You don't need to be a financial whiz; you don't need to be earning a hefty paycheck; you don't even need to put in too much time.
You need to start investing - as early as possible.
Investing is not a daunting as we tend to make it out to be. An easy starting point is to contribute towards your employer's 401(k) plan and to take advantage of your company's 401(k) match if they offer one.
You could also invest in a Roth IRA or traditional IRA - individual retirement accounts - and look into low-cost index funds, which Warren Buffett recommends, or the online investment platforms known as "robo-advisers."
The most important thing is to start as soon as possible.
To convey the incredible power of investing early on, Ramit Sethi, author of "I Will Teach You To Be Rich," created a visual comparing the investing strategies of two friends: Smart Sally and Dumb Dan.
Both friends invested $100 a month, but Dan invested for 30 years, while Sally only invested for 10 years. However, Sally came out with $50,000 more, all because she started investing earlier than Dan. Sally benefited from compound interest, which is when the interest earned on your investments earns interest itself.
Here's a little more information about Sally and Dan's investing strategies:
Ramit Sethi