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It’s been two months since I launched my new show, Money Moves, and it has been eye opening to hear from younger folks about their financial lives. I created this show to help them break down the news that actually matters and help them manage their money without losing their minds.

What I have learned first-hand is that there is a sense of anxiety that permeates many of my conversations. It can come in the form of being worried that they can’t buy a house, or that their jobs might change or even be eliminated by AI, or that they don’t measure up to some of their peers.

The plethora of social media videos that tap into financial anxieties compounds the problem. As people feel left behind, they are increasingly lured by the promise of passive income, which I am repeatedly trying to caution against in our show’s segment “TikTok Takedown.” It’s not that I am against passive income per se, but the countless videos usually overstate the ability to do so.

I talked about this issue with author and historian Joseph S. Moore, when I interviewed him about his book “How to Get Rich in American History.” In it, he highlights three centuries of American money advice and starts the book by invoking a phrase that was common in the U.S. by the early 1800s: “Go Ahead!”

This meant “move, now, specifically to a better plan than you began,” and according to Moore, “getting ahead has never been easier than it is today.” (Funny coincidence: one of the tag lines for the new show is “Your money. Your move. Let’s go!”)

That said, you aren’t likely to advance your financial status by scrolling through thousands of videos on social media. Moore understands the lure — it’s human nature to be tantalized by collecting money for doing essentially nothing. But in our hearts, we know it can’t be that easy, right? Moore’s research unearthed manuals from the 1840s that warn, “Nothing is so fatal to success as the belief that a business, any business will run itself. It won’t."

Don’t tell that to the millions who are scrolling for ideas to propel their fortunes. Many of them are struggling to absorb the fact that in the U.S., plain old work is not what it used to be. Economic commentator Kyla Scanlon, who coined the phrase “vibecession” in 2022 and authored In This Economy? How Money and Markets Really Work, has noted that “Young adults aren't confused or bamboozled by the risks they're taking. They understand them. They're responding to an economy where the usual advice no longer lines up cleanly with outcomes.”

Scanlon recently wrote about the difference between plain old work (labor) and owning stuff that increases in value (capital). She cites numbers that show how some forms of capital have far outpaced labor. Here’s a doozy: “Since 1990, paychecks have grown 18%, homes 66%, and stocks 1,500%.” It stands to reason that a lot of young Americans know this intuitively without running the numbers. As a result, Scanlon says that they are asking themselves, “Why work so hard if it doesn’t pay off? Why try?”

What’s the answer? It’s not passive income, nor is it trading or speculating. As Moore says, “Everyone wants to get rich by doing nothing. You won’t.” Instead, he leans on history and offers 25 tips on what has worked over time. You’ll have to buy the book to learn about all of them, but my favorite is #25: reject pessimism. “The returns on despair are low... Sure, optimism needs its guardrails. But do not confuse cynicism with wisdom. They are not the same.”

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(Jill Schlesinger, CFP, is a CBS News business analyst. A former options trader and CIO of an investment advisory firm, she welcomes comments and questions at askjill@jillonmoney.com. Check her website at www.jillonmoney.com)

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