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Money Reality First Job Edition cover
MONEY REALITY · FIRST JOB EDITION

Money Reality — First Job Edition

By Philip A. Baratelli · Baratelli Institute · Edition 1

The year after secondary school, for both paths — college grad and post-HS worker.

Volume III of the Money Reality series — the merged volume covering the first year after secondary education ends, regardless of which path the reader took. The reader who graduated college and the reader who finished high school and went straight to work face the same first apartment, the same first 1099, the same first health-insurance enrollment, the same first paycheck. The college grad has student loans; the trade-school grad often has a CDL or apprenticeship credential and an earlier paycheck. Same compounding battle, different starting points. The volume branches where the paths diverge. Direct voice, real math, paths-side-by-side examples.

Vol IIof IV
15activity-derived intangibles
+companion workbook
$59Coming soon ★ Read a free chapter → ↓ Email me at launch

Who this book is for

Written for the high-school student themselves; bought most often by a parent or a teacher. The voice is direct, the math is real, the examples are familiar (first job, first car, first apartment), and the lessons compound. International edition available for readers outside the US.

You are…How to use this book
Recent college grad starting first salaried jobStart with Ch 4 (first salaried paycheck — withholding, FICA, benefits enrollment). Then Ch 7 (first apartment) and Ch 11 (the student loan you now own).
Recent HS grad going straight to work (trade, retail, military, gig)Start with Ch 4 (first paycheck — same withholding mechanics, no student loans). Then Ch 6 (trade-credential ROI) and Ch 7 (first apartment).
Parent / mentor of a recent grad (either path)Hand it over. Then have the conversation about the Roth-as-lottery chapter. The Hidden Balance Sheet chapter applies in either path.
Career-services / workforce-development counselorThe college-vs-trade NPV chapter (Ch 5) is the one that reframes the false choice between the two paths. Both are real economic paths; this book treats them with equal seriousness.
25–30 year old playing catch-upCh 1 (compound interest, what you missed at 18). Ch 8 (the Roth at 28 still wins). Ch 12 (the credit-card trap, undone).

Table of contents

14 chapters plus a companion workbook. Page counts approximate.

1The Most Powerful Force in Finance (compound interest)p1
2Your Hidden Balance Sheetp9
3Nominal vs. Real Returns (housing creep, car creep)p21
4The Roth as a Tax-Free Lotteryp33
5Activity-Derived Intangibles: 15 Activities That Payp45
6Sports as a Confidence-Building Enginep55
7Learning an Instrumentp63
8Social Media Skills + AI Skills (undertaught worldwide)p71
9Friend Groups & Alumni Networksp81
10Optimism & Confidence as Compounding Assetsp89
11Sales as an Undertaught Skill (Ken Griffin sidebar)p99
12The Rejection Cascadep109
13The No-Parental-Health-Insurance Pathwayp119
14The Bookend: Einstein, Compounding, and the Next 50 Yearsp129
Plus
+Companion workbook (math drills, scenario worksheets) 
+Glossaryp143

What’s actually in the bundle

1. The ~230-page book (PDF)

Volume III of IV in the Money Reality series. The merged College-grad + Trade-school-grad volume. Formatted for adult reader-friendly reading. No condescension. Real math, plain language. The "Hidden Balance Sheet" framework runs through every chapter.

2. The companion Excel workbook

Compound-interest drills, the 40-row housing-creep cascade table, real-return worksheets, the Roth contribution-vs-tax-savings math, an intangibles self-assessment.

3. International edition available

Same architecture, currency-agnostic and country-agnostic, for readers outside the US. The Roth-specific content is replaced with the universal mechanism (tax-advantaged savings as it exists in the reader’s country). View the HS edition (prior volume) → · View the College Edition (Vol II) → · View the HS International edition →

About the author

PB

Philip A. Baratelli, CPA, MBA — Founder, Baratelli Institute. Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

This book is what he wishes someone had handed him at sixteen.

12 Free Interactive Tools · The Money Reality Suite

Run your own numbers. No signup.

Each tool runs in the browser and produces a personalized result the reader can print or PDF. They’re the same models taught in the guide — available free so the suite works whether the reader buys the book or not.

First Paycheck Walkdown
Gross → FICA → state → net. 401(k) Match Maximizer
The 50% guaranteed return nobody beats. First Apartment Budget
Salary → net → rent verdict. Job Offer Comparator
Up to 3 offers on total comp + COL. Compound Interest, Visualized
The most powerful force in finance. Hidden Balance Sheet
Inventory the intangibles you have built. Roth as Tax-Free Lottery
Earned income now → tax-free at 65. Credit Card Trap
24.99% APR + minimums, visualized. Emergency Fund Builder
Target by income stability, time-to-target. Side Hustle / 1099 Estimator
SE tax + quarterly estimates. Student Loan Amortization
Federal vs private, IBR/SAVE/PAYE. College vs Trade NPV
Both paths to retirement age.

Money Reality: The High School Edition

$59 Single-user license · PDF + Excel workbook + AI prompt library
Buy on Gumroad — Coming soon Email me at launch →

Want every guide always current + the Brief paid layer + Clarus + monthly office hours? See the Practitioner subscription ($649/yr Founding) →

Companion tools for Money Reality · First Job

Free interactive tools at tools.baratelliinstitute.com for the first-job year.

First Apartment Budget Job Offer Comparator First Paycheck Walkdown 401(k) Match Maximizer Side Hustle / 1099 Tax Estimator Emergency Fund Builder W-2 Federal + State Tax Estimator
LAUNCH WAITLIST

Get the Money Reality HS at $39.

Drop your email and you'll be first in line when the guide ships. launch pricing locks once you're on the list — even if all 50 sell out before you check the launch email. We send the launch announcement, the sample chapter PDF (the Hidden Balance Sheet walk-through), and nothing else.