You wouldn't think money was ever an issue for the offspring of finance and investing legend Charles R. Schwab.
But Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz's parents divorced when she was a child, and her father's firm didn't become a financial force until she was well into her 20s. "In my childhood, my dad was a struggling businessman," she said.
Schwab-Pomerantz got her first job — a paper route — at the age of the 13, and it was her mother who took her to the bank (a Wells Fargo, in fact) to open up her first savings account.
Her best advice to others, which is part of a larger campaign by the Council for Economic Education to promote financial literacy, is to do what she has done — put aside a portion of every dollar you earn and always comparison shop when it comes to the dollars you spend.
When Schwab-Pomerantz's own three children started working as teenagers, she encouraged them to save 10 percent of their income as well. They each opened up a Roth IRA and invested in mutual funds or broad-based exchange-traded funds.
"Most people's mistakes are about procrastination," she said. "As a young person, retirement seems so far off." But when it comes to saving and investing, "time is of the essence," she said.
Now, Schwab-Pomerantz is president and chair of the Charles Schwab Foundation, and a senior vice president at the $56 billion company. She's a certified financial planner and focuses on reaching out to other young people who tend to have less experience managing their personal finances.
Other money-saving tips will roll out on social media throughout the month with the hashtag #MySavingsTip.
