We have a new “Author Crush” at Gifting Sense. You’ve read about most of the personal financial management authors we respect in our blog series on that topic. But this past year, we were introduced to a Finance Professional who elected to become a teacher and author because he consistently witnessed the problems that arise when the fundamentals of good financial hygiene are simply not known.

Fred Selinger teaches personal financial management at the University of California Berkely and his sixth updated book, “The Missing Link: From College to Career and Beyond” is simply a must-read for any young adult who cares about money. It explains pretty much everything you need to know when first earning a living, including the one thing it would be helpful to know before you ever receive your first post-graduate pay-check: the tremendous tremendous importance of “paying yourself first”, that is deducting planned savings from your checking account at the beginning of each month, versus waiting to save what is left. Because there is always “more month than money”.

In keeping with the belief that “just-in-time” financial lessons are the most effective, Fred’s course is designed for college juniors and seniors – the students who are on the cusp of supporting themselves. But we have been recommending his book to High School Seniors and even young adults in their first ten years of working. Fred pulls no punches when describing the perils of spending more than you make, and failing to take advantage of compound interest, which Albert Einstein described as one of the greatest inventions of mankind. (Mr. Selinger even explains how Mr. Einstein was one smart guy…relatively speaking…on page 75, which gives you some insight into the wit that is carried throughout the book!)

Mr. Selinger opens with the fact that “We are living in…a complex world moving at a pace that man has never experienced”. Certainly FinTech (Financial Technology), while convenient and powerful, has removed many of the physical and visual signals that helped today’s 50 year olds learn about money. We also know college students are graduating with unprecedented levels of debt. For these reasons we believe “The Missing Link” could be the greatest gift you could ever give a young adult. We’re even willing to suggest that its’ DIMS SCORE®  is a whopping 10! We have never in the history of our work, made such a bold statement, but that’s how big a difference we believe working through the book’s 27 Chapters can make in a new graduate’s life.

Bridge the gap between college and career for someone you care about this summer – and watch them flourish instead of flounder as their academic years end, and their professional ones unfold. Give them a book with all the basic personal finance “instructions” their pay-checks will never come with. And if you want to introduce younger children to some “fun-damental” financial literacy, specifically the concept of thinking before buying, click on the pink or green buttons below. You’ll learn how easy and safe it is to calculate the DIMS – Does It Make Sense? Score for almost any potential purchase. As you know, at the Gifting Sense project, we believe the habit of thinking before buying is one of the best gifts a young person could ever receive, right up there with “The Missing Link”! #GiveMoneySmartz