"The Missing Semester" helps young people avoid costly mistakes
PITTSBURGH, Jan. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — The Missing Semester is a small book that's having a surprisingly big effect. At 65 pages, it's a concise and easy read that leaves readers wanting more, judging from responses from students, teachers and parents. "Its aim is to "transfer ownership of financial decision-making to the reader,"" according to the two authors.
Over the past 12 months the two have met with students at high schools, tech schools, community colleges, colleges & universities, with families and foster families, and even with in-mates at a local jail. They talk about money basics and interact with students. "We have been stunned at students' eagerness to know about money basics," says co-author Gene Natali, Jr. And repeatedly he and his co-author Matt Kabala have had teachers confide, "I'm kicking myself; I wish I had been taught this stuff!"
Educators in various states have recognized the effect the book is having.
According to Dave McInally, President of Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, "The Missing Semester is a rare phenomenon—a book that is genuinely intended as a public service. It succeeds tremendously well in that regard. Finding simple and straightforward answers to complex questions is a real art form, and these authors have mastered it."
Chris Allison, Trustee of Allegheny College, as well as Entrepreneur-In-Residence, and retired CEO, Tollgrade Communications Inc., says, "The Missing Semester is a must read for any college student close to graduation. [It] is the central text in our financial literacy program at Allegheny College. If our young people had this book 20 years ago, it could have helped avert the 2008 financial crisis. This book is as much a public service as it is a fun read."
Originally written for 20-somethings just out of college, it has been pushed into high school and college classrooms as interest developed with early readers.
As many have observed, the book is aptly named, prompting the question; how many of us were taught the pitfalls of credit cards, about student loans, auto loans, home loans, and the importance of saving when we were young? Recognitions and awards include,
2013 EIFLE Award: "Adult's Book of the Year" – Institute for Financial Literacy,
and
2013 Award –Winning Finalist, Young Adult: Non-Fiction and Award-Winning Finalist, Business: Personal Finance – USA Best Book Awards.
About the Authors
Eugene M. Natali, Jr. is a Senior Vice President at C.S. McKee, L.P. and co-author of The Missing Semester.
Matt Kabala is a senior firefighter and manager of the Hilton Head firefighters' supplemental retirement and co-author of The Missing Semester.
For more about the book, or for an interview with the authors, visit www.themissingsemester.com or contact Eugene Natali at 412-780-4851 or via Email.