“My uncles always taught me — they taught me how to have a savings account,” James said a podcast interview. (Good news if you’re thinking about saving more too, as a number of savings accounts are paying upwards of 3% — see some of the best savings account rates you can get now here.) He continued: “They’d give me a dollar and they’d be like, ‘Listen, nephew, go spend 35 cents of it and keep the other 65.’ Or, if they gave me two dollars, they’d be like, ‘Go ahead and spend a dollar of it, but stash the other dollar.”

James noted that he doesn’t buy everything he wants either, explaining that growing up at “the bottom always creeps into my head, and I end up just saying, ‘I don’t need it’ … there’s nothing more I could give myself that would make me happier.”

Pros say James’ uncles taught him a very useful habit — though they debate what percentage of money one should save.  “This is a great example for all younger kids to learn about money, spending, banks and more,” says certified financial planner Rob Riedl at Endowment Wealth Management.

For his part, certified financial planner Joe Favorito at Landmark Wealth Management says he agrees with this premise of saving, though the ratio of spending to saving isn’t the same for everyone as “we obviously need to spend some of what we make to cover our essential expenses. Ideally, we all want to enjoy life to some extent, so there should be some discretionary spending,” says Favorito. 

A good rule of thumb for us non-billionaire celebrities is to save at least 10% of our gross income towards our retirement goals and other savings. You also want to build up an emergency fund of at least three months’ worth of expenses, and if you have outstanding high-interest debts, work on paying those off quickly before allocating the full 10% to your retirement savings.

After that, aim to hit the 10%, and “if you can save more, even better. Employer-based retirement plans like a 401(k) usually offer the best tax benefits for accomplishing this, and any additional savings should be goal based, such as saving for a home, as well as building an emergency fund of at least six months of expenses,” says Favorito. 

Unfortunatley, too few Americans have anywhere close to the amount of savings they should. Indeed, fully 56% of Americans couldn’t cover an unexpected $1,000 bill with savings, according to a survey this year of more than 1,000 adults conducted by Bankrate. (This recent MarketWatch Picks article details exactly how much Americans have in savings, versus what they should have.)

One way to make savings easier is to automate your savings so you pay yourself first. “It’s always easy to come up with excuses from month to month about what came up that didn’t allow you to save what you wanted,” says Favorito. If you automate your savings right from your paycheck, you’ll typically make do with what you have left and hopefully control your spending habits.

Riedl says savings is the first good habit and investing is the second. “Dollar cost average [an investment strategy of investing roughly equal amounts of money at regular intervals] a set amount per month into the financial market via a low-cost diversified portfolio. Start with a 401(k) plan or an IRA to get tax savings and achieve all company matches. Then open a personal account and do the same. The power of compounding will be your long-term friend and annual rebalancing of the portfolio at a minimum is a must,” says Riedl.