Right now you probably feel completely destitute. And financially daunted. So the first thing I always demonstrate to high school students is the nothing-less-than-magic phenomenon of compound interest (which – hopefully – you at least encountered at school). With all the emphasis on the three Rs in the curriculum, there's little room for Real-life lessons on Responsible money management. Credit:Aaron Wallender If at your young age you begin saving just $6 a day – granted that's a lot today but every year should see you earn more – you'll be a millionaire at age 63 (assuming an 8 per cent annual investment return, the long-term sharemarket average). To achieve the same thing, 38-year-old parents would require $35 a day; 53-year-olds, $182. Ouch! Better still only $100,000 of your future million bucks will come out of your pocket – the rest will be from investment returns. Has a free $900,000 grabbed your attention?

Survival secret 2: Save don't cave Compound interest when it works against you, on debt, is as harmful as the above is helpful. And credit cards are the worst because they charge nose-bleed interest and minimum repayments are set so low that you may never repay the debt. Here's an apt (and expensive) example for your situation … A gap year during which you spend $4500 on the average 19 per cent card will take you 44 years to clear, and $12,500 in interest, if you make only the required monthly repayments. Save for things first and you pay not a cent extra. Survival secret 3: Credit score to the fore Your parents may not even know this, but our credit reporting system has changed recently to be akin to a warts-and-all nude money selfie that produces a life-impacting credit score like in the US. And every time you grant someone a look at the intimate picture, by applying for credit, it pushes your number down. Everything about your debts and even utilities contracts and telco plans will feed into your score, including whether you are as few as 14 days late making a loan/credit repayment.

The upshot if you're starting out? Be organised and don't overcommit. A credit card will help you get a credit rating, but be so careful with it. Survival secret 4: Your name, your responsibility Very straightforward this one – if you personally sign a lease or connect a utility, that liability is yours while still in your name. NEVER move out of a share house, or go travelling, or break up with someone, without swiftly taking your name off EVERYTHING. If they happily run up your accounts thereafter, debts are yours, as is the damage to your score, as above. Survival secret 5: You're financial fair game Newly minted grown-ups are the new frontier for businesses as tapping into your untapped market is potentially hugely lucrative. On the financial front, this generation will receive thick-and-fast overtures from fin-tech companies – those that use technology to make financial management and investment simple. This is fine, so long as you remember that the ease comes with fees.

Realise, too, that high promised investment returns mean high risk – as in, you could lose the money you invest in the first place. You need to be highly sceptical of any investment promising more than an 8 per cent annual return – it may even be a scam. Naturally, delete all emails offering free money. Survival secret 6: Rates not school mates Perhaps you've received a warm-and-fuzzy financial grounding via Dollarmites … well if you stay with CBA, data from comparison website mozo.com.au shows you'll earn 1.2 per cent less on your savings, pay 10 per cent more on your credit card and shell out 1.43 per cent extra on any future mortgage (probably amounting to a wasted $100,000 or more over 25 years). Which is, sorry to say, why CBA's so kid-tastic. While we're talking interest rates, you need to know there's no longer any direct link between the Reserve Bank moving the cash rate (like you hear on the news) and the interest Aussies actually earn or pay. You'll circumvent the profiteering – and keep a bunch of money for yourself – by becoming a rate tart: flitting casually to new better offers (for now, especially for your savings). Not just Mozo, but a raft of comparison websites is there to money match-make for you, including infochoice.com.au, finder.com.au and canstar.com.au. Survival secret 7: Life can be sweet!

The secret to attaining financial security, which is the name of the game for you now, is targeting goals so tantalising you can almost taste them. You need strong motivation to resist instant gratification; who wouldn't otherwise just spend all their money? School leavers have a massive advantage in this respect: you have been targeting precious goals and resolutely working toward them for years. And if you care about your health and well-being, the same outcome-focused approach can see you achieve financial fitness too. All we need do is overlay a little investment knowledge, because you must invest to do it. As a starting point, I recommend taking the moneysmart.gov.au Investing Challenge, which I am proud to present. The interactive tool quizzes and immediately corrects your "money smarts". One last thing: to be sustainable over a lifetime, good wealth (like good health) requires moderation not deprivation – I like an 80:20 noble-to-naughty ratio with any "spare" money. And – if you tell your parents I said this, I will deny it – the best opportunity you will ever have to set yourself up is to stay home and save save save. Bonus secret for the ladies: (and all the lads that love a lady)

You need to save more than a man. Sucks but it's true. On the balance of probabilities you'll live longer – hooray – but that means you'll have more years to fund. And anyone, male or female, who intends to take career breaks, perhaps down the track to have children, needs to do the same. Loading I know I don't need to add that people of both genders need to believe their own hype in every salary negotiation; I'm convinced this generation will stamp out the frankly bamboozling 16.2 per cent gender pay gap. YOU are worth more. Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon is a commentator and educator who presents Smart Money Start, fun financial literacy, in high schools around Australia. themoneymentorway.com