I’ve always thought that there needs to be more lifestyle classes available for high school and college students besides general education. Yes, learning math, history, science and english all over again may be essential to prepare you for upper division courses, but University 100 just is not enough to prepare you for life after college. One of the courses needed is Personal Finance 101, teaching young adults how to manage their money, build their credit, start investing, and stay out of debt. Currently, a lot of college students learn the hard way, especially if their parents don’t properly advise them how to treat their money with care. Until there’s a course offered universally, Moneylicious takes the cake.
Written by personal finance expert and blogger Ornella “Nelly” Grosz, Moneylicious is “a financial clue for Generation Y”. It covers all the basics such as purchasing your first home, different investment options, encouraging thinking about retirement early on, and even makes it clear when and how to splurge. It’s a great introduction for those who don’t know where to start when it comes to getting their financial life in order. Grosz includes her true life experiences including what she did right and what she would have done differently while answering the questions that college students have been known to ask.
The author is no stranger to finance, graduating from California State University Northridge with her BS in Finance, which led her to her job as a Retirement Planner in Atlanta, Georgia. At the age of 28, Grosz has taken the initiative to guide her fellow Net Generation into financial independence. There are plenty of personal finance books on the market, but very few that cater to a generation that is not as educated about their money. This book sets out to change that.
In the book, “Nelly” as she’s so affectionately called, keeps things concise enough to keep the attention of her readers, yet detailed enough to give them the information they need. She begins the book with the notion that it’s up to the reader how they’ll spend their money. Instead of forcing them to see it her way, Nelly gives readers a choice, which probably hasn’t happened often in their life. She then moves straight into credit and debt, an issue many members of Generation Y have a problem with, including introducing why credit is important, how to check up on your credit report, and eliminating credit card debt (a weakness for young adults). They’re then whisked into the dangers of identity theft and fraud on your credit profile.
Investing, which can be a taboo subject in any generation, is faced head on. Personally, I had never had such a detailed explanation of the different investing types such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, but it’s all covered in Moneylicious. With investing comes retirement planning, Nelly’s expertise. A lot of college students and grads brush off retirement planning because they have “plenty of time” but here, they’re urged to start preparing for it right away. 401(K) and IRA plans are introduced without overwhelming the reader.
There’s finally the points many Echo Boomers find out about on their own: life insurance, disability insurance, purchasing your first home and banking in general. I know my mom only briefly went over her policies but never talked to me about how to shop around for my own, or why its important. Nelly used an analogy from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for the insurance chapter and stressed that buying a home that you can afford is key, since renting is throwing away money. She also suggests hiring a financial planner who can walk you through your journey and make more suggestions along the way.
The book was well organized and perfect for beginners, including a glossary of terms and additional resources like sites and more suggested reading. I do wish, however, she included a few more things that Generation Y has to look forward to such as career planning and building a family, as these are two huge and inevitable steps that will also require knowledge of money management. If you know someone who’s either going to college, in college, or graduating from college, be sure to send them a copy of this book.
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