What Should Your Net Worth Be at Age 30?

It's important to keep tabs on your finances, whether that means checking your credit card balances to make sure they're not growing too large or peeking in on your checking account to ensure you can cover your near-term bills.

But one number you may not be as aware of is your net worth, and understandably so. That's because your net worth may not be totally obvious to you without doing some digging and running a bunch of numbers.

Not sure what net worth even is? That's okay. It's basically the sum of your various assets minus any debts you have outstanding. As a very basic example, if your only assets are a $30,000 savings account balance and a home worth $300,000, but you owe $200,000 on an outstanding mortgage, it brings your net worth to $130,000 ($330,000 – $200,000).

By age 30, you may not be totally thrilled with your net worth. But remember, net worth tends to increase with age. And you have plenty of time to bring yours up.

Do you have a decent net worth for someone your age?

Data from Empower shows that the average person in their 30s has a net worth of $260,090. But that doesn't tell the whole story.

First of all, someone in their 30s could be 38 or 39. If you're 30 years old, it means they've had almost a decade longer to work, earn money, invest money, and accumulate wealth. They've also had that much longer to pay down a mortgage and build equity in their homes.

Also, while the average net worth for 30-somethings is $260,090, the median net worth is $38,343. And when you have a median that's well below the average, it indicates that a larger portion of people have less than the average net worth rather than more.

So, let's say your net worth is $130,000 at age 30. That would seem to indicate you're in a pretty solid place financially. So would a net worth in the ballpark of $38,000. A net worth of $6,000, on the other hand, might tell you that you may want to consider some changes that allow you to grow more wealth in the coming years.

How to boost your net worth

If you're not happy with what your net worth looks like, or you are happy with it but want to see it increase, there are steps you can take to make that happen. First, keep budgeting wisely so you're continuously carving out money for your savings.

Next, invest funds you don't need for near-term goals or emergency purposes. Putting money into an IRA or brokerage account could help you grow it into a larger sum than what a savings account might allow for.

Plus, the sooner you're able to whittle down your debt, the less money you're apt to lose to interest. This doesn't mean you should rush to pay off a low-interest mortgage. But if you're carrying a credit card balance, chipping away at it is a smart move.

Remember, it takes time to build up your net worth, and at age 30, you've probably been working full-time for less than a decade. So cut yourself some slack if your net worth isn't as high as you'd prefer it to be. But also, don't assume that number won't increase exponentially over time.