When my dad died on active duty, my mother started receiving a death benefit intended for me. That was frittered away on a lot of indulgences - none of which made it to me.
When I moved in with my grandparents, they gave me control of the money at 12 yrs old. I was taught by them, so I only focused on saving as much as I could and laddering CDs.
When I got to college, I read plenty of Money magazine and Kiplingers. By the time I got out of college, I started investing in mutual funds...back in the day I had to send in a physical check. I picked them by again reading Money, Kiplingers, and heading to the library to read Morningstar...spent a lot of time reading forums on Prodigy (yep, dialup).
So started investing around 22 yrs old (1990). Stayed steady, frugal, never panic sold...and it served me well. We are not rich - but we own real assets and have no debt...and got 2 kids through college and building their own financial futures. Didn't start buying bitcoin until my mid-50s (Jan 2022), but I'm glad for the extra piece of mind of having an asset they can't debase.
