Are you under 30? If so, you have a great chance of building a large nest egg if you start investing wisely now.

Here are 9 rules for young investors to keep you out of trouble as well as on the path to a healthy investment portfolio:

1. Don't Be Afraid of Risk

One of the biggest mistakes young investors make is allocating too much of their investments in cash or bonds.

A good rule of thumb is to subtract your age from 100. Allocate that % of your portfolio to stocks. Me being 25 (100-25 = 75), I would want to allocate around 75% of my portfolio in stocks.

2. Don't Overweight In Your Employer's Stock

If you can get stock in your company subsidized, by all means invest as much as you can. That is free money.

But don't overweight your portfolio with company stock. What happens if your company goes under? Not only is your job income gone, but your investment portfolio is shredded as well.

3. Start Yesterday

Yes, we are young, but even the difference between starting at 20 vs. 25 or especially 30 is huge in the long haul.

Developing smart investing habits now vs. later in life pays out exponentially in the future because of the "magic" of compounding returns.

4. Question Advisers Mercilessly

Your financial adviser is not your friend. He or she may actually be your friend, but their first responsibility is to managing your investments.

If you choose a financial adviser, know exactly how he/she gets paid and exactly how much of your money they are getting. Every dollar they get is a dollar less what you could be investing.

Ideally, try to ditch the adviser and learn the basics of investing yourself.

5. Invest in yourself

Running your own business is risky. It's also one of the best ways to achieve financial freedom. Start a side-project in the evening while you keep your W-2 job.

Starting a business as young person has never been easier or cheaper. Heck, a personal loan borrowed through Lending Club can even help you fund your idea.

6. Think Long-Term

You don't need to check your investments every week. A quarterly checkup is a good idea.

Focus on the long term, and remember time is on your side!

7. Max Out Retirement Plans

Never pass up free money. If your employer matches retirement funds by all means take advantage of it. Again here, the earlier you start the better.

8. Invest Like a Robot

Automation, automation, automation. Set up all your investments to get deducted automatically from your paycheck or your bank account. If it's not automatic you'll make excuses and not put away as much as you should.

9. If You Don't Understand It, Don't Invest In It

Complex options, annuities, oil wells, currency, any "investment" that you don't understand completely should be avoided.

Earlier this morning Mike brought up the "staycation," an increasingly popular concept with gas and airline prices near all-time heights. Here are 7 tips for how to make your staycation both frugal and fun.

1. Lock up your electronics

Gather up computers, cell phones, and other electronic distractions that could keep you in your daily grind. The whole point of a vacation is to give your brain and body a refreshing change from daily life. Give your computer to your neighbor for the week and don't let him give it back to you during that time, even if you beg. If you must keep your cell phone on, set predetermined times when cell phone use is allowed (30 minutes in the afternoon for example).

2. Hire some help

Hire a cleaning service to take care of your home during your staycation. You'll feel more relaxed and the extra cost will be minimal compared to what you’ll be saving.

3. Plan activities

Plan a hike for the afternoon, then cooking s'mores in the backyard (or fireplace) and games in the evening. Set a strict schedule and stick to it. Depending on if you're looking for an active or more chill "getaway," schedule your book-reading/pool/lounging time accordingly.

4. Document your trip

Just like on a normal vacation, you'll want to remember your "staycation" through photos or videos. Plus, you'll definitely want to get a picture of your family piled in the tent in the backyard!

5. Explore your town

When tourists visit your city, where do they go? Take a day or two of your staycation and devote it to discovering or revisiting some of the top destinations in your area. Sure, you may feel like a tourist… but that's the point!

6. Order in

Forget cooking, you're on vacation! Have your meals delivered during your staycation so you won't need to worry about cooking. Or, hire an aspiring cook as found via craigslist or a local university for the week. Give them a budget and have them handle your meals as well as shopping.

7. Act the part

A true staycation means you don't pick up your cell phone. Don't check your work email or make "just one call". Sleep in. Don't set an alarm. Splurge on sorbet or ice cream. Go for a bike ride. Read a book for fun. Sunbathe.

The biggest key to a successful staycation is convincing your brain that you are really on vacation. Follow these tips and you're on your way to a frugal and fun vacation!

I remember two things from the "Personal Finance" class taught at my high school:

• It was taught by the shop teacher.
• It was a complete joke.

I'm not alone in finding primary education severely lacking in teaching smart financial skills.

With Americans now saving a paltry $354 a year, we need a radical change in spending, saving and investing habits. "Good times" don’t last, and my generation (in high school during the dot-com boom) is experiencing its first financial shock.

So, how do we deal with it? Also, how do we prepare future generations to avoid the mistakes that we've made? If we're going to reduce our dependence on debt, improve our financial literacy, shun materialism and give our children a better future, we have to get creative. We have to get radical:

1. Mandatory Classes Before Your First Credit Card

Before a personal bankruptcy is discharged, you are required to a take a personal finance course. The course can be taken on line, and the curriculum isn't complete fluff. I should know. I had to take the class last year. While my personal finance transformation was already in progress, the class was useful.

So if the government makes debtors take a class once they've hit rock bottom (and file for bankruptcy) why not require people to take a finance class before they can get their first credit card?

Is it really so absurd? Teenagers must pass both a written and driving test before getting their learners permit, yet they can get a credit card without having any clue as to what they are getting themselves into. Why not have credit card companies require first-time credit card holders to pass a credit literacy test?

2. Subsidize Personal Emergency Fund Accounts

Many employers, including the federal government, have great 401K and other plans to entice employees to save for retirement. Many will match employee contributions by 100% or more. Regardless, many financial disasters occur well before people hit 65 years of age.

Why not have employers or government matching emergency fund accounts? We should be encouraging all Americans to have a fund set up for the unexpected. For every dollar saved up to a set limit (say $1000) it would be matched.

Why is an emergency fund so important? It can mean the difference between staying afloat and entering a deadly financial crisis. Half of all bankruptcies are due to medical bills, mostly from average Americans with health insurance. If you have a fund to cover a huge bank overdraft or unexpectedly large medical bills, you've just avoided a potentially huge setback.

3. Require New Hires to Complete a Budget

When a worker starts a new job, they should be required to complete a basic personal finance course before they receive their first paycheck. It could be done completely online. Don't finish the course = Don't get paid. It's simple.

The course could easily be tailored to with the new employee's salary or pay information. At the end of the course the new employee would have a basic budget set up, including their new salary.

4. Stop Watching Commercials

I don't care if you have to pay a little extra on your cable bill. Get a DVR or Tivo so you can skip commercials. Weather you realize it or not, the constant bombardment of advertisements on TV affects your behavior. If you can't skip commercials, take a lesson from my super financially savvy grandparents: Hit the Mute button.

What radical ideas do you have for how to cure our low financial literacy?

Leave your best and most radical ideas in a comment below.