Some of the personal financial advice we give young people is really silly.

When I was starting my career, I was advised to save as much as I can to benefit from the power of compounding interest. This made a lot of sense to me at the time, so I did it.

I made a lot of sacrifices at a time when it was the most “expensive” for me to save each dollar.

Looking back 20 years later, it took a lot of sacrifice to save an amount that I could save much more easily now, factoring in inflation and even the compounding interest.

We should tell young people that savings is an important but secondary factor to investing in yourself and compounding your earning power, and in the meantime balancing slow and steady progress against your bucket list.