Your long game.
Not a generic financial literacy module. This is a 30-year roadmap built from the future you said you wanted — and what it'll actually take to build it.
Underlined terms like this can be hovered for a plain-English explanation.
18 – 22
The Launchpad
Right now, the most valuable thing you can do is pick up boring habits early — they compound for decades.
Open a Roth IRA the day you have W-2 income.
Open a at Fidelity or Schwab — it takes ten minutes. Even $50/month from age 19 beats most of your friends will ever do.
Build a starter emergency fund.
Aim for $1,000 in a within your first year. This is your floor — never touch it for non-emergencies.
Track every recurring subscription you have.
The average 20-year-old leaks $35–80/month to subscriptions they forgot about. Cancel ruthlessly — that's a Roth IRA contribution.
Build a portfolio of two real projects on GitHub.
Your portfolio matters more than any class grade. Two well-documented projects > one unfinished startup idea.
22 – 30
The Foundation Years
This decade is where most wealth gets built — quietly, automatically, and with way less drama than money podcasts suggest.
Negotiate your first offer.
Counter-offer the first number you're given by 7–15%. Women lose ~$500K over a career by skipping this once. Practice the line: 'I'm thrilled — can we explore the higher end?' — that's first-offer negotiation.
Capture every dollar of your 401(k) match.
If your employer offers a , contribute at least enough to get the full match. Missing it is leaving free money on the table — and it's an instant 100% return on day one.
Grow your emergency fund to 6 months of expenses.
By the end of this phase you want a real — 6 months of rent, food, and bills in your . This buys you the ability to leave a bad job.
Max your Roth IRA every year possible.
Auto-deduct $583/month into a inside your . By 30 you'll have ~$50K growing tax-free for the rest of your life. That money will be worth more than your starter home.
Pay down your highest-interest student loan first.
Don't rush to pay off 4% federal loans — invest those dollars instead. Do attack any 7%+ private student loans aggressively.
Don't let RSUs become 60% of your net worth.
grants feel like Monopoly money until your company drops 40%. Sell at every event and reinvest into s.
30 – 40
The Build Decade
Income is climbing. Big decisions — partner, home, kids, role — start to land. Your future self is built (or not) in these ten years.
Decide if you want to own a home — really decide.
Save 10–20% of the home price as a in your . Below 20% means you pay for a while. Renting is also a perfectly fine answer — don't buy because you feel like you should.
Start a 529 the year each child is born.
Open a plan and auto-fund $200–500/month per child. By their freshman year of college that's $60–120K, compounded — and zero of it taxed if used for school.
Bump your 401(k) past the match.
Once you've captured the , push your total contribution toward 15% of income. Use a inside the 401(k) so you never have to think about it.
Open an HSA if you qualify.
If your job offers a high-deductible health plan, the is the most tax-advantaged account that exists — tax-free in, growing, and out. Treat it as another retirement account.
Get the basic estate documents in place.
A simple — will, healthcare directive, beneficiary updates — costs ~$300 and is the kindest thing you can do for the people who love you.
Consider a backdoor Roth once you exceed Roth IRA income limits.
Above ~$165K single, you can't contribute directly to a Roth IRA. The takes 5 minutes a year. Completely above-board.
40 – 50
The Choosing Years
You've earned the right to choose. Most women rediscover what they actually want here — we want you to know that now.
Run the retirement math, honestly.
Estimate your 'number' using the . Annual spending × 25 = the portfolio that lets you stop working. The number is usually smaller than you think.
Catch-up contributions kick in at 50.
Once you turn 50 the IRS lets you add an extra $7,500 to your and $1,000 to your . Use the bump.
Diversify out of any one stock you've loved too long.
s from a 12-year tenure or your own company stock — these tend to bloat. Build a real of s and .
Re-evaluate every 5 years.
Future-you in your 50s is wiser than today-you. Trust her. Make space — a sabbatical, a return to school, a different field — if she's asking for it.
50 +
The Harvest
If the earlier decades did their job, this is the chapter where money becomes a quiet engine for the life you've already built.
Choose your version of FIRE.
Full retirement is not the only door. has flavors — 'Coast FIRE' (let your investments grow, work less), 'lean FIRE' (frugal independence), 'fat FIRE' (high-cost lifestyle). Pick the one that matches who you actually are.
Plan tax-smart withdrawals.
Pull from taxable accounts first, then traditional, then Roth last. Doing the order right can mean an extra decade of money.
Set up generational wealth, if you want.
Update your . Set beneficiaries. Consider a Roth-conversion ladder. The people you love benefit from one boring afternoon of paperwork.
Spend the money on the life you wanted.
Most people die with more than they needed. You built this on purpose. Travel. Help. Rest. Give. Use it.
Come back to Pathlight any time.
Your answers, your sliders, and this roadmap will be here. Re-run it every couple of years — the version of you reading this in 2030 will be different. Let her be.