ArcaMax

Nearly two decades ago, getting reliable financial advice meant finding someone you trusted and asking them directly. At CBS News, a group of young tech and gaming reporters found their person—me, a CFP who happened to sit nearby—and started calling me "Aunt Jill."

Today, information is everywhere: online, through social media, and via AI. Finding someone you can actually trust is harder than ever.

How can people parse what is important for their lives? I hope to answer that question in a new show called “Money Moves.” It’s geared towards people under the age of 45, seeking actionable financial guidance amid a noisy world, without jargon or judgment.

Part of the show will be dedicated to calling out the operators trying to sell you things you don’t need (hello, “finfluencers”). It will also call out some of the elders (aka my cohort) who give advice that is outdated or doesn’t recognize that the financial and economic landscape has changed dramatically since they were starting their journeys.

Here are some tropes that need updating:

The idea that younger generations are struggling because of discretionary spending is overblown. The real problem is the high cost of housing, elevated costs since the pandemic, and student loan burdens, all of which have grown faster than wages.

Telling a 30-year-old, especially one who lives in a high-cost-of-living area, to save every dollar to buy a home ignores a brutal reality: home affordability has plunged.

Five years ago, the share of median income necessary to cover a mortgage, principal, interest, taxes, homeowners’ insurance and Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) stood at 30 percent, just under the threshold of what is considered affordable. Today that share is 42%, due to rising home prices, mortgage rates that have doubled, and insurance costs that have soared.

Buying a home at any age requires analysis. In many instances, renting and investing the difference can produce better long-term outcomes than buying. The “throwing money away” framing also ignores that mortgage interest, property taxes, insurance, and repairs are money you'll never see again either. Renting buys flexibility, liquidity, and freedom.

For those who can take the plunge, be wary of rules that were designed for a world where home prices were lower relative to income. Today, many can afford to carry a home, but they may not be able to save the 20% down payment that would entitle them to the lowest interest rate. For them, putting down 10% and paying for PMI may be fine, with an eye toward refinancing in the future.

Not all debt is created equal. A 4-5% federal student or auto loan is fundamentally different from a 22% credit card debt. Staying out of the stock market to aggressively pay down low-interest loans may sacrifice years of growth for a psychological win that doesn’t make sense mathematically.

The three main financial goals for anyone starting out should be: build an emergency fund with 6-12 months of living expenses (and keep it in a high yield savings account), invest enough to capture any employer retirement plan match, and tackle high-interest debt.

A thin credit file can hurt young folks when they try to borrow money to buy a car or a house. Responsible use of credit cards (i.e. paying off the full balance monthly) helps build essential credit history and provides more security than a debit card if there is a merchant issue.

_____

_____

========

(Jill Schlesinger, CFP, is a CBS News business analyst. A former options trader and CIO of an investment advisory firm, she welcomes comments and questions at askjill@jillonmoney.com. Check her website at www.jillonmoney.com)

©2026 Tribune Content Agency, LLC