Money Reality: The High School Edition

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
Parent buying for a high-schooler	Hand it over. The voice talks to your kid, not at them. Read it yourself first so you can talk about the Roth-as-lottery chapter at dinner.
High-school teacher	Course supplement for personal-finance, economics, or life-skills. Chapter-aligned discussion prompts in the workbook. 14 chapters maps cleanly to a 7-week or 14-week module.
High-school student reading it yourself	Start with Ch 1 (the most powerful force in finance) and Ch 2 (your Hidden Balance Sheet). The rest will make sense in that frame.
Counselor / college-prep advisor	The Hidden Balance Sheet chapter is the one that reframes the conversation about what a transcript actually represents.

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 book (PDF)

14 chapters, 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 International edition →

About the author

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.

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. College vs Trade NPV
Both paths to retirement age. Credit Card Trap
24.99% APR + minimums, visualized. First Apartment Budget
Salary → net → rent verdict. Job Offer Comparator
Up to 3 offers on total comp + COL. Emergency Fund Builder
Target by income stability, time-to-target. Student Loan Amortization
Federal vs private, IBR/SAVE/PAYE. First Paycheck Walkdown
Gross → FICA → state → net. 401(k) Match Maximizer
The 50% guaranteed return nobody beats. Side Hustle / 1099 Estimator
SE tax + quarterly estimates.