I WAS LESS THAN 10 years old when I decided that I wanted to earn some extra cash over and above my weekly allowance. I took day-old sections from the Washington Post and went door-to-door in my neighborhood, selling each section for a dime. Not many fell for it, but there was a couple who were willing to hand over a dime to a young boy looking to supplement his allowance.
I doubt that I earned much from this endeavor.

LAST YEAR, I MADE the jump from employee to self-employed. Professionally, I felt ready. But what about financially? Here’s what I did to make sure everything went smoothly:
1. Eliminate Overhead. Success as a freelancer or business owner is never guaranteed. To give my business a chance to succeed, I wanted to save enough to sustain myself for at least six months.
My salary was fixed, so I had to make adjustments to my spending.

YESTERDAY MORNING, I spoke at career day at the Philadelphia school where my daughter teaches. My two fellow panelists were a city planner and a fundraiser for a local ballet company. What did we tell the 11th grade kids? Interestingly, all three of us focused on the same four themes:

You’re unlikely to have a single career. Instead, you’ll switch direction as you discover what you’re good at, the world changes around you and you grow weary of your current job.