I graduated from college with six figures in debt and no savings or investments. My first job out of college paid $400 per week. I ate dollar-menu fast food every day until I got sick and landed in the hospital. I paid $650 a month to live in a dank basement, ridden with bed bugs, and I slept on a mattress strewn on the floor. I hated my life.

I worked harder. I earned a 100% pay raise within two years. I worked nights to start a business. I ate healthier and exercised. I received an unexpected inheritance, and instead of spending the money, I put it in the bank and bought a copy of The Intelligent Investor. I grew confident in what I learned and invested that money during the financial crisis. I didn't listen to the people who told me it was a bad idea to invest in the stock market. I paid off all of my student loans within a year. My business failed and I took a low-paying job again. I worked even harder and was offered a better job at a 160% pay raise. I kept investing in myself, and when I was able to, I kept investing in dividend-paying stocks and low-cost funds. I can't complain about where I'm at now.

I'm telling you this story because your child's future may be a roller-coaster ride, too. We can't control it. All we can do is give our kids a good start and teach them how to learn.

To that end, here are a few things I've learned that I'd like to share:

Invest in General Education and Wellness

There is nothing more important than investing in yourself. Teach this to your children as soon as you can. The S&P 500 (an index of 500 large public companies in America) has grown about 8.00% per year, on average, since I started working; my salary has grown about 16.00% per year over the same period. Take a look at the shocking difference these growth rates can make over the long term:

$10,000 growing at 8.00% over 30 years = $100,626.57

$10,000 growing at 16.00% over 30 years = $858,498.77

The growth of your paycheck is more meaningful than the growth of your investments in the first half of your life. It's important for your children to get the best job they can and work hard in those early years. You're a role model, so set a good example.

Take care of yourselves - Your family's health and wellbeing (including your own) is most important. I know parents who don't go to the doctor or dentist in order to save money. Those parents are teaching their children a bad lesson. A serious medical condition costs more than a lifetime's worth of check-ups and wellness visits. (I once paid $20,000, out of pocket, to deal with the aftermath of an infected tooth.) Smoking, over-drinking or eating unhealthy foods can sabotage your child's future: How can our children succeed if they are taking care of sick parents?

Read to your child from the start - Your child is more likely to go farther in school if your household is filled with books. Phones and tablets don't count (though they have their place in education). Learning how to read is the first step in learning how to learn, the most important lesson of all.

Learn together - "What is money? Really." The world's smartest economists have a hard time answering that question. Meanwhile, most parents confidently answer: "Pfft, it's that green paper that buys stuff." It's fun and enlightening to learn (or re-learn) things with our kids, and the internet makes it easier than ever to do so.

Teach wants vs. needs - "I don't want to go to school. I need a fidget spinner." Our kids say cute and funny things that grow less cute and funny over time. Teaching lessons about patience, gratitude and making tough choices is best done at an early age.

Ask thoughtful questions - "Would you rather have one million dollars now or the sum of a penny, doubled each day, for 30 days?" (The doubling penny adds up to 10.7 million dollars by the 31st day of the month.) "If everyone in the world magically had twice as much money, would everyone be able to buy twice as much stuff? Would the price of that stuff go up or down?" I've asked young kids questions like these, and with a little bit of thought, they usually answer correctly. Meanwhile, I've met smart adults who seem incapable of understanding financial concepts like compound interest and inflation. I can't explain why this happens, but I'm convinced that children need to solve financial riddles themselves (before they learn incorrect or incomplete information later in life).

Start a 529 Plan or Coverdell Savings Account

There are two great reasons to open a tax-advantaged investment account for your child's education as soon as possible:

1. Your money can grow tax-free as long as your withdrawals are used for qualified education expenses; and

2. The money in these accounts, although earmarked for your child, can count as your asset (the federal financial aid formula treats parental assets more favorably than assets held in a child's name).

The earlier you start investing, the better chance you have to be successful at it. This is especially true when you're investing in the stock market.

A Few Words About the Stock Market

I know a lot of parents who are afraid of the stock market. They think they're doing their child a favor by keeping money in the bank rather than "gambling" with it. Investing in the stock market is not gambling if you act responsibly. It's a way to become part-owner of the companies that we rely on. People who don't own a growing business -- or invest in growing businesses -- are more likely to grow poorer over time.

You don't need to be a genius to invest in the stock market. A high-school education is more than enough. The key to being a successful investor is to avoid making three major mistakes:

1. Paying for something that is worthless - Investors get burned when their investments completely lose their value (like a stock pick that goes bust). This is totally avoidable. Investing in a total stock market index fund like Fidelity's (FSTMX) or Vanguard's (VTSMX) lets you own thousands of America's largest companies in a one-shot deal. These companies form the backbone of America: They are valuable. This may be the safest and easiest way to invest in the stock market. Taken together, the companies within these funds will always be worth something.

2. Overpaying for something that is valuable - People who bought a total stock market index fund at the market peak in October 2007 watched the value of their investment fall by 56%. The people who sold at the bottom turned an imaginary loss into a real (and devastating) one. The brave people who sat tight through the crisis watched their investment rebound and grow by more than 90% over the decade. Not bad for a "mistake." It sucks to overpay for an investment, but as long as you invest through the ups and downs of the stock market, you'll pay a fair price in the end. This concept is called "dollar cost averaging."

3. Panicking and treating something valuable as if it were worthless. Would you sell your home to a stranger for pennies on the dollar because he told you that you paid too much to live there? Of course not. Don't sell your investments so recklessly either. As we saw in the example above, things can work out OK even if you buy into the market at a bad time.

Let's get back to 529 Plans and Coverdell Education Savings Accounts. These are two popular ways to save for college in a tax-advantaged way. Both plans have their pros and cons, which I've summarized in the table below: