My Baby Boomer Experience

I was raised by pretty strict and protective parents, and learned how to think in the public school system.  And in order to escape, I enlisted in the military.  Well, the military sure doesn't teach you how to think for yourself; it teaches you to follow orders.  So I jumped from the frying pan into another frying pan.  It certainly has taken a long time to overcome their training!  Can you relate? 
Sometimes I feel like a hamster on one of those exercise wheels (have you seen that Kia commercial yet?)  What's the "American dream"?  Grow up, get a job, get married, buy a house, have two cars in the driveway, maybe have two or three kids -- oh yeah, and become a millionaire by winning the lottery.  But nobody tells you that credit cards, auto loans and mortgages will keep you in debt until about 50 years after you die.  And that if you don't save 10% of every dollar you earn from the day you start your first job in some sort of interest-bearing vehicle, you will wind up living hand to mouth in your "Golden Years".  And you had better be putting at least six months' earnings away for emergencies.  What else they don't tell you is that emergencies come up regularly:  the transmission goes out on your car, the hot water heater springs a leak, your three kids need braces, and daddy just had a heart attack.  They can be tiny -- the hot water heater only costs an unexpected $200-$300; or real monsters -- those hospital bills and funeral expenses ran up to half a million dollars, and you didn't expect this so early in life so there wasn't any insurance. 

I'm out of time for today, so I'm going to leave you hanging for the next installment.