* Open an online brokerage account to trade single stocks before funding a 401k because you want to get rich quick. This point really doesn't need further explanation.
    * Pass on a Roth IRA. Opening a Roth IRA at an early age may just be the single best retirement strategy for young people. And don’t forget, in the event of a real crisis, you can withdraw Roth IRA contributions at any time, tax- and penalty-free.
    * Dump all extra savings into company stock. One of my first jobs was for Lowe's. I worked with a guy in his 50s who dumped 100% of his earnings into company stock and obsessed over the stock price because mild swings cost him thousands of dollars. I just couldn’t live like that.
          o Video: Newbie? Watch this before investing

Shopping, food and rock 'n' roll

    *      Get your investing advice from late-night infomercials. Who hasn’t been tempted to flip houses or stuff envelopes for hundreds of dollars a month? The problem is, for every legitimate opportunity, there are 1,000 scams.
    *      Shop for clothes with labels that impress your "friends." It's time to be a grownup. Impressing people with clothes is something we did in high school.
    *      Eat out every single meal. Eating out has its benefits: no preparation, no cleanup, more social interaction. However, it will clean out your wallet a lot faster than cooking at home.
    *      Buy a television that consumes 80% of the square footage of your apartment's living room. Some plasma televisions cost more than the car I drive.
    *      Don't set up a monthly budget. One of my high school teachers had a sign hanging in her room that read, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Get over your fear of creating a personal budget and spend a little time telling your money where to go.

So there you have it: 43 ways to ruin your financial future. Hopefully, you'll avoid most of these along the way, but even if you don't, winning with money over the long term is about finding discipline and financial maturity. And that maturity can come at any age -- 22 or 42. The advantage of finding that maturity at 22 is that by 42 you could easily reach financial independence -- and have limitless opportunities ahead of you.