The Early Years

Early adulthood often marks the first time you’re fully responsible for both your finances and your well-being. And while you may be just beginning your wealth building journey, time is on your side. Choices you make now can have a sizeable impact over time, putting you in a stronger position to enjoy the life you want through the chapters ahead.

Maximizing What’s Available

Early on, employer benefits – like health insurance, retirement plans and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) – can set you up to preserve your well-being and financial security now into the future. Understanding what’s covered and what you’re contributing can help you make more intentional choices. Often, that means taking full advantage of what’s offered – whether that’s using preventive care potentially covered by your health plan (like annual physicals, routine lab tests and regular screenings), contributing enough to capitalize on a 401(k) employer match or funding an HSA.

Letting Time Do the Work…

Just as preventive care can help address issues before they become more serious and costly, your investment strategy can support your health for decades to come. HSA dollars can often be invested, helping you keep pace with healthcare costs that have risen more than 120% since 2000.¹ Investing early in both your HSA and retirement accounts gives even modest contributions more time to grow, helping build your wealth for later in life. That long-term view is increasingly important as life expectancy continues to rise – meaning you’ll likely need your money to last longer, choosing an investment mix that can grow while also helping protect you from too much risk.

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The Advantage of Starting Early

This chart compares two investors: one who saves $2,500 per year from ages 22-32 and one who saves the same amount from ages 32-67. Even though Person B contributed 3x the amount Person A did, Person A retires with considerably more.

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…While Still Making Everyday Choices Count

With your investments working hard in the background, your day-to-day income decisions can also play a key role in supporting both your health and financial stability. At this stage, good health can make it easy to overlook the need for intentional planning – but it also creates an opportunity to prioritize preventive care and establish healthy routines. Allocating even a small portion toward exercise or mental health support can build consistency – and tools like Baird 360 Wealth can support you by tracking spending, identifying patterns and making room for those priorities.

Progress at this time in life comes from small, consistent decisions that compound over time. The habits you build across your health and your finances can drive a more flexible and resilient future. Your Baird Financial Advisor team can help you see how the pieces of your health and wealth fit together and make confident choices for the future.