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Financial literacy is crucial

Pay yourself first. Then when there is not enough money to pay creditors and it'll motivate you.

What do you think your luck will be?

Avoid Becoming a Millionaire

Accept whatever salary an employer offers. Negotiating is a hard, scary process. Don’t bother with it and just be happy you have a job.

Don’t try to improve yourself at work. Stick to the status quo. Act like you’re in a union. Only do what you are told to do. Ignore naysayers or people warning you of an upcoming layoff.

Never leave the company you work for. Unless you are fired or laid off, don’t leave your current employer. Remember, they gave you a shot! You owe it to them to stick around for as long as possible.

Don’t track how much you earn and spend. Budgeting by far is the most difficult thing to do in personal finance. It takes a lot of time and can expose our true financial selves. That can be painful. Just don’t do it.

Spend more than you earn. If the credit card company is willing to let you pay off that plasma TV next year, why shouldn’t you? You’re in your prime! You can save later and catch up. It’ll be easy then. But for now, that Porsche Boxster, 4,000 sq. ft. house for two, and an exercise machine look mighty fine.

Ignore work benefits. 401k plan? Sounds kind of funny to me. Why would the company want to give me money? Plus, I’d miss that 3% in every paycheck. Honest. I’m actually going to write an entire post on this soon, so stay tuned.

Ignore your tax withholding. Huge refund checks at the end of the year always save you from financial disaster. Why would you ever want to change that? It’s so much easier to just get the big check after tax season.

Don’t open any IRAs. You’re already doing that darn 401k thing — that’s more than enough! 3% of your income already hurts. Plus, doesn’t IRA stand for Independent Righteous Arsenal?

Invest sometime later. Remember, you’ve got bills to pay. There isn’t enough money to sit aside for investing. Just wait. You’ll use next year’s raise, or wait until the kids move out of the house. Then you’ll have time and money.

Do not save. Those guys on late night TV with the $99 investment programs must have gotten it lucky.