You’ve seen the financial ads – save a few bucks today, let it compound, and in 50 years, you’ll have a gazillion dollars.

While the tortoise strategy might seem boring, growing your money the slow and steady way actually works. If it’s excitement you’re after, there are plenty of other ways to get a rush.

In your 20s, you want to have fun. This is the time to do the things you want before you get chained to a mortgage and other obligations. Your discretionary spending – clothes, electronics, trips, restaurants and leisure activities – might not be essential, but who wants to sit at home twiddling their thumbs?

Your financial plans are pretty simple at this point: pay off debt from student loans and credit cards, and maybe save for a down payment. There’s no point saving for an emergency fund when you’ve got Mom and Dad, right? Indeed, it’s hard to feel like
a grown-up especially if you’re still living at home and aren't completely independent yet.

If financial planning isn’t on your radar screen, don’t worry – you’re normal. There are lots of other things that outrank financial planning. But if you wait too long, you might wake up one day, wondering where your 20s – and your money – went.

This publication aims to provide you with the ideas, tools and, most important, the inspiration to create the financial foundation that will give you options later. No matter what your goals are, there’s good help out there if you know who to turn to and what questions to ask.