Pre Script - Emily and I go down a few rabbit holes on this topic…Its worth the video watch. I will try to keep the article on topic, but this is more of a video SubStack!
Money Matters
Your parents crushed it financially. Emily's mom retired after 38 years as a Florida teacher, her dad after 40+ years at the power company. They both have full pensions paying 85-90% of their working income for life. They bought a 2,700-square-foot house with a white picket fence in suburbia when housing was affordable relative to income.
That world doesn't exist anymore. God we wish it did.
The financial advice that worked perfectly for Boomers can actually hurt your wealth-building efforts today. When your parents tell you to "play it safe," "buy the small house you can afford," or "avoid debt at all costs," they're giving you strategies for a game that no longer exists.
Their generation benefited from employer pensions, affordable housing, and a job market where you could work 35 years at one company with steady raises and comprehensive benefits. Most companies today don't offer pensions. Housing costs have skyrocketed relative to wages. The idea of a single-income family supporting a comfortable middle-class lifestyle is largely extinct unless you're a high earner.
Meanwhile, we're dealing with problems our parents never faced: the need to fund our own retirement entirely, housing markets that price out young families, and an economy that demands multiple income streams just to maintain purchasing power.
The most dangerous part? We're conditioned to accept parental financial advice without question. We assume they're the smartest people we know because they successfully navigated their financial lives. But when do you recognize that your parents' world was fundamentally different from yours?
Action Steps
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