You kids listen to Xenophon, because he is telling you a true thing. Investing a small amount now and regularly every week or month is the smartest thing you can ever do.
Invest where it doesn't hurt you, and never invest more than you can afford to lose. If you get a raise at work, don't even think about it. Take that amount and put it into your safest possible retirement fund. Skip the new car every other year and instead pay an equivalent amount of a car payment into a mutual fund each month.
My mother was a financial whiz. She studied at the knee of my grandmother (her mother-in-law), who brought her family cotton farm out of the Great Depression much wealthier than when they went started. They both drilled a very important rule into my head:
Live below your means.
That means perhaps buying a smaller or older house than the rest of your friends, and paying cash or paying it off quickly. It means thinking twice before throwing money away on impulse purchases. Don't buy it just because you can afford the minimum monthly payments. And feel glad when those around you are worried about finances but you only have to worry about what to do with all that extra cash. That's a good problem to have!
All of you kids just starting out need to build a habit of saving and investing right from the start. Just $5 or $10 in a kitchen canister will add up in a hurry. The popular saying is to pay into your savings as though it was a bill to be paid.
Lots (most) people think that talking about money is taboo. There is nothing wrong or dirty in thinking about money and how to get more of it. I highly recommend reading the "Rich Dad/Poor Dad" series of books. It will free you to think and talk openly about how to use money. I say "use" because never forget: Money is a tool.
And now the book paragraph brings us back On Topic. Carry on.