Good that you are planning at such a young age. Your power earning years are usually the next 20, so make good use of them! Then, in another 30+ years, you'll be my current age - and retired for sure.
"Plan your work and work your plan," or some such saying.
Best "fatherly" advice I can give you is to avoid debt, especially the credit card type, as it is so darned expencive! And get an IRA going, funded with some sort of equity, such as a mutual fund.
Oh, my younger son is a flight medic. He started out as an EMT at 18, then intermediate EMT the next year, and when he turned 21, was graduated from paramedic training. He's been able to work his way into a local medical flight service and into their management. In the meantime, he's taught not only CPR classes, but paramedic classes in some up-state Arizona locations. (Down side is that he's 34 and not yet married, though he's come close a few times.)
