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Are you worried that you are falling behind financially? you are not alone.
All told, 53% of US adults feel behind where they hope to be financially, and 28% say they are “very behind” according to a survey by Navigator (1). If you are experiencing such financial worries, it is completely normal.
To get some perspective, it helps to compare yourself to peers in your age group. Younger workers don’t have as much time to develop the skills or experience needed for higher wages, while older workers often have more time to climb the corporate ladder.
With that in mind, here’s the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on median earnings by age group (2) — along with ways to improve at each age.
Your 20s are the prime stages of your career, so it’s no surprise that many workers in this age group earn less than their older counterparts.
According to BLS data from the third quarter of 2025, the median salary for workers aged 20 to 24 is about $41,392, while for those aged 25 to 34, the median salary is about $59,800.
In other words, if you make more than $60,000 a year and were born in 2000, you make more than half of what your peers make.
But even if your salary is lower this time, you have one big advantage over older workers: time. Your 20s are the perfect decade to start saving, even a little bit, because you have a lot of time to put together something substantial for even the smallest of funds.
Preparing for the future all starts with developing good saving and investing habits – and that’s where an app like Acorns can help.
With Acorns, you can automatically invest spare change from your daily purchases in a diversified portfolio of ETFs managed by experts at leading investment firms such as Vanguard and BlackRock.
For example, if you buy a donut for $3.25, Acorns will increase the purchase to $4 and invest the change in a smart investment portfolio. Before you lick the sugar off your finger, that 75-cent difference is now committed to your future.
Even better, you can get a $20 bonus investment if you sign up with a recurring monthly deposit for your savings.
Read more: I’m almost 50 and have no retirement savings. Is it too late to catch up?
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If you’re lucky, your 30s are prime years for career growth. You have enough experience to negotiate a higher salary and still have enough energy to handle additional responsibilities.
Economists therefore expect steady wage growth at this stage. According to the Finance Foundation, this period represents the initial ramp-up in the inverted U-curve of earnings across age groups (3). This is also when your salary typically starts to expand.
According to BLS data, for workers ages 35 to 44, the median salary is $72,020. This is the highest average of any age group, making it the stage when most experience peak income.
However, high-earning age is also when many expenses come down, such as the costs of raising a family, the mortgage on a new home, and payments on the car that takes you and your loved ones to work, school, and play.
This makes your 30s an important time to refine your budget and create savings goals for everything from vacation and summer camp to college tuition and retirement.
To keep track of it all, you can turn to an all-money app like Monarch Money.
Monarch Money keeps all your finances under one roof, from your bank statements to your investments. You can also add separate or joint accounts to your dashboard, which can be great for couples tracking the grocery run or helping you make big-picture financial plans as a parent with your child.
The app is also well-reviewed: Forbes ranked Monarch Money as their best budgeting app for 2025, as did the Wall Street Journal.
And the best part? Monarch Money offers a seven-day free trial so you can see if it’s right for you. If you like what you see, you can get 50% off your first year with the code WISE50.
For many people, their 40s are more about stability than growth. You may not have reached the top of your career ladder, but you’re hopefully getting close.
According to BLS data, the median annual salary for 45- to 54-year-olds is $71,604, about the same as the previous cohort. Earning six figures at this age puts you ahead of most of your peers.
Plus, if your income is below the median, there’s still time to catch up. You can focus on controlling expenses and saving aggressively, potentially putting yourself in a stronger position for retirement than your higher-income peers.
And once you’ve built enough wealth, it’s time to make sense of diversifying your investments. Spreading your money across different asset classes and sectors may provide more consistent returns and help you navigate market volatility.
To make sure you get the most out of your investment and ensure you’re on track for retirement, it can pay to plan with a qualified financial advisor.
Vanguard research shows that working with a financial advisor can add about 3% to net returns over time (4). This difference can be significant. For example, if you started with a $50,000 portfolio, professional guidance could mean an additional $1.3 million in growth over 30 years, depending on market conditions and your investment strategy.
Finding the right advisor is now simpler than ever with Advisor.com, a platform that connects you with licensed financial professionals in your area who can provide personalized guidance.
Just enter a few details about your finances and goals, and Advisor.com’s AI-powered matching tool will connect you with a qualified expert who best fits your needs based on your specific financial goals and preferences.
A professional advisor can also help you determine how many years you have left to invest before retirement and assess your comfort level with market fluctuations — two important factors in creating the right asset mix for your portfolio.
Through Advisor.com, you can even schedule a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss your retirement goals and long-term financial planning.
While your 40s are generally about maintaining a high income, the data paint a clearer picture for people in their 50s: It’s often a period of low income but high wealth.
Many workers at this age are approaching retirement and thinking about reducing work hours. In fact, most millionaires in the United States reach seven percent of their net worth in their 50s and 60s, according to a government data analysis (5). This allows many older Americans to shift from active income to passive income.
For some, the decline in active income is more about health and energy limitations than the lack of personal assets. About 52% of retirees reported leaving work earlier than expected, usually for health reasons, according to the Manulife John Hancock Retirement Financial Resilience and Longevity Survey (6).
This trend is also clearly reflected in BLS income data. The median salary for 55- to 64-year-olds is $68,744, only slightly higher than workers in their late 20s and early 30s. The decline is most significant for people age 65 and older, with a median salary of $62,036.
In other words, if you’re in your late 50s or 60s and still working full-time in a high-paying job, you’re likely earning more than half of what your peers are bringing in.
However, for many at this age, it is time to preserve wealth rather than grow it. This often means investing in assets that are not tied to a country, currency or economy so you can hedge against inflation and market volatility.
And according to some experts, like Ray DeLeo and Robert Kiyosaki, that means tapping the ultimate safe haven: gold.
The precious metal has hit record prices in recent months, rising more than 70% year-to-date through mid-March, and some investors are predicting further gains this year (7).
One way to invest in gold that can also provide significant tax benefits is to open a gold IRA backed by the precious metal.
Gold IRAs allow investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets in a retirement account, combining the tax benefits of an IRA with the protective benefits of gold, making them an attractive option for those looking to potentially protect their retirement funds against economic uncertainty.
For more information, you can get a free information guide that includes details on how to get up to $20,000 in free metals on eligible purchases.
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Navigator Research (1); US Bureau of Labor Statistics (2); Tax Foundation (3); Vanguard (4); empowerment (5); Manulife John Hancock Pension (6); Reuters (7)
This article provides information only and should not be used as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
