What is the most important thing you wish you had learned about money sooner?

Just one? That’s like asking me to pick my favourite Friends cast member, my favourite child, or my favourite beer. So hard it’s nasty!

The rules of money are so interwoven. In Debt Man Walking, I outlined the five global money rules: delayed gratification; compounding; diversification; risk versus reward; and the power of leverage.

If I had to pick one I wish I’d learned harder and earlier … perhaps delayed gratification. It’s the first rule of money. If you want to have more money later in life, you have to consistently spend less than you earn.

Like the famous “marshmallow experiment” run on Gen X children in the late 60s by “evil” scientist, Professor Walter Mischel.

The professor locked the kids in a room with a marshmallow on the table. If the marshmallow was still there when he got back – that is, they could delay their gratification – the child could have two marshmallows. But if they ate the one on the table, that was it.

If you can’t delay gratification, you can forget about real wealth. You’re a financial goose. And you’re cooked.

You’ll never buy a house. Compounding returns will mean nothing. Who cares about risk versus reward if you don’t have two brass razoos to rub together?

And benefiting from the power of leverage? Forget it. You’ve got to have something to leverage to benefit here.

While I got the whole delayed gratification thing early in life, you just know where you wasted money and how much better, easier, brighter, life would be looking now if you’d saved more of it and invested in more quality assets.

Bruce Brammall is the author of Debt Man Walking (www.debtman.com.au) and principal adviser with Castellan Financial Consulting.