Even if we can’t expect insane returns, I think there’s value in getting young people started. My dad gave my brother and me some money when we both started high school to invest. My brother got into stocks then and did research and bought companies he believed in. I had no interest in personal finance at the time, so my dad just parked that money in a fund his accountant suggested.

When I started working after college, that investment had increased a little in value. More importantly, though, it gave me a reason to start doing research and get familiar with online brokerages. Now I have a lot of money invested and have earned good returns over the last few years. If he hadn’t gotten me started I might just have a big savings account sitting around collecting dust right now.