I never really set out to be a personal finance expert. My dad and his subscriptions to Barron’s and Money magazine, Friday night viewings of Wall St. Week with Louis Rukeyser, and my solo checking account at age 15 probably made it inevitable.
But many years later, as a young editor at a personal finance magazine, I wondered, what about regular, busy, smart people who don’t read the business pages? Knowing how to manage your money these days is more important than ever. Your credit history and credit score act as your adult report card, starting salaries have barely budged since the ‘70’s (factoring inflation), we graduate from college loaded with debt, and without pensions most of us are on our own to save for retirement. There are ARMs, annuities, asset allocation—and those are just some A’s. It’s a tremendous advantage to know even the basics of personal finance. I’ve made it my mission to give as many people as possible that advantage and to motivate, elucidate, and ratchet up some advocacy.
Because when it comes to your hard earned money, without motivation and information, the only way it tends to move is out…