Which money milestone feels like the biggest deal when you finally hit it?

That moment your balance is actually positive and stays that way feels like emerging from a financial fog. Barclays and NatWest have made a small fortune from generations of students living in the minus zone.

Having a cash cushion that means a broken boiler won't ruin your week is quietly one of the best feelings in adult life. No more praying the car doesn't need new tyres.

In the UK, homeownership feels less like a milestone and more like surviving an obstacle course involving solicitors, surveys, and sheer luck. But when you finally get those keys, it's genuinely electric.

Most UK graduates quietly accept the Student Loans Company will follow them to retirement, so actually clearing it feels almost mythological. It's like spotting a unicorn in a Wetherspoons car park.

Hitting the full £20,000 ISA allowance in a single tax year means you've genuinely cracked the adulting code. HMRC doesn't get a penny, and that alone is worth celebrating.

The day you stop ignoring your pension and actually increase your contributions to something meaningful is oddly emotional. Suddenly you can picture a retirement that doesn't involve cat food budgeting.

When the final car finance payment clears and the vehicle is genuinely yours, driving it feels completely different. You might even wash it more often out of pure affection.

For millions of people in the UK, that first thousand pounds in savings is the difference between a bad week and a catastrophic one. It sounds modest but getting there is a real psychological turning point.