HerMoney Chief Content Officer Kathryn Tuggle, co-author of 'How to Money: Your Ultimate Visual Guide to the Basics of Finance,' joined Cheddar to talk about how the book, written alongside HerMoney CEO Jean Chatzkyacts as an all-in-one primer for anyone with questions about personal finance — especially women. "Hopefully, what we're doing with this book is we are taking those steps for all women to be empowered to close the gender wage gap and close their own salary gaps by negotiating, and just invest more of their money, so their money lasts as long as they do," said Tuggle.

Closing Bell

'How to Money' Co-Author Kathryn Tuggle on All Things Personal Finance

okay joining me now is Katherine tuggle author, co author of a new book out called How to Money focusing on personal finance. Catherine, thank you so much for coming on the show. Thank you so much for having me. We're thrilled to have you here and your new book coming at a time of course, when people have a lot of questions about their money from savings to investments and whether or not there even in the right job. So what will readers be able to take away from this book? Absolutely. This is the Ultimate Primer. It is called The Ultimate Guide to Financial basics for a reason. It is for everybody who wanted to learn more in high school, but didn't have the chance. Maybe wanted to learn more from their parents, but maybe their parents weren't great with money. This is everything you need to know about budgeting, saving, investing, how to negotiate for your first salary, how to write a resume, how not to get in over your head with credit card debt. It it really covers it all. And I know you and your co author, jean Chatzky of course, at her money media, you work there together. I do have a large social presence as well. And so what are you hearing from your followers as to what their biggest questions about money are right now? Yeah, well, I think my favorite review of the book was from Real Simple and they said, where was this book when we were in high school? Um and what we're hearing from a lot of our readers right now is that when you're just getting started with your career and with your earnings journey, it's particularly tough to come into that in a moment of a recession or a down economy or a time of inflation. The 2000 and eight grads saw it and they had it really rough. So you know, we've we've been through these rough times before thankfully right now is still a really good time to get hired. We're hearing that more people are getting raises right now. But um you know, I also think that the inflation has made people a little bit nervous in this economy. So we're hoping that our book can, you know, be that soothing balm to hopefully calm people down and get them started off on the right foot. And um what I love too about your book is you and your co author again work for her money. Media focused on empowering women when it comes to their finances. But of course the lessons apply, I'm sure to everyone, what are the lessons specifically for women or that women can take away Catherine from this book? Yeah, that's a great question. You know, her money exists because women are faced with the classic problem of having to do more with less. We live longer than men. The gender wage gap means that we earn 83 cents on every dollar for every, that every man earns. So, you know, we're starting from behind the eight ball a little bit. We also know that women invest less than men. So hopefully what we're doing with this book is we are taking those steps for all women to be empowered to close the gender wage gap and close their own salary gaps by negotiating and just invest more of their money so their money lasts as long as they do. Here's a question to um hopefully with the strong jobs market at least for now, people are finding that it's not too challenging to get a job, even though of course the coronavirus has added a whole host of complications. Catherine mapping out this journey for viewers for investors. For savers. How should they prioritize money? Is it the emergency fund? That is the most important? And then for instance, maybe a four oh one K maybe paying down debt. What is your recommendation to viewers? It's a great question. Everybody has those competing priorities. What we've heard from a lot of our listeners and our readers is that they might have spent through their emergency fund right after Covid. So if that's you, if you did have to cash in those emergency dollars, it's a really, really good time to book them back up. It's also a great time to pay down debt. We heard just this week, that credit card debt for consumers is higher than it's ever been before. And if we are headed for a recession, as 50% of economists say that we might be, it's a bad time to be saddled with a lot of debt. So I would say pay down your debt, build that emergency fund back up and If your employer offers a 401K. or others sponsored retirement plan definitely take advantage of that and don't leave free money on the table. This may be a hard question Catherine and I'm sure it's you know different in every scenario but we do see companies now amid the market volatility and free money starting to dry up I. E. Higher rates. The fed pulling back on its easy monetary policy. We see companies start to pause on hiring hiring freezes in fact noted at facebook's parent company meta over the past week. And we see Robin Hood for instance laying off 9% of its staff. Would you recommend to people out there that it is a safe time to switch jobs? What are some of the things that they should consider when thinking about leaving what might be a stable job potentially for something that at least on the outside as seems more appealing. It's a great question. We just saw some data from pay scale that up to 50% of employers this year are kind of re evaluating um their salaries. So you know, if you are in a position that you do like that you are fulfilled in. I would say start their first start negotiating with your own supervisor, who you know who knows your performance and see if you can get an increase their um, and you know, if you are going to make a move, definitely look at a company's track record. Look to see when the last time is. They had layoffs. Don't be shy when you're in that interview about asking the hiring manager What the company's broader financial picture looks like and where they're going to be headed in the next 3-5 years because you definitely want to have a clear understanding that a company is on solid ground before you make a move. Another question that I have is how important is social media these days to financial literacy? We see Tiktok taking off of course comedians, fun D I. Y projects, all of that stuff exists amid other social media platforms to but do you find that social media is an effective means for viewers and people to get educated on financial matters? Yeah, I'm glad you asked. I think it's really amazing. Actually. I would never have suspected that financial influencers would be blowing up on Tiktok in the way that they are just because it's not always a fun topic. A lot of people have money, stress a lot of people have money worries and to see that Tiktok influencers can distill those topics and break those basics down for people and present that information in a fun and absorbable way that is getting young women engaged is such an amazing, beautiful thing. I think however you want to consume your data, whether it's a book or a podcast or a Tiktok video, that's amazing. Okay. How to Money on sale now, Kathryn the best way for viewers to get a copy of the book. Yeah. At a local bookstore near you wherever you get your books. Amazon definitely support your indie bookstore, though. If you have a choice. Absolutely. Katherine Tego, co author of the book, How to Money Out Today and the chief content officer at her Money Media. Thank you.