09/17/2026
Have you ever thought about the first thing you heard about money as a kid? đ
Was it a lecture? Or was it something you overheard when your parents didn't know you were listening?
For most of us, it was the second one. And it's still shaping how we handle money today.
I want to tell you about a 14-year-old in my GEAR UP program. She overheard her mom talking about how expensive college has gotten. Her mom wasn't lecturing her. Her mom wasn't even talking to her. But that girl decided, quietly, that it was her job to earn her way in â and signed herself up for a college-credit math class online, alone, over the summer.
She actually ended up passing the class. But nobody saw what she was carrying to do it. đ
Your kids are not learning money from what you teach them. They are learning it from what you say when you don't know they are listening. And they are turning your overheard sentences into burdens they should never have had to carry.
Episode 48 of Money Is Not Your Problem is now available â including my own trajectory from $300K in debt to teaching about money as my contribution. đ
đ§ Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you listen.
