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.