I, like many of my peers, came into adulthood assuming I was “bad with money.”

Responsible money management, to me, seemed to involve a lot of restriction and sacrifice I could never sustain. So I assumed it wasn’t worth trying.

It took working in personal finance media to change that for me. Typical financial advice perpetuates an emphasis on individual responsibility and ignores the inequities and privileges built into our financial systems.

I finally learned I wasn’t destined to be “bad with money” — but I live in a system that survives by keeping me (and many others) in that mindset.