1993: The New Rules for Getting a Financial Life with NYT Bestseller Beth Kobliner

**Farnoosh Torabi** (0:00)
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**SPEAKER_2** (0:39)
You're listening to So Money with award-winning money guru Farnoosh Torabi. Each day, get a 30-minute dose of financial inspiration from the world's top business minds, authors, influencers, and from Farnoosh yourself.
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**Beth Kobliner** (1:05)
You asked me about optimism and I'm going to give you optimism. I think Gen Z, this generation of people in their 20s and 30s, they save more. They save three times more than the rate than my generation did in the 1990s.
They are much more likely to open 401Ks, whether it's because their companies open it for them. But even before those rules kicked in, they were contributing to 401Ks. So they know that they have to be a bit more grown up than maybe slackers did, my generation. They're going to college, you know, a high percentage are going to college. I do think, we don't have the evidence yet, but I do think they're going to be much more mindful, just like this generation is much more mindful of not taking on too much credit card debt. Although, unfortunately, in the last year, you know, since the pandemic, basically, young people have taken on more credit card debt than they had been for the last 15 years. But when it comes to learning from the past, they're not going to take on, I hope, as much in terms of student debt, because like you said, they've heard the horror stories of their older siblings or even their parents. And the other thing that makes me really happy is they have health insurance. Whereas my generation, when you were in your 20s, not that many people had health insurance. Now, 85% of people in their 20s and 30s have health insurance.

**Farnoosh Torabi** (2:25)
Welcome to So Money, everybody. I'm Farnoosh Torabi. When Beth Kobliner published her New York Times bestselling book, Get a Financial Life, nearly 30 years ago, the average first time home buyer in America was 28 years old. Today, the average first time home buyer is 40
That one number captures just how dramatically the financial landscape has changed for young adults. The rules that many people grew up with, go to college, get a good job, buy a home, build wealth, does not seem to work quite the same anymore. And yet Beth is not here to tell us the system is hopeless. In fact, we'll hear about how after spending years talking with high school students, college graduates, and young workers across the country, Beth has been seeing something surprising. Gen Z may be one of the most financially aware generations we've ever seen. She joins to discuss the newly updated edition of her classic book, Get a Financial Life, and what young people really need to know about money in 2026 We get into student debt, housing affordability, retirement, investing, financial influencers, and why some of the most powerful financial advice is also the most boring. Here's Beth Kobliner.
Beth Kobliner, welcome back to So Money. You've been a silent co-host on this show for all the years that I've had it because really, Beth, you've taught me so much about personal finance. When I was getting started, your book, Get a Financial Life, one of the most important books ever written about personal finance.

**Beth Kobliner** (3:56)
Thank you. That's so nice.

**Farnoosh Torabi** (3:58)
Don't take it from me. It's in its fifth edition now. You have a new version of this book, new updates.
I just have so many questions, but maybe we could just start with the feeling that you have. You've worked through this field for decades now and all that you've seen. What made you want to write again?

**Beth Kobliner** (4:17)
It was written for GenX, my generation.
I barely made it to GenX. I was on the cusp from Baby Boomer to GenX, but I just made it by a year. That was such a different time that, of course, we didn't know it at the time. The GenX, they were slackers, we were slackers, but the economy was really good and the outlook, which we couldn't have known at the time was incredibly good. It was such a prosperous time. If you bought a home, the average home age to buy a first-time home back then was 28 years old. Now the average age for a first-time home buyer is 40