You Were Taught to Be Poor: Why Everything You Were Taught About Wealth Is Backwards

You worked hard. You followed the rules. You did what you were told.

So why does financial security still feel further away than it should?

For generations, people were taught a simple formula for success:

Work hard.
Get an education.
Save your money.
Buy a home.
Stay loyal.
Retire comfortably.

For many, those rules once made sense.

The problem is that the world changed but the advice didn't.

In You Were Taught to Be Poor, Rob Adesanya explores why so many intelligent, responsible, hardworking people feel stuck despite doing everything they were told to do. Through personal stories, behavioural insights, and clear, thought-provoking observations, he challenges some of the most deeply held assumptions about money, work, risk, security, and success.

Inside, you'll discover:

• Why hard work and wealth are not the same thing
• How "safe" decisions can quietly increase risk
• Why saving money often feels better than it performs
• The hidden difference between income and control
• How pensions, mortgages, and careers can create dependence as well as security
• Why optionality may be more valuable than certainty
• How to recognise the invisible assumptions shaping your financial life

This is not a book about getting rich quickly.

It is not a book about stock tips, market predictions, or financial shortcuts.

It is a book about understanding the systems that shape financial outcomes—and learning to see them more clearly.

Part personal reflection, part behavioural finance, and part exploration of modern life, You Were Taught to Be Poor invites readers to question inherited assumptions and rethink what security, freedom, and progress really mean.

You won't finish this book with all the answers.

But you may never look at money, work, risk, or success in quite the same way again.