Megan* is a twenty-something personal finance success story. She owns her own home – or at least she’s working toward it by successfully paying her mortgage each month. Her story shows the disparity in financial stability among young people.

Only a couple of years into her first job, Megan is able to afford her mortgage by renting out rooms in her house to students attending nearby Carleton University.

Megan says she learned a lot of what she knows from her parents, and has a good relationship with her contact at the bank where she has her mortgage. She often asks for a second opinion when it comes to how to invest or spend her money, and Megan says she’s developed strategies to avoid temptation to spend – such as avoiding magazines with lots of ads.

While Megan clearly works hard at budgeting and saving, her situation shows some people are succeeding without formal financial literacy training – they just have to be willing to take their money management education into their own hands.

* Megan asked that her last name not be printed