School’s almost out. What can your generation teach school leavers about money?

Demographer Bernard Salt says Generation X changed the concept of growing up.

Xers believed age 18, even 21, was too early to become an adult. “Can we delay the whole responsibility thing for a while …”

Maybe not as long as Charlie Sheen’s character in Two and a Half Men (and hey, with Charlie in real life too), but you get the picture.

We created “adolescence” – refusing to mature until we hit about, um, 30, which was a fair stretch from our 21^st birthday bashes.

More of us went to university, we hung around home longer, we nicked off overseas, hanging around Earl’s Court or bumming around Asia.

Sure, we had jobs. Some of us. Some of the time.

My advice to school leavers? Don’t panic. We’re living into our 80s. You’ve got plenty of time for mature stuff like getting mortgages, making midgets and creating riches.

Go to university or get yourselves a trade. Then travel a bit, work a bit. You’ll be an adult for a very long time. Hold on to your youth!

If you’re under 27 or so, just keep yourselves out of financial trouble. Pay for everything with cash. If you need a credit card, keep the limit low – a few thousand dollars. Don’t get behind on bills. Keeping a clean credit record is an imperative for later life. Don’t spend too much on cars.

Put away a small portion of your income every month into a savings/investment account.

Blow the rest on fun. Life doesn’t end at 30. But it does become a lot more serious.

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