5 Things I Would Do If I Were in My 30s or 40s

Sola Adesakin

May 26, 2026

Here is what nobody talks about enough when it comes to being in your 30s or 40s. Yes, you may look at people in their 20s and feel like time is running out. But you have something they do not, and it is genuinely valuable. You have context. You have made mistakes and learned from them. You understand what things actually cost, in money and in time. You know yourself well enough to make financial decisions that fit your real life, not an imagined one. That is an edge. Most people in this season do not recognise it as one. I want you to.

If I were stepping into my 30s or 40s right now with what I know, here are five things I would do without hesitation.

Get obsessively clear on my net worth

Not my income, my net worth. What do I actually own versus what do I owe? Write it down. On one side: savings, investments, property value, pension balance. On the other: mortgage, loans, credit card balances, any money owed to family. Most people earning N300,000 to N800,000 a month have never done this exercise. They feel financially active because money is moving, but movement is not the same as progress. Knowing your net worth, even if the number is uncomfortable, gives you a real starting point. You cannot improve what you have not measured.

Stop treating my pension like background noise

Your Retirement Savings Account is compounding right now whether you are paying attention or not. The question is whether it is compounding well. Log in this week. Check your balance, your fund manager’s performance over the last three years, and whether your contribution rate still reflects your current income. Many people are contributing at levels set during their first job nearly a decade ago. If your salary has grown from N150,000 to N500,000 and your pension contribution has not moved, you are leaving a significant gap in your future. The voluntary contribution option exists,use it.

Start one serious investment outside my employer

Whether that is equities on the NGX, a real estate investment trust, a dollar-denominated money market fund, or a direct property play, the goal is an asset that does not depend on your employment continuing. Consider this: N50,000 invested monthly in an instrument averaging 15% annual returns over ten years grows to roughly N13.5 million. That is not a get-rich projection. That is steady, boring, consistent investing doing what it is supposed to do. Your job is income. Investments are wealth. They are not in the same category.

Have a real money conversation with my partner. 

Not a vague chat, a real one with actual numbers on the table. What are your combined assets? What do you collectively owe? Do you have a will? If one of you stopped earning tomorrow, how long could the household sustain itself? Many couples manage money in parallel without ever genuinely merging their financial picture. This creates blind spots that become expensive later. The conversation is uncomfortable for about twenty minutes and then clarifying for years afterward.

Find one person whose financial life I genuinely respect and study how they think

Not a celebrity investor, someone accessible. A colleague who has been quietly building, a mentor, a financial advisor who works with people at your income level. Ask them specific questions: what did they get wrong in their 30s, what they wish they had started earlier, how they decide where to put money. Good financial thinking is transferable. It does not have to be original to be useful.

Here is the broader truth about this season of life. The decisions you make between 35 and 45 have a compounding effect that is disproportionately powerful compared to any other decade. The person who invests N30,000 a month from age 35 to 55 at 12% annual returns ends up with approximately N27 million. The person who waits until 45 to start the same habit ends up with about N6.6 million. Same discipline, same rate, ten years earlier. That is the edge you are sitting on right now.

About Author

Sola Adesakin

Sola Adesakin is a highly respected wealth coach and chartered accountant with over two decades of transformative impact in the finance industry. As the visionary founder of Smart Stewards Financial Advisory Limited and Smart Stewards Advisory LLC, she has revolutionized the financial wellbeing of countless individuals and businesses across 40 countries. Her methodical approach to ‘make-manage-multiply’ money principles has elevated many from financial stress to prosperity, and mediocrity to exceptional achievement.