This is not for the OP, but very related. It is what he can tell some one much younger than he is now.
"Young people can virtually assure that they and their families will avoid poverty if they follow three elementary ruled for success: 1) complete at least a high school educations; 2) work full time; and 3) wait until age 21 and get married before having a baby. People who followed all three of these rules had only a 2% chance of being in poverty and a 72% chance of joining the middle class (earning above $55,000 in 2010). If someone failed in all three of these, their chance of living in poverty was 77% and they only had a 4% chance of making it into poverty."
