Why There’s No ‘Right Age’ For Major Lifestyle Milestones

*This is a collaborative post on lifestyle milestones, all thoughts and words are my own

When my parents were younger it was common to be married, own a home and have a kid by the time you were in your mid 20’s. But times have changed. A lot of millennials are choosing to do things in a different order, waiting until they’re older or not at all. Priorities are changing and different opportunities are opening up meaning we’ve got more choices than ever before.

I’ve battled for most of my adult life about the idea of having children. When I was a teen and in my early-to-mid 20’s I was dead set against having them. Both my nan and my mum were 25 when they had a child, so when I passed that age it felt a bigger deal. I even wrote this post in late 2016 about why it’s okay to not want kids.

When it comes to home ownership I was quite lucky to be in the right place at the right time to buy my first property quite early (I was 22), but that isn’t the norm. In fact according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average age to own a home increased from 32 in 2004 to 36 in 2022.

Are we leaving lifestyle milestones until we’re older?

Even if my friendship group the ages of people settling down, getting married, having kids or buying a house seems older than it was in my parents generation. And there are so many reasons for this.

For me it started with the fact that I went to university. No one else in my immediate family had ever gone and that meant I didn’t leave education until 21. And while I dated in my early 20’s I didn’t meet Luke until I was 26. At that age my mum already had both me and my brother.

MoneyPlus Advice pulled together a piece talking about all of the different milestones that we’re expected to move through. And according to the ONS, the number of families with adult children living at home increased across England and Wales between 2011 and 2021 which doesn’t surprise me. Obviously the COVID pandemic didn’t help, but its much harder to get on the property ladder, and even rental prices are steep.

Your life is your life

The main thing you need to remember is that there’s no age limit on lifestyle milestones. You don’t have to buy a house by a certain age, or move out of your parents home by another.

Everyone’s lives are different and everyone’s priorities are different. So as long as you’re happy, that’s the main thing.

Do you feel under pressure to hit certain milestones?