Vote. Get involved. Pay attention! While you were growing up and getting a degree, your elders set the stage for a disaster even worse than the one we're coping with now. Medicare, the war in Iraq and the financial bailouts are adding trillions in debt to the country's books that your generation must help pay back.
War and bailout costs should diminish. Medicare and Social Security expenses, however, are set to mushroom. The sooner we get spending under control and raise taxes - both are necessary - the less painful will be the country's burden in 2030 or so.
Younger generations must help make this happen. The good news is that baby boomers will soon start retiring en masse, leaving millions of job openings for the young and smart.
Buy inflation bonds. One way Washington will probably solve its problems over the long term is to let prices rise so it can repay its enormous debts with depreciated dollars. Invest in T. Rowe Price's Inflation-Protected Bond Fund or a similar mutual fund, and you'll be ready.
Take your time finding someone to love, but stick with him or her. Divorce is hell on spouses and kids, but it also drastically reduces chances for a comfortable retirement for both parties.
Read history for perspective. Living in the United States of America in 2009, breasting adulthood and holding a wet-ink degree, you're better off than 99 percent of humans who ever lived. The Great Recession of 2008-2009 doesn't look bad next to the Black Death of 1347-1351.
Never go without health insurance. Young adults hardly ever become seriously ill or injured, but if they wind up in the hospital without coverage they can bankrupt their parents.
Take intelligent risks. Embrace rejection, because the person who never failed never tried. Use all your vacation days. Give back. Volunteer. Be nice to flight attendants, motor-vehicle bureau employees and health-insurance processors. It's not their fault their organizations are messed up.
Wear seat belts. In every boom, live partly as if hard times were only a couple calendar pages away. In every slump, know that, statistically, a recovery is probably only months in the future.
