Personal finance authority and best-selling author Kelley Keehn has a new book coming out in time for the winter holiday gift giving season. Rich Girl, Broke Girl (Save Better, Invest Smarter, and Earn Financial Freedom) will be available in mid-December, and we recommend it to parents with daughters who have completed high school. Kelley is a no-nonsense straight shooter, and this, her 11th book, offers the same sort of unvarnished reality that has made her prior work so popular.
We’re surprised at what part of the book we like best. We’re focused on early financial education and what it can accomplish. So, needless to say, we are encouraged by Ms. Keehn’s view that understanding the impact of early childhood experiences around money is critical. But interestingly enough, we found the section on the tremendous importance of understanding the ramifications of common-law cohabitation perhaps the most compelling. Today’s young adults need to understand that marriage is not the only union that bonds a couple financially. “Rich Girl, Broke Girl” offers all sorts of practical and easy-to-implement suggestions for avoiding financial heartbreak, in addition to the relationship kind, as young women, in particular, set out to build their post-secondary school lives.
Honing in on the stereotypical, but also supported by data, assertion that women continue to take a back seat when it comes to household finances, Kelley has prepared a number of composite narratives that succinctly but effectively highlight the perils of doing just that. Worry your daughter doesn’t want to hear from you that being technically savvy isn’t the same thing as being financially savvy, or that there are bigger risks to moving in with a college sweetheart than having to walk “their” dog? Buy this book and slip it under the tree, into the mail, or just leave it on the kitchen counter.
Being financially responsible does NOT mean that you can never do or buy anything fun. However, the advent of FinTech has allowed the pace of consumer decision-making, in particular, to skyrocket, sometimes with disastrous effects. So, understanding exactly how much clothes or trips you can’t actually pay for (“Credit cards buy time, not things!”) negatively impacts your credit score sounds like a good lesson to learn sooner rather than later.
There’s a reason Ms. Keehn is successful in her chosen field. She continues to be curious about personal finance struggles and how they can be avoided or mitigated. She doesn’t shy away from describing even her own failures, which increases her credibility. We find her courageously direct and unapologetic. Ask any parent you know if they’d rather have a daughter who feels in control of their personal finances or controlled by them. Head to your local bookseller after the mere moments it takes to answer that question and buy this book. Among other things, it is sure to lead to happier future winter holidays – for your entire immediate and extended family.
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