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How did my parents get rich? Or, how did they do so well, and have it so easy, compared to my generation (X)?

Was everything easier, did everything fall into place for them?

What was the received wisdom from their parents that got them where they are now? There were some different truths. One of the most obvious was: buy your house and pay it off! If you are still working and your house is paid off, you can save, invest, and in fact, get rich. It is those years after the house is paid off that make such a difference.

But somewhere in the 1970s, things began to change, right around the time that the baby boomers began buying houses in larger numbers. As house values went up, second mortgages and lines of credit became more common.

This leads to a change in values, until now, it seems the main reason to buy a house is to see whether the value goes up - not to try to pay it off.