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By Age 35
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About
By Age 35 is a series of tongue-in-cheek and practical wisdoms about various benchmarks people should have satisfied before reaching their mid-thirties, stemming from an article which suggested that by the time one is 35 years of age, the person ought to have saved twice the amount of the annual income. Upon its publication in May 2018, the article prompted strong reactions from many Twitter users who found the notion absurd considering the challenging realities of the job market and economy in the United States.
Origin
On January 5th, 2018, Market Watch[1] published an article titled "Money Milestones: This is how your finances should look in your 30s,"[1] which quoted Boston-based investment firm Fidelity Investments as saying one should have savings equivalent to their salary by the time they are 30, and double that when they are 35 (so if one makes $50,000 a year, they should have $50,000 saved by the time they are 30 and $100,000 saved by the time they are 35). The article does acknowledge that this is a difficult goal for many to achieve considering rising mortgage costs and high student-debt rates.
Spread
The article did not begin drawing attention on Twitter until five months later, when the site's Twitter account tweeted the article on May 12th, 2018 (shown below).
Twitter users began noticing the tweet on the 14th, and began mocking the idea that they should have twice their salary saved when they're 35. For example, Twitter user @meakoopa joked that the only things in his pocket were two moths, gaining over 9,600 retweets (shown below, left). Twitter user @EscoBlades tweeted a joke that gained over 1,700 retweets (shown below, right).
![Anthony Oliveira @meakoopa Follow turns pockets inside out; two moths fly out] oh no my moths MarketWatch@MarketWatch By 35, you should have twice your salary saved, according to retirement experts: on.mktw.net/2Gb4UDC](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/372/962/55c.png "My Moths")
Other Twitter users offered less humorous takes on the article. User @Jeanine_Frost said the article must be intended for the super-rich, gaining 300 retweets and 1,700 likes (shown below, left). Twitter user @MarkAgee made a similar statement, joking "to be fair, 'be rich' is good financial advice (shown below, right). Jokes about the article were covered by Twitter Moments,[2] Huffington Post,[3] and News.com.au.[4]
Parodies
In the week following the article's spread on Twitter, a snowclone began spreading on Twitter with the phrase "By age 35…" followed by a humorous goal one should have by that age. Some popular examples include a tweet by user @chrisopotamia that gained over 21,000 retweets and 134,000 likes (shown below, left). User @LoriG tweeted a joke that gained over 32,000 retweets and 189,000 likes (shown below, right).
Other tweets took the snowclone in a more absurd direction. Some more ridiculous examples include a tweet by @JuliusGoat that gained over 7,800 retweets and 24,000 likes (shown below, left) and a tweet by @dylmdav that quoted Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime" and gained over 6,000 retweets and 28,000 likes (shown below, right). The snowclone variations were covered by The Daily Dot.[5]
By Age 30
In November of 2018, the meme spread again, though this time going under the name "By Age 30." It's possible the meme was sparked by a November 16th, 2018 report by CNBC[6] about the savings of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In the report, a financial advisor states that by age 30, one should have a few thousand dollars available and a year's worth of salary in a retirement account. On November 22nd, Twitter user @rchlltrmn tweeted a sarcastic list of things one should have by age 30, gaining over 8,800 retweets and 79,000 likes (shown below, left). The same day, Twitter user @katebrauning tweeted an example that gained over 44,000 retweets and 221,000 likes (shown below, right).
The meme grew popular over the following several days, as people tweeted various iterations. Some popular examples include a tweet by @therealjessnoe that quoted the lyrics to "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac gaining over 26,000 retweets and 118,000 likes (shown below, left). Twitter user @internetlauren tweeted the lyrics to "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush, gaining over 2,400 retweets and 10,000 likes (shown below, right).
Various Examples
Search Interest
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External References
[1] Market Watch – Money Milestones: This is how your finances should look in your 30s
[2] Twitter Moments – Wait, you're supposed to have saved how much by 35?
[3] Huffington Post – Twitter Users Roast Experts Who Say ‘You Should Have Twice Your Salary Saved’ By 35
[4] News.com.au – ‘By 35, you should have twice your salary saved’: Internet pans retirement saving advice
[5] Daily Dot – ‘By age 35’ is Twitter’s favorite new meme
[6] CNBC – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, is down to less than $7,000 in savings
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Siegg
May 17, 2018 at 12:59AM EDT
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May 17, 2018 at 09:22AM EDT