Goodbye, 20’s!

Today is my last day as a twenty-something!  I had a pretty great decade, which contained a lot of major events: getting married, landing my real job, buying our first (and second) house, moving to Colorado, becoming an uncle… all really great things.  I had a training class today, which got me to thinking how great it was that I was ending this decade by learning something new and that got me thinking about what I wanted to do with the next 10 years of my life.

So without further adeiu:

My Intentions For My 30’s

Family

Tasha and I have built a great marriage so far, and I suspect this will be the decade that we start a family.  RELAX Mom, this isn’t any kind of announcement… but since we don’t want to be old when our kids are heading off to college, I suspect we’ll be getting started with kids before too long.

Also in this category is staying in touch with my family back in IL.  I suspect this decade will also see me returning triumphantly to Central Illinois, however there’s no real plan for when this will occur at the moment.  I’m looking forward to being closer to the family again.

Wealth Building and Giving

Something I want to focus on over the next 10 years is building wealth and giving more.  As you can tell from the text widget on the right, we are very close to becoming debt-free (except for the house) so I want to focus on retirement investing, paying off the mortgage, and giving to worthy causes.  We’ve spent a great deal of effort over the last four years to make it this far, I don’t want to squander this progress by not following through and using the extra money that we’re privileged with wisely.

Career

I love what I’m doing, so I’m going to keep doing it.  Hopefully the hits will keep on coming and success will continue.

Personal Development and Fun

This is the fun category.  I want to continue focusing on my own health, exercise (karate/gym), learning, and… well… fun.  I know as soon as the family starts, this parameter will become harder to satisfy but going to concerts and continuing to learn the guitar would be two things I want to continue.  We’ve got a great social network of friends and coworkers out here, and many people are in the same stages of their lives so it shouldn’t be hard to keep fun stuff rollin’.  I want to make an effort to enjoy what Colorado has to offer… I want to camp more, ski more, and see the sights more over the next few years.

Getting older is No Big Deal

Everyone has been asking me if it bothers me to be turning 30.  The answer is a resounding: NO!  My buddy Paul says it best: the cool thing about the 30’s is that you’re just getting into your own.  You’ve got your own money, career, and life and you’re still young enough to enjoy it all.  Age is just a number, there’s no reason for it to get me down!

I’ve already gotten some early birthday wishes, thanks to everyone for the kindness!