building wealth in your 30s requires consistently. Consistent savings, consistent investing. You may feel like you should take action when the financial news is bad. But these are times when thinking about money less often is most beneficial.

The Highest Forms of Wealth

Author Morgan Housel argues that wealth is “easy to measure, but hard to value.” When you seek to build wealth in your 30s, you likely think about total dollar amounts. Account balances. And amounts saved and invested.

To achieve these goals, we focus on very specific tactics. We decide to invest more in a 401(k) plan or pick better investment options with lower fees. This focus further narrows our thinking about wealth.

But Housel reminds us that to build wealth in your 30s, you want to think beyond account values alone.

Why “Wealth” Has Different Meanings, Even in Your 30s

Hopefully, you reach a point in life when you’re truly (financially) wealthy. That could happen in your 30s! Typically, though, wealth-building requires time.

In any case, many people who reach this point find that their life has fallen short in other ways. They may lack free time. They may lack independence. They may lack love and relationships.

Their possessions may appear impressive to an outsider. But by many definitions, they’re less wealthy than people with much smaller net worths.

So when we want to build wealth, it’s critical that we define what money means to us. The term “wealth” has many underlying nuances. Your definition of wealth may differ from my definition of wealth.

And that’s ok. But if you get caught chasing someone else’s version of wealth, you may be happy with the outcome.

Will Building Wealth in Your 30s Make You Happier?

Morgan Housel often shares stories about the Vanderbilt family. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, they bought the largest home in America.

The house contained 178,000 square feet.

Of course, they didn’t need it. Housel says that George Vanderbilt didn’t even spend much time there. Yet, by the end of his life, the house nearly bankrupted the Vanderbilts.

Housel cautions, “Money buys happiness in the same way drugs bring pleasure. Incredible, if done right. Dangerous, if used to mask a weakness. And disastrous when no amount is enough.”

The Role That Time Plays When You Want to Build Wealth

You shouldn’t give all types of wealth equal weight. And Housel argues that three types, in particular, make up the “highest forms of wealth.”

The first type of wealth relates to time. Housel labels this wealth as “controlling your time.” It’s the “ability,” he says, “to wake up and say, I can do whatever I want today.”

Millennials often lament lacking this type of wealth. They wish they had the time to travel more often. They talk about wanting to spend more time with friends and family. They’re frustrated that meetings prevent them from being present for their kids.

Housel writes, “Wealth can lead to time independence, but it’s never assured. It can be the opposite. As whatever created the wealth creates a claim on your time in equal proportion to its financial reward.”

Think about any CEOs you’ve read about. They earn high salaries. They have large investment portfolios. But they often don’t control their time. They work constantly, in part to keep up with peers and maintain their status.

They’re financially wealthy. But time poor.

To Build Wealth in Your 30s, Aim to Think About Money Less

The second form of wealth that Morgan talks about is viewing money and oxygen in similar ways.

You’re wealthy, Housel believes, when money “becomes like oxygen.” In other words, it’s “so abundant relative to your needs, that you don’t have to think about it, despite it being a critical part of your life.”

This form of wealth isn’t necessarily tied to how much money you have. Consider instead that, “desiring money beyond what you need to be happy” is an “accounting hobby.” Housel adds, “How much money people need to be happy is driven more by expectations than income.”

Here’s what he’s noticed over the years:

“Some of the wealthiest people think about money all the time. But it’s an important observation because most people, despite aspiring to become one of the wealthiest, actually want something different: the ability to not have to think about money.”

Think about all those times when you’ve had to make a challenging financial decision. That decision probably weighed on you for days or weeks. You may have procrastinated making a choice. In those cases, I imagine you wished you didn’t have to make the choice at all. Or you lamented that you didn’t have help to speed up the process.

Ultimately, you wanted that time back. You wish you hadn’t spent all that effort and attention on thinking about money.

Your Career Helps You Build Wealth in Your 30s in Multiple Ways

The final high form of wealth, in Housel’s view, is a “career that allows for intellectual honesty.”

He writes:

“Being able to say, ‘I don’t know’ when you don’t know. Being able to speak a critical truth about your industry without fear of retribution. The ability to make reasonable mistakes, and be open about them without worry. Not pretending to look busy to justify your salary.”

Many people expand their lifestyles with their income. When that happens, they’re often stuck. They’re forced to remain in their current position or industry. Any change to a more desirable role might jeopardize their financial stability. This becomes even more true when they need to support their family.

But they really want to spend their time on work that they value. Work that reflects who they are. Work that allows them to express themselves.

You may not view your work as a form of wealth. After all, an income is necessary to live. So that becomes the focal point when you make career decisions. But at a certain point, you may feel wealthier by making a career change.

This is one of the most overlooked arguments for a robust savings account. Don’t force yourself to put up with frustrating work forever. Use your income to build wealth, but then build wealth differently by letting that same income go.

Build Wealth to Build the Life You Want to Live

When you think about trying to build wealth in your 30s, put together two plans. One plan should revolve around calculations and dollar amounts. But the second plan should consider more qualitative forms of wealth.

Wealth isn’t all about numbers. It’s about decisions that allow you to live the life you want to live. Wealth should empower you to be the person you want to be. This may include controlling your time. Not thinking about money on a daily basis. And having a fulfilling your career that utilizes your most personal skills.

Thanks to Morgan Housel for these ideas, as always. Check out his writing at Collaborative Fund.

What Questions Do You Have About How to Build Wealth in Your 30s?

How can I help with your interest in building wealth?

I encourage you to send me an e-mail at kevin@illumintfc.com with anything else you would like to know. You also can subscribe to my finance podcast for Millennials to learn more how you can maximize both your money and time.