Never spend your money before you’ve earned it. – Thomas Jefferson

If I could rub on Aladdin’s lamp, I would wish for world financial literacy. Oh…And world peace.

However, what I really want is for more people to get involved with the family finances and build generational wealth for their future.

Within the last 72 hours, I have read that college students are unable to afford housing in Sacramento, Forever 21 went bankrupt, WeWork will be letting go of 2,000 employees, Sports Illustrated (SI) sacked half the staff.

In addition, that there is also an aging population and a doctor shortage due to issues with stress, debt loads in the $200,000-$500,000 range, not to mention under funding of residency programs; and that most of the growth in the job market is concentrated in only two areas: health services and education.

What your job is, should you choose to accept it, is to keep as many dollars in your bank account as possible. Unlike Tom Cruise’s message in Mission Impossible, this message will not self-destruct in five seconds.

If this were a financial hospital, I would want you to form a triage and determine which parts of your finances need most immediate care. Your bank account is the heart of your finances so let us perform a little CPR. Greenbacks Magnet style of course. This post is all about letting you know what you cannot do with your finances in order to grow your nest egg to a fortune. This reminds me of a sketch comedy show called You Can’t Do That on Television. Let me explain.

You Can’t Do That on Television is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that first aired locally in 1979 before airing in the United States in 1981. It featured preteen and teenage actors in a sketch comedy format similar to that of American sketch comedies Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In and Saturday Night Live.

What I loved most about this show was that they would always say what you could not do followed by some hilarious punishments such as being covered in green slime. And nobody wants that! Who wants to have to wash all that slime out of your hair?

Let’s pretend that everywhere you go there is a bucket of green slime waiting to be poured on your head for any financial missteps that you make. You may think twice about maxing out that credit card or renting that posh pad in the SoHo district for $4,000 a month. I’m just saying.

Here is a list of things that you cannot do with your finances:

• Upgrading to First Class on credit

• Maxing out credit cards

• Using Payday Loans

• Keeping High Fixed Expenses For example, Denise Richards claims ex Charlie Sheen owes $450,000 in back child support and that here expenses are $56,000 a month and she brings home $25,000 while paying $17,000 in rent a month

• Overloading on Student Loan Debt such as paying $100,000 for a Sociology degree

• Buying a car that costs more than your annual income

• Paying for a family member’s vacation to Disneyland on your credit card because theirs is maxed out

• Taking out Personal Loans for more than you can afford to repay

• Buying a home for more than four times your salary

• Spending on fancy jewelry

• Going on shopping sprees at the mall just because its Tuesday

Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let’s talk about what you can do with your finances. The list is short and quite simple:

• Save until it hurts aiming for 50% of your after-tax income

• Invest in index funds such as the VTSAX at Vanguard

• Open up a Roth IRA

• Max out your Roth IRA

And that’s about it.

I know what you’re thinking. That’s it?! The list for what not to do was more than twice as long.

That is because there are endless ways to spend money, but the road to wealth is quite simple. Spend less than you make and invest the difference. Therefore, if your take-home pay is $75,000 a year and you spend $50,000 on living expenses, then you should invest $25,000 a year. No matter what the numbers are, the goal is the same. The way to get to your destination may change, as life happens, but keep the goal.

I must now bid you farewell. Do not worry. I will not be far away. I am only a tweet away.

This is not goodbye. As they said in the 1987 He-Man film, Masters of the Universe, we Don’t Say Goodbye, we say Good Journey.

I will be your Yoda on this money journey.

And may the odds be ever in your favor.

I salute you.