This Makes Sense
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For the first person in the family building wealth

I am my parents' retirement plan.

A weekly guide for first generation Americans and children of immigrants building wealth with no playbook, no inheritance, and no room for expensive mistakes. Housing, jobs, credit, taxes, written by someone living it, not a firm selling you something.

Free for the first 90 days. One email a week. No hustle, no hype.

Retirement Plan — Family Ledger
Their generation— no entry —
Your generationThis Makes Sense
From the founder

Why this exists

I'm a first generation Muslim American from Khartoum, Sudan, and like a lot of you, I wasn't born into money. I spent years in corporate finance only to realize people my age with no finance background still knew more about money than I did, because someone in their family had taught them differently.

I am my own retirement plan. And my parents'.

This newsletter is the plain language guide I wish someone had handed me, built for first generation wealth builders, not the everyday investor Wall Street already knows how to talk to.

— Muhaned , Founder

What's inside

Six parts of your financial life, one at a time

Every week takes one topic and goes deep, with one clear point of view, not a summary of everything that happened.

01
Housing and Real Estate
What owning or renting actually costs you, and when it's worth the leap.
02
Cost of Living
Why everything feels more expensive, and what's actually changed.
03
Jobs and Wages
What your paycheck should be doing for you, and where it's falling short.
04
Credit and Debt
Building credit without a family safety net to fall back on.
05
Taxes and Benefits
The money you're owed and never told about.
06
Wealth Building
Turning a paycheck into a plan, starting from zero.
Sound familiar

Written for the people who are figuring it out alone

Nobody in my family taught me this stuff. I'm figuring it out myself, one Google search at a time.

First generation, building a portfolio from scratch

I worked hard to get here. Now I need my money to work as hard as I do.

Second generation, done keeping it all in savings