At What Age Should You Reach Your Financial Peak?

There are certain milestones you expect to reach as you go through life, like getting your driver's license, perhaps marriage, and retirement, but one milestone that tends to get overlooked is reaching your financial peak. This is the period in life when you typically reach the highest levels of your earning potential — in other words, when you make the most money in your career.

The general rule is that, during your 40s and your 50s, you earn the highest income you can expect from your chosen career. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics (based on 2024 third-quarter data), that age period for both men and women (combined) is between 45 and 54 years old, followed by those aged 35 to 44. This time frame isn't set in stone, of course, as some people change careers, some get a late start, some achieve a great deal of success early on, and some experience drastic setbacks that change their planned career trajectories.

With this said, reaching your financial peak in your 40s and 50s assumes that you follow a general timeline, beginning with the start of your career, usually in your 20s, when you're expected to spend time developing your skills and talents. You are not expected to reach your highest earning potential during these years because you should be using that time to professional develop to get higher-paying positions in the future, as well as obtain the financial awareness and responsibility you'll need for making smart financial decisions and plans.

By the time you hit your financial peak in your 40s and 50s, there are a few things expected of you, mostly involving maturity and decision making. For starters, you probably already have made some financial mistakes, like racking up credit card debt, making frivolous purchases, and/or not thinking seriously about saving for retirement. Hopefully, you will have learned from those mistakes, and in the process, gained the necessary maturity to make better financial decisions going forward.

Once you get there, it's important to make the most of it. For example, your financial peak is the perfect time to increase your savings. The more you earn, the more you should reasonably be able to set aside, particularly if you've learned how to budget your spending and you have your debt under control. If your debt isn't under control, this is also the time you want to tackle this beast by upping your effort to pay down bad debt, namely credit card debt, which is a key step in increasing your financial stability.

Your 40s and 50s is also the time to review your retirement plan and make sure you're on track to meet your future goals. If you aren't, you still have time to make needed adjustments and increase your contributions (remember that catch-up contributions for both IRAs and 401(k)s start at age 50). And with the extra money you should be bringing in during this stage in your career, it's a good time to start making investments that will help secure that extra income, along with your future. All of these strategies can either be done on your own or with the assistance of a savvy financial adviser.

If you don't feel you're where you should be financially, know that you're not alone. In fact, a 2024 survey on retirement confidence by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that only 68% of respondents felt confident they would be able to retire comfortably. These findings aren't necessarily a result of low earnings during a person's financial peak, however; but rather, linked more toward a person's savings. Still, when your earnings are lower than desired, your savings tend to reflect that reality.

Given this, it's important to remember that everyone is on their own path. It's unlikely your career trajectory will be exactly the same as anyone else's, so you should never compare yourself to another person's situation. Doing so can lead to negative thoughts and feelings that are likely to get in your way and prevent you from making the most of your situation. Instead, reassess your circumstances (your assets and liabilities) and make a financial plan to move forward that works for you and your finances. Along with getting serious about paying down debt, you can also look at perhaps taking on extra work or responsibilities in order to increase your income, and thus increase your capacity to save.