4 Smart Steps to Grow and Protect Wealth in Your 30s
Buy a house, choose the proper 529 plan, get life insurance, and invest in yourself.

We get it. You’re busy. You’re preoccupied with raising your children, holding on to a demanding job, and maintaining your sanity during your daily commute. But it pays to take time to nurture your long-term wealth.
Buy a house (if it makes sense). Owning a home is the American dream. Growing home equity is also a key to long-term wealth. But before you buy, make sure you plan to stay put long enough to recoup the up-front cost of getting a mortgage and the back-end cost of selling your home.

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Block joined Kiplinger in June 2012 from USA Today, where she was a reporter and personal finance columnist for more than 15 years. Prior to that, she worked for the Akron Beacon-Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. In 1993, she was a Knight-Bagehot fellow in economics and business journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She has a BA in communications from Bethany College in Bethany, W.Va.
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