Win a free book! Details at bottom of post. 
Two weeks ago Ornella Grosz emailed me, asking if we could meet for coffee.
I normally don’t leap at invitations from strangers, but Grosz seemed intriguing: only 28 years old, she’s already published a book on money management. She’s appeared on all the major networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX) and holds a slew of wealth-related professional licenses.
So at the risk of feeling like an underachiever in comparison, I agreed to meet at a coffee shop near my house. Besides, I figured: I’m only 27. I still have one year to do everything she’s done.
To my surprise, Grosz turned out to be a very relatable person.
Like me, she’s the daughter of immigrants – mine Nepalese, hers Romanian. Her hardworking parents “gave me what I needed, but not necessarily what I wanted,” she said.
“I wasn’t wearing the latest Air Jordans … but they paid for me to be in Girl Scouts, to play basketball, to go to Israel.”
She watched her parents find their footing in a foreign land. Their degrees and experience, so well-respected in their home country, were less regarded here. They accepted jobs for which they were overqualified, diligently working their way up the ladder, sometimes slipping on a rung.
Since they came to America “later” in life, they started saving for retirement later than their peers. Now in their mid-60’s, they’re facing the fallout of this inevitable reality.
(Paula’s tangent: I completely understand this. My parents were almost 40 when they came to the U.S. and, at that age, they started from scratch: buying their first used Ford, saving for a down payment on a small ranch home, raising little ‘ol me, AND catching up on 20 years of missed retirement savings. It’s enough to make anyone’s head spin.)
Watching her parents, Grosz grasped the reality that money is a useful tool for making your life easier. It’s not about having “stuff,” it’s about having opportunity.
By the time she started college, she knew she wanted to spend her life sharing this message. But she wasn’t quite sure how to do it.
First she majored in finance. She enjoyed the subject, but it wasn’t as focused on “personal” finance as she wanted.
After graduation she became a licensed Realtor. Then she became licensed to sell life insurance. At some point, she moved across the country. She worked in the Wealth Management section of a major bank as an investment advisor. But none of those tracks felt quite right.
Her true calling, she slowly discovered, is to become a financial educator for Generation Y. After all, shouldn’t her peers be learning about money from one of their own?
She wants to remind Generation Y that we need to save for “retirement” – even though it’s a fuzzy, abstract event that won’t happen for another 40 years.
So Grosz reached out to her generation in the best way she could: she wrote a book.
“Moneylicious: A Financial Clue for Generation Y,” is designed to be an easy, quick read, with only 128 pages. One reviewer called it a “Sex and the City style approach to personal finance.”
Her chapter titles appeal to a young, hip crowd. The ‘retirement’ chapter is called “Back to the Future.” A popular Beyonce song, “Check Up On It”, inspires a ‘budgeting’ section. At one point in the book, she compares a bear market to a “huge sale at Macy’s.”
“[Generation Y is] seeing stars on reality television who seem like they have money flying at them,” she says.
Her book is geared towards a crowd that enjoys watching those shows – but has to budget on less than a Kardashian salary.
“The book is simple, without being overly simplistic,” she says. Though it’s an easy read, it respects the intelligence her readers.
That’s in part because she has high hopes for her generation.
“This is a generation that I think will have a lot of entrepreneurs,” she says, “maybe more than any other generation.”
You can WIN a FREE copy of Moneylicious! Here’s what you have to do to enter:
1) “Like” Afford Anything on Facebook (1 entry)
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2) Subscribe to Afford Anything by Email or RSS (3 entries)
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3) Share ANY post on Afford Anything through Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit or del.ici.ous (1 entry each)
Leave one comment below for each entry. (So if you shared your favorite post on Digg AND on StumbleUpon, leave one comment for each).
If you’re already a Facebook fan or Email/RSS subscriber, just let me know in the comments below, and your entry will be counted!!
Deadline: Friday, July 22 at 9 pm Eastern/5 pm Pacific. Winner must be willing to share their mailing address (so they can get the book in the mail!) and must be in the U.S. or Canada.
Thanks to …
The Carnival of Wealth for featuring my post on money + freedom.
There, subscribed by feedburner. I like the book title, hope the contents are equally frugalicious. It’s a great thing that you’re carrying on this conversation in your twenties, rather than in your forties. Makes you way ahead of the great majority of your age group when it comes to money and retirement.
@101Centavos — If I had my way, our country would teach personal finance classes in high school. Why not start this education with 15-year-olds getting their first jobs … heck, can you IMAGINE the returns of each dollar invested in a Roth IRA at age 15, in a basic S&P 500 Index Fund, allowed to grow for 50 years? Wow!
I am a subscriber…Sounds like an awesome read.
i like on fb susan v [email protected]
I am a classroom teacher and I think finance classes should begin at the elementary level. This year I hope to start working with a classroom economy model I found online. It helps students understand finances by allowing them to earn money for classroom jobs, deduct expenses for renting a desk and borrowing supplies, as well, save for items they want to buy in the classroom store.
@Arlette — I love the idea of teaching personal finance at the elementary school level! I’ve also long believed that personal finance should be taught in schools. I’ve always said “high school,” but you’re right … why not start with elementary school?
When I was in middle school, our teacher did a “stock market” lesson with us, where we “bought” stocks and checked the prices in the newspaper every Friday to see if the stocks had gone up or down. Not only was it my first exposure to investing, it also inspired my dad — who previously had never thought about investing — to buy a few books about how to do it.
Already subscribed to receive your blogs by email. Would love to read this book.
I’m a subscriber! Would love to check this out.
I’m already subscribed via RSS
Just liked you on Facebook.
I also already had you on my RSS feed — but just submitted your “a coupon is born” blog to Stumbleupon. Did you need a direct link?
@Daisy — No need for a direct link … just letting me know is fine! Thanks for joining the giveaway contest, and good luck!
I’m already subscribed to your emails
and now a fan on facebook! I am in my 30s and enjoy reading your blog. I often share thing with my 18 year-old who is on his way to college this fall. He did tell me thank you the other day for “getting him on track.” This would be a book that he & I would both benefit from.
@Tes — I’m so happy that both you and your son read this!! I try as hard as I can to write messages that appeal to several generations of people, regardless of their age and their goals in life
I liked you on fb as charline stanley
stanleybilly(at)bellsouth(dot)net
I’d be interested in reading her book. I’m an RSS subscriber, I posted this post on StumbleUpon, and I liked your page on Facebook! Woot woot!
I am a subscriber
Liked on Facebook!
Already an avid RSS subscriber and have no complaints. I look forward to hearing more about the book, and potentially winning it
I been a subscriber, I just like on facebook, followed on twitter, and share this blog post on facebook, twitter, linkedin, google+, and stumbleupon.
Liked on FB
like you on facebook kathy l pease
kathypease(at)gmail(dot)com
1 rss google feed subscriber
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stumbled this post klp1965
fb fan tony l smoaks
“Like” Afford Anything on Facebook
subscribe in google reader
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subscribe in google reader
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subscribe in google reader
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I like afford anything on facebook
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