Timing isn't everything, but it sure as heck helps.

My friend who made a lot of the right decisions and is living a good life as a result took advantage of his youth to do some things that would help him become a millionaire. And now he's well on his way.

I got a later start at becoming financially secure, so to achieve my goals, I'm making some different decisions. (But some of our differences are actually because we have different personalities. What was right for him just wasn't right for me.)

He wanted to have nice things when he was older, and didn't want to have to struggle with a bunch of debt to do it. So he set some rules for himself with the help of some money-savvy friends.

Part of his big plan was to go to a nice college full of rich people, so he could make the right connections and benefit from being in the world of the rich when he got a job after graduation. And it worked!

The starting salary for his job coming out of college was more than I make years later, because he met the right people, impressed them, and was given a good job as a direct result of who knew that he was a good guy to hire.

The sooner you start making good money, or investing money, or saving money, the more time that money will have to work for you, making you even more.

So don't p*** away a lot of time if you really want success. Every day wasted will make it harder for you to get the successful life you really want.

You only have so many years in which to earn a living, so try not to blow the chances you get.

But there's more to it than just that.

Let's say you get a job bagging groceries at the age of 18, and skip college entirely. But out of each grocery bagging paycheck, you set aside ten bucks in an interest-bearing savings account.

That first ten bucks starts earning more money for you right away. It doesn't look like much, because at first we're talking about pennies. But those pennies also earn interest.

So you keep putting in your ten bucks every two weeks, and you keep earning interest on the money you put in and on the interest itself.

Even if you stop putting money in at some point (because you lose the job, get sick, or whatever), as long as you don't take the money out of that account, it keeps earning money for you. And over years, we're talking about a lot of money.

So don't waste the time you've got. Start earning interest on at least some small bit of savings right away. Set yourself up for as good a paycheck as you can manage as young as you can, so your income can grow.

Notice that I haven't told you not to have a good time or to deprive yourself of nice things. The goal isn't to live a life of poverty, but to avoid one!