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      If your student loans are getting you down, remember this: A college graduate will earn, on average, a million dollars more over the course of a working career than a high school grad.9 Handling student debt diligently will be a key part in your strategy for building wealth. The vast majority of college borrowers with less than $50,000 in student loan debt can certainly be moving forward in their financial lives and using their best asset – time – to work for them. Don't let anyone tell you it's impossible to plan for the future while still paying off the past. It can be done. (Chapter 3 will help you organize your approach to managing debt.)

      This is not a book for defeatists. It's a book for young people of any means who want to build wealth. Whether you have loan debt, were fortunate enough to graduate debt-free, or are considering college or studying now, it is critical to save early and train yourself in habits to make your money grow.

      Most of us didn't grow up reading the Wall Street Journal, and many high schools teach rudimentary economics if anything at all. In grade school, children still learn to count change, yet there is little if any real preparation for the dizzying array of college financing schemes, prepaid debit cards, peer-to-peer loans, and countless other accounts millennials get pitched every day. Financial literacy is not something the United States does well, and most families would rather talk about religion or politics than money. There's no shame in getting started now. The old cliche that it is better late than never does not apply here. You are reading these words now, and you have the most valuable ingredient you need: time.

      In the workforce and in the headlines you have undoubtedly heard and read those old clichés attached to the newest generation. They don't work as hard. Consumer technology makes them lazy and entitled. They are selfish. However, a seminal study of millennials by the Wall Street research firm UBS found something very different – and very exciting – for any member of this generation looking for success. That study found that millennials have learned the lessons from the financial crises during which they grew up and are now primed to save more money and build wisely for the future. Think of your generation as being as powerful as the baby boomer generation – you will have an equally huge impact on the economy once you hit your stride financially.

      The UBS study found this generation more likely to save, more frugal, and more resilient than prior generations. UBS found that words like entitled and lazy don't fit the reality.

      Emotional (39 %)

      • Having a happy family (45 %).

      • Having a deeply meaningful relationship with my spouse/partner (37 %).

      • Staying true to the values I believe in (18 %).

      • Leading a calm, simple life with people who care about me (17 %).

      Financial (30 %)

      • Having financial freedom (48 %).

      • Being able to provide for future generations of my family (15 %).

      • Being well-compensated for what I do (14 %).

      • Owning things I aspired to have, such as art, a second home, a boat, and so on (12 %).

      Experiential (24 %)

      • Living a full life with a wide variety of experiences (37 %).

      • Enjoying the work I do (29 %).

      • Being someone from whom others seek advice/opinions (4 %).

      • Knowing interesting, creative people (2 %).

      Achievement (7 %)

      • Achieving more than my parents or my peers (7 %).

      • Reaching a very senior job position, such as a C-Suite position (7 %).

      • Owning my own business (5 %).

      • Source: UBS

      In fact, money matters to millennials, UBS found, but they fall short of the “greedy” tag one might apply to their elders. Success to millennials means hard work (69 percent), saving and living frugally (45 percent), and a good education (37 percent). And success is not just about money. This generation's definition of success is more nuanced, adding emotional and relationship factors to the formula and not just traditional measures of financial health.

      Achieving that success takes some simple first steps. And the most critical is the monthly budget.

      Pay Yourself First

      The first key to building wealth is to live below your means. The money you don't spend you put to work. For many years, it was the American way to spend more than we earned, using credit to pay for the rest. Millions of Americans burned through their money, justified by the false assumption that the

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