What 17 successful people wish they'd known about money in their 20s

Mark Cuban

Your 20s are far from simple ... especially when it comes to your finances. Even the some of the wealthiest, most successful people didn't escape this decade without making one (or several) money mistakes.

We asked a handful of self-made millionaires and billionaires, CEOs and entrepreneurs, and best-selling authors what they wish they'd known about money from the get-go.

Here's what they had to say:

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Learn the concept of delayed gratification

Kat Cole, president of Focus Brands:

"What I wish I would've known is more principles and practices around saving and consciousness about how I was spending my money. And the concept of delayed gratification, which I was really not good at.

"When you're making a bunch of cash you can do whatever you want, whenever you want. ... If I had instilled the practice of 'Yeah, I want something, but do I need it? I'm going to wait,' one of two things is going to happen: Either the desire for it will go away, and now I've saved that money, or when I get it, I'm going to be much more grateful for it — and maybe it's on sale at that point."

Have a cash cushion

John Paul DeJoria, cofounder of John Paul Mitchell Systems and Patrón tequila:

"Before investing or starting a company, make sure you have enough money saved for at least six months to pay bills or anything else that might come up financially. It's important to have a cushion of six months financial back-up before you invest or if something doesn't work out in your favor."

Learn to manage your credit cards

Mark Cuban, billionaire entrepreneur, investor:

"[I wish I knew] that credit cards are the worst investment that you can make. That the money I save on interest by not having debt is better than any return I could possibly get by investing that money in the stock market. I thought I would be a stock-market genius. Until I wasn't.

"I should have paid off my cards every 30 days."

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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