Pretty much this. In Canada, we have a book called the Wealthy Barber ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealthy_Barber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weal

Pretty much this. In Canada, we have a book called the Wealthy Barber ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealthy_Barber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealthy_Barber ) that came out in the late 1980s that was a fictional story of a "rich barber giving financial advice to young people". It essentially lays the groundwork for compound interest working in your favour and gives sensible advice on life insurance, estate planning, etc. The TL;DR is the "pay yourself first and make it so that 10% of your income goes into a mutual fund before you even see the money"(1) and reasonably stay out of debt and you'll likely be financially successful. The other point is that money is just a tool and tools can be useful (buying food, shelter, pleasure), but can also hurt you (debt, bankruptcy, etc). In the book he even advises AGAINST real estate because of the PITA (pain in the ass) factor of having to deal with tenants and upkeep. 1. This is the 1980s and index funds weren't yet in the zeitgeist, but subsequent revisions address this.