What I Wish I'd Known

At some point in my elementary school career, my mom took me to our small town's local bank and helped me open a savings account.  I had earned money off and on through my earlier years helping her out with her home-based wedding cake business, and it was time to move from keeping loose change and dollar bills in the piggy bank to depositing that money into a real bank.  It was a pretty neat experience.  I got the little brown book with my life's savings totaled in it, and every so often I would bring in a bit more to add to that total.  I kept at it, saving some here, taking a bit out here an