Money is power. Money is everything. Money makes the world go round.

Money doesn’t grow from the ground or trees. Money inflates and deflates at the squeeze of an invisible hand.

It is hard to make money grow.

Especially now, especially with the corpse of a recession lurking about, especially when the market seems as stable as Jell-O.

But money is here, a lonely bud ready to bloom, waiting to flourish.

Lou Roselli might have the golden touch.

Roselli knows that if he wants his money to grow, he needs to invest it in a market with other people’s money, where it will shrink or expand hopefully expand.

It doesn’t matter that Roselli just graduated from the University of Florida this December with a degree in international business.

Because Roselli is thinking ahead. He’s thinking of the day he will retire, a day not too far off in the future if Roselli plays the numbers right.

“The earlier you start investing, the quicker you can get to your retirement,” Roselli said. “If I lose everything now, I’ll have 60 years to recuperate.”

At 23, Roselli has a mutual find with a near-equal ratio of stocks and bonds, an IRA and life insurance.

It started with baseball cards that Roselli collected as a little boy growing up in south Florida.

He fell in love with the idea that the glossy cardboard framing the faces of his favorite players would one day be worth money maybe, a lot of money.

Then he started thinking and planning and saving and then, at 18, Roselli bought his first stock in Microsoft.

“If you start when you’re 18,” Roselli said, “by the time you are 50, you will retire early. If you start at 25, you have three times as much catching up to do.”

The rules of beginning investment are easy to follow, said Meridee Maynard, a vice president at the Northeastern Mutual Financial Network, based in Milwaukee.

More than money, they require restraint, restraint from spending, restraint from appearing over-eager.

It begins with tracking spending habits, knowing exactly how much money is spent day to day from a candy bar in the check-out line at the grocers, to weekly groceries, to bills and the bigger purchases, such as television sets and vacations.

A budget becomes a radar screen that shows exactly where money flows.

“It’s a wake-up call for people,” Maynard said, “when money is segregated for different goals.”

Then comes the emergency fund.

The emergency fund has nothing to do with investing. It’s a savings account or fluid mutual fund that cushions against layoffs, other job loss or illness.

It should allow a person enough money to live off of for three to six months once a steady paycheck has stopped.

This means that a person who needs an average of $1,200 to cover rent, bills and living expenses will need to save a minimum of $3,600 in a savings account, mutual fund or 401K, Maynard said.

Next comes the actual investing.

With post-collegiate salaries known for being low, it’s best to start with a 401K or IRA because they get the best tax benefits, said David Wilson, director of private investment policy at Merrill Lynch headquarters in New York City.

“You won’t get taxed on it until you start to withdraw when you retire,” Wilson said. “That’s years and years down the line. A 401K comes out of pre-tax and offers savings benefits.”

For example, Wilson said, a young investor could use a 401K to borrow against money needed for the purchase of a first home.

Next determine tolerance for risk and goals. Those who want to retire early need a higher tolerance for risk than those who don’t.

Think long-term and be patient. Time makes money grow.

“Everybody who is young and starting out needs to understand that you can’t take a small amount of money and make it grow quick,” Wilson said.

“Most games are won by singles and doubles not homeruns.”

Wilson suggests weighting a mutual fund with an equal ratio of stocks and bonds specifically 45 percent each. Ten percent, he said, should be in cash.

“It’s important to contribute on a consistent basis,” Wilson said. “If markets go down, your dollar will go down. Between $500 and $1,000 a year is reasonable to think about.”

The numbers may seem high, but Maynard said, they are attainable.

Take a starting salary of $30,000 after taxes.

Subtract $1,000 a month for rent in a major city and $750 for other expenses, such as car payments, college loans, bills and living expenses.

There’s $9,000 left.

Subtract $5, 250. That money goes into the emergency fund. It’s exactly three months worth of living expenses.

Now there’s $3,750 left.

Two-thousand dollars can open up a first-time IRA.

That leaves $1,750.

Between $500 and $1,000 can go into a first-time 401K.

Now there’s between $1,250 and $750 left.

“Pay yourself first,” with the money left over, Maynard said. “Saving money is like dieting. Use what you have left to reward yourself take a vacation or buy something you really want.”

But remember this:

“The smartest investor is the one that starts early and is disciplined,” Maynard said. “Pity the person who buys high and sells low.”