Marjorie
Marjorie Anderson is a native Virgin Islander, former bank executive, co-founder and executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Minority Business Strategic Alliance. She holds a BS in Business Administration from Morgan State College, an MS in Management from La Salle University, and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania-Wharton Management Program. She has assisted hundreds of entrepreneurs and small businesses start, finance, and grow their enterprises and has been recognized by the Philadelphia minority and small business community.
Thank you for your interest in learning about personal finance. Based on research and a recent survey (August 2012) of 100 middle, junior and senior high school students, I decided to write a book to help teens manage their finances. The survey revealed the need for teens to understand basic finance and money management at an early age. Additionally, our economy dictates a necessity for understanding the fundamentals of finance as early as possible to avoid getting into debt and, ultimately, bankruptcy.
Further inspiration for this book came from my grandchildren, who are now in high school, middle school, and elementary grades. They are the ones who motivated me to write this book. This book is the legacy I leave to the next generation of financially literate teens.
Although I believe young people should be introduced to finance and money management as early as possible, this book is geared to young people between the ages of 13 and 18. Parents are also encouraged to read and discuss this book along with their children.
In doing the research for this book, I found quite a bit of information on personal finance for married couples and single adults, and numerous financial plans and remedies for helping people get out of debt. However, little or no information is available nor emphasis placed on helping teens avoid getting into the ‘debt trap’ in the first place.
An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure
Proverbs 22:6 says to train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
What this tells me is that society as a whole must begin to show and teach our children sound financial principles of managing money while they are young, so they do not make the same financial mistakes that many adults have made and continue to make because they were not taught these financial principles at an early age.
Since many of the baby boomers and generation Xers have not been taught sound principles of money management and many of them are in dire financial stress, it is difficult for them to teach the next generation about personal finance; thus, the purpose and objective of this book.
If this book helps teens to become more aware of personal money management and helps them get started on a sound financial track, then it would have accomplished its objective. An added benefit (bonus) would be for parents and adults of the last two generations to take some time to read and discuss this book with their children/grand-children or other teens.
Dedication
To my grand-kids: Calvin Lee, Jasmine, Kayla, Camille, and Kyle, who inspired me to write this book; thus my ultimate gift to them.
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children –Proverbs 13:22