This post first appeared on RightAboutMoney.com

Last month, as April and the yearly flood of financial literacy articles were just around the bend, the Wall Street Journal in a headline posed this not-so-new question: Should college students be required to take a course in personal finance?

I applaud any attempt to raise awareness around the crying need for financial education—and to stir the debate. But this question and, frankly, the responses from two prominent thinkers in the space miss the mark. Continue reading

Last week, our co-author and daughter, Allison Beacham, accepted the EIFLE “Adult Money Book of the Year” award for our book, O.M.G. Official Money Guide For College Students.  Both Michael and I could not attend. But through the miracle of FaceTime, we were able to watch her deliver the following comments.  Needless to say, we are pretty proud.

Allison Beacham’s Acceptance Speech – EIFLE Awards Dinner 2017:

I’d like to thank The Institute for Financial Literacy and, of course, the EIFLE judges for this honor.  Winning the “Adult Money Book of the Year” award with our book, O.M.G. Official Money Guide for College Students, says that we hit the mark when targeting our audience.

This book isn’t for “freshmen” or “18 year olds.” It’s for the young adults who – for the first time in their life – have to make smart and savvy every day decisions with their money on their own.

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This post first appeared on RightAboutMoney.com

This post first appeared on RightAboutMoney.com

In her recent keynote before college graduates at the University of Baltimore, Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen noted, “Economists are not certain about many things. But we are quite certain that a college diploma or an advanced degree is a key to economic success.”

This comment made me think about my Dad who never went to college.

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