Guiding Grads with Their Green

Sierra Hubbard, News Editor

A local author will be visiting campus to sign copies of her new book about financial advice for college students, offer giveaways and answer questions on March 24 and 25 in the bookstore.

“I really try to put in a very straight-forward, easy-to-understand way all of the financial stuff that people coming out of college would need to know,” said author Tana Gildea.

The book, The Graduate’s Guide to Money, covers numerous aspects of the financial world that are not taught in school. Some topics include how taxes work, what kinds of insurance are needed in particular situations, and determining whether or not to take out a loan.

“This book is really everything that I wish I had known when I was 22, 23 years old, because I made a lot of mistakes with my money,” Gildea said. “I actually have an entire chapter in the book called “Money Mistakes”.”

The event, called “The Grad Show”, will be located in the bookstore on March 24 and 25 from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. There will be book giveaways, a signing by the author, opportunities to ask questions, and a chance to sign up for the webinars that will be conducted over the summer. These webinars will offer an interactive version of the book’s content.

Gildea always had an urge to be a writer, but she says it was her daughter that really triggered the need to publish this book.

“She was not getting a lot of the basic financial information,” Gildea said. “Topics like buying a house, or what kind of insurance do I need, or who needs a will – stuff like this. Not necessarily something that she needs to know right this minute, but someday she will need to know.”

While many people may argue that Google can offer this information, she counters that an internet search results in an overwhelming amount of answers. Her book has the most basic information laid out in a clear manner that does not need to be combed through or researched several times to verify.

The important thing to remember, according to Gildea, is to make decisions based on your individual plan, not on what others are doing or assumptions that ‘everyone has debt’.

“Really stop to think what you want your life to be like and identify what things are important to you,” Gildea said, “and make sure that your money is going toward those things.”

Gildea is a financial planner, working in partnership with a boutiques firm that manages about 220 clients. Because the firm is relatively small compared to other companies, Gildea is involved with marketing, handles new clients, runs operations and back-office processing, and acts as the Chief Compliance Officer. The business itself serves its clients in a consulting manner.

“If it relates to money, our clients just call us and talk about it, because we want to be kind of their personal CFO,” Gildea said.

She started out as an accounting major and worked in corporate audits and operations management before finding financial planning.

Writing this book gave her an avenue with which to teach others about their finances, and Gildea speaks to college students in fraternities and sororities as well as to women’s groups about the emotions associated with money.