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“Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.”

Ayn Rand

* Read this book if you arrive home to find a FOR SALE sign on the lawn and your parents gleefully tell you they have decided to downsize to a condo and have listed the contents of your bedroom on Kijiji!

* Read this book if you are a high achiever between the ages of 17 and 29 and are looking for solid tips to secure your future happiness and financial well-being.

If you are a young adult who has recently left home, or is considering leaving the family home, this book is for you. This book is designed to help you make smart decisions with money now and through the next decade. In the next few days, months, and years, you will be making financial decisions that will define your future relationship with money. Whether you decide to go it alone or choose a life partner, this is the decade which will take you from the family basement into your first apartment, when you’ll establish a career, balance a budget, set short-term to midterm financial goals, purchase a vehicle, and perhaps even buy your first home.

This book will help you plan your postsecondary education, begin a career, move from the family home, and find a financial coach to help you along the way. You will learn to set goals for the next decade, create an inventory of your assets and skills, and place a value on your career and the hidden benefits that can put thousands of dollars in your pocket. You will learn to build a budget, show your money who is boss, learn the difference between smart debt and dumb debt, and find tips for investing your savings. You will also receive tips for making your first real estate investment.

It is my observation that even a very small financial success at this stage of your life can multiply into solid financial security in the future. Did you know that just $100 a month in savings could grow to $56,251^[1] over the next 20 years? What would you do with $56,000? If you wanted to make a down payment on a home in year ten, how much would your savings be worth? $19,854!

Note that mistakes made at this stage can take years to reverse. Debt incurred now to buy those new jeans or the latest video game can stay on your credit card for years in the form of outrageously high interest rate charges. Let’s say you buy those jeans on your credit card for $60 and only pay the interest for the next 20 years: Your jeans will cost you in excess of $325!

This book is designed to help you make the smart choice each and every time. The chapters are laid out so you can read the book from cover to cover, or you can pick and choose the topics of interest to you on any given day. Feel free to jump ahead to the topic which interests you the most.

Having a financial plan allows you to be strategic. Financial planning is a systematic methodology for making decisions which bring you closer to your goals. Your goals will be unique to you; the methodology for achieving your goals, however, has been well developed over time.

There are three simple steps you can take right now to help you secure the future happiness and the financial security you want:

1. Read this book.

2. Use the enclosed exercises to develop a strategy for achieving your goals — then implement your unique strategy.

3. Review your goals and the progress you have made often to ensure you are on track. Revise your goals and actions as required.

I wish you the best of luck as you set out on the road to financial success!

1. Assuming 7 percent rate of return