I'm glad that things worked well for you and that you've been able to carve out a good life!

Perhaps it would be worth considering that there are reasons a person might try to do things the same way as you and still fail to achieve the same level of comfort and success.

Not everyone has adults in their life poised to guide them well.

A major medical event in America can put someone into a financial hole that is incredibly difficult to escape.

Just by virtue of the year you enter the workforce, you can suffer long-lasting effects that ripple forward through your whole life.

You might be born stuck with a lousy local school system for the first 12 years of your education. Even excelling here, let's say you get a full-ride scholarship to an ivy league university, what if you can't leave home because your disabled parents need you?

There are so many things that can contribute to people falling behind, or never making any headway to begin with. Personally, I've been pretty lucky and I'm faring okay among my peers. I own a house and a car, I don't have to check my bank account before I buy groceries or gas to see how much I can afford. But the system is filled with pitfalls and relies so much on pure luck for any given individual. The idea espoused by older generations that young people get more conservative as they get older basically relies on an "I got mine" attitude, which is one I personally cannot abide by.

It's almost as if life is different for everyone. I tried to do exactly what the adults told me, except I grew up poor with learning disabilities and got booted out of the house at 18, therefore I do not get to have the "good life"?

Now I'm 38 with 2 kids and way too much student debt just to be able to even get the slightest leg up and be able to start a career. I will never own a home and I will not retire, even though I did everything the boomers set out for me.

Screw your pity, no one wants it. Society is against them and it is against you too, you're just too blinded by your "good life" to see it so you'll contribute to making it worse instead.