Biggest Gift

My mom's failure in life was the biggest gift to me.

Rich and I were out in California visiting parents—his in San Diego, my mom up north (I also went to the Big Game). 

Sitting with my mom on Sunday, watching her struggle with disorganized bills all over the place, I realized something:

We don't want to end up like our parents.

Harsh? Maybe. But here's what I mean.

At 15, I was balancing my mom's checkbook. 

Learning indirectly, how compound interest worked, quietly observing.

Her buying a TV at Circuit City for "$19/month for 5 years" was actually costing her $1,140 for a $700 TV.

Back then, I resented being the adult in our financial relationship.

Today, I see it differently.

Those nights at our dinning room table—me with a calculator, her with bills spread everywhere—weren't just teaching me math.

They were teaching me that financial literacy skips generations unless someone breaks the pattern.

My mom never learned these lessons from her parents.

She passed that gap to me—not as inheritance, but as education through necessity.

Rich dad, poor mom. 

That was my reality.

But here's what's changed:

I'm not just teaching financial literacy anymore. I'm living proof that early struggle becomes later strength.

What hasn't changed:

Every generation still has to learn these lessons somehow. 

Either through privilege or through pain.

The work you put in today—especially the work you don't want to do, the responsibilities that feel too heavy—that's your future foundation.

You just don't know it yet.

When reflecting on my journey, I wonder and ask myself, how did I learn money so deeply? 

I learned the best lessons from doing things myself. 

Sometimes the greatest inheritance isn't what your parents leave you.

It's what they couldn't give you—and what you had to build because of it.

Unfortunately, Cal Bears lost to Stanford, 

but I'm sure their loss will turn into a gain next year!

Thank you for reading!

Tiffany Kent

Your Friendly Wealth Engagement Guide

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