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April 30, 2019

New Study Says You Should Hit Life Milestones by This Age

When you think about your life, do you think about all the things you’ve accomplished? Or all the things you still want to accomplish? Many people don’t think about all the great things that have brought them to where they are at now. They often think about all the things that they haven’t achieved yet, like marriage, buying a home, having kids, etc.

A storage company, Life Storage, recently conducted a survey to see when Americans hit major life milestones. They asked people how old they were when they attended college, got married, purchased a home, and a few other things. They also asked when they “expected” to hit these milestones vs. when they actually did.

The first couple of milestones were not surprising. Many people traveled out of the country, had their first kiss, attended college, and had their first “real” relationship before turning 18, which is typical. That kind of seems like the normal life path.

When you dig into the marriage stats, things get a bit more interesting. 72% of respondents said when they were younger they believed they would get married by age 30. In reality, only 44% of those respondents were married by age 30. That is a pretty significant gap between what people hoped/thought would happen and what actually occurred.

Purchasing your first home is another big step in life and a major financial commitment. Most people who took the survey purchased their first home after the age of 26. Women were 10% more likely to purchase a home by age 25 than men were. And 71% of millennials have not purchased a home yet.

And when it comes to retirement, things were pretty straightforward. One in four people believe they will retire between the ages of 61 and 65, while one in five people believe they will retire between the ages of 66 and 70.

Everyone has a different timeline of how they want their life to turnout, what they want to accomplish and when. But maybe it’s good to just let life do its thing and not let the idea of milestones get in the way.

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