GEN Y - Justine Davies

When it comes to financial lessons, there are heaps of things that I wish I’d known – or more accurately, paid attention to sooner. Here are three of the top ones:

1. Every job is a learning experience. It’s vital to have a career that genuinely interests you, otherwise you’re setting yourself up for years of professional boredom or unhappiness. The fact is, though, that you’ll probably have many different jobs along the way and whether it’s specific technical skills, awareness of what makes good customer service, experience in complaints handling or the ability to negotiate office politics, every job that you have can be a valuable learning experience.

2. The available limit on a credit card equates to expensive personal debt. This is a lesson best learnt by observing others rather than by personal experience. Australians are now paying interest on about $36 billion of credit card debt. Canstar advises that the average interest rate is more than 17 per cent – which equates to more than $6 billion in credit card interest paid to our financial institutions each year. Avoid wasting your money in that way.

3. Savings habits are best started early. It’s amazing how, for many of us, our “necessary expenses” always seem to equal our income.

So get in the habit of saving money before you have a chance to miss it. As soon as you start regular paid employment, save at least 10 per cent of your income. Sooner than you imagine, you’ll have a fantastic nest egg.

> Justine Davies is finance editor and commentator with financial research and ratings firm Canstar.

GEN X - Bruce Brammall

This sort of advice makes me feel old. But, I guess, anyone who can remember Australia’s America’s Cup victory can no longer claim to be youthful.

Sniff. Sob. And if you remember Alice Cooper’s Department of Youth coming out ... massive fail. Waaaah!

I wish I’d understood the following two pieces of wisdom a little earlier.

You are a business. Always think of yourself as self-employed – even if you’re an employee.

Every day, ask yourself the question that people who run businesses do: “How do I improve my business?” The difference is that your CV is your business. Got it? The better your business becomes, the more your employer, or another employer, will value you.

My motto is: “Find out what the rules are, then play them.” The best at anything know what the rules are and where those boundaries can be pushed.

The last one I understood, but not as clearly as I do now. But it’s the most crucial – no matter how much, or how little, you earn.

Invest from every pay cheque. Some call this the “pay yourself first” principle. Invest 10 per cent of your income (at least) as soon as you receive it, for your future.

Initially, that might be to buy your first home, or shares, or investment properties.

If you do this from your early 20s, your will give yourself a wide variety of options in your 40s and 50s.

> Bruce Brammall is the principal adviser with Castellan Financial Consulting and author of Debt Man Walking.

BOOMERS - Mark Bouris

I started my working life in the same way that many of my peers did: I came out of university and I took the best job offer.

I knew I wanted a certain salary and a job in the Sydney CBD but there are a few things I could have known before I started working.

1. Purpose: Something you can’t know when you’re starting out is that aligning your purpose with your career is financially smart. The most successful people know what they have to achieve and why it’s vital. People who have purpose work harder, get better results, are less likely to become exhausted and are able to weather downturns better than those who just do it for the money.

2. Skills: At my first firm I was thrown in the deep end and expected to learn quickly and add value. I worked hard and built a solid skills base in a sought-after field, which gave me a long-term asset. Learning from successful people is something that all young people should aim for. A job with skills development is sometimes better than a bigger salary.

3. Making salary work: If you put some of your salary into productive assets, the asset eventually does the work rather than you. Putting money into shares or an investment property, or topping up super, allows you to convert labour income into investment income when you no longer want to work.

Work is something you do more than just about anything else, so choose an occupation or industry in which you have some interest.

> Mark Bouris is executive chairman of wealth management and advice firm Yellow Brick Road.

RETIREES - Kerrin Falconer

Most young people are never going to get old. They are going to be a chief executive tomorrow, own their own business or be some sort of other high flyer.

They are always going to be fit and well. They will never have relationship problems. They are going to retire before 40 and will have accumulated enough money to live more than comfortably ever after. Sound familiar? Here are my three financial lessons that I wish I had learnt earlier – the three Ps.

1. Patience and persistence: You don’t get rich quickly. Those who have accumulated wealth have usually worked over a long period to establish a portfolio of high quality investments, including shares and property. They haven’t tended to heed the “guaranteed to double your money overnight” tips on the sharemarket or on any other sort of investments. Invest early and invest persistently. Compound interest, the eighth wonder of the world, will do the rest.

2. Protect: Life is unpredictable and the best laid plans can go astray. The most important asset is a person’s ability to generate an income. If that is disrupted by a serious accident, illness or worse, plans may well be scuttled. Income protection and critical illness cover should be part and parcel of anyone’s working life.

3. Plan: Succeeding financially does not just happen. Plan to buy a home, go overseas, start a business. It is too easy just to fritter away wages. Plans will change from time to time but at least have a plan.

> Kerrin Falconer is a finance writer with 15 years of financial planning experience