THE BARATELLI INSTITUTE · Mentoring at Scale
ROUTE 2 OF 6 · FOR WORKING ADULTS

For the 20s-30s with a salary, a first apartment, and the next thirty years of compounding starting now.

You read the offer letter, signed the lease, opened the 401(k), and now you’re standing inside your own financial life with no syllabus. This route is the financial-literacy floor for the working adult — first paycheck decoded, first apartment matched against the salary, the Roth as a tax-free lottery while the bracket is still low, the credit-card trap visualized, the emergency fund as Step 0. Plus the action-companion (DAN) for closing the gap between “I get it” and “I did it,” and You Are Wealthier Than You Imagined — the standalone deep dive on the Hidden Balance Sheet framework of intangibles that compound across a career.

$59 to $149 per guide. Three free chapter extracts up top — read before you buy →

Recommended path.

Compound interest doesn’t care how you feel. The earlier you start, the less you have to save. Here’s the order.

These are reading paths, not bundles. Every Guide is sold individually on Gumroad — there is no discount, no package, no “buy three save X.” The dollar totals below simply add up the à-la-carte prices for the practitioner who follows the recommended path. Buy one and stop. Or buy the three that match your week. The Library is built to compose on the shelf, not to upsell at checkout.
If you buy one
Money Reality — First Job Edition
$59
  • Volume III of IV
  • First paycheck walkdown · First apartment budget
  • The Roth at 25, 28, 30 — what each year off costs you
  • Employer 401(k) match · First health insurance enrollment
Preview the listing →
If you buy three
First Job + DAN + You Are Wealthier Than You Imagined
~$217
  • Money Reality First Job — $59
  • Decide. Act. Now. (DAN) — ~$79 (forthcoming)
  • You Are Wealthier Than You Imagined — the standalone deep dive on the Hidden Balance Sheet framework — ~$79 (forthcoming)
DAN closes the action gap. You Are Wealthier Than You Imagined gives you the intangibles framework (the Hidden Balance Sheet) that makes career bets compound. The pair is the deliberate-life starter set.
The full route
Working Adult full kit
~$435
The reader who finishes this stack reaches their late 30s with a vocabulary the rest of their cohort doesn’t have yet.

Every guide in this route.

Primary first. Each cover links to the listing page.

MR First Job
Primary

Money Reality — First Job Edition

$59

The financial-literacy floor for the post-secondary worker. First salaried paycheck, first 1099, first apartment, first health insurance, first credit card, first compounding. Branches for the college-grad path (student loans, Roth at 23) and the post-HS-grad path (trade certification ROI, paychecks two years earlier).

View the listing →
Decide. Act. Now.
Primary (forthcoming)

Decide. Act. Now. (DAN)

In editorial · ~$79

The action-companion volume. Reading the book is the easy part. Opening the Roth, setting up the auto-transfer, signing the apartment lease, asking for the raise — that's the gap DAN closes. Built around the friction-removal patterns of the people who actually take action vs. the people who just read about it.

See the DAN listing →
HBS
Primary (forthcoming)

You Are Wealthier Than You Imagined

In editorial · ~$79

The standalone deep dive on the Hidden Balance Sheet framework — expanded from the chapter that became the most-quoted section of the Money Reality series. The activity-derived intangibles — sports, music, friend groups, alumni networks, social media, AI skills, optimism + confidence — that compound 100x to 500x the tangibles for someone under 35. The career-bet framework.

See the catalog →
Wealth Psychology
Secondary

Wealth Psychology Guide

Therapist-reviewed · $99

The behavioral and family-systems chapter of the working-adult life: money scripts you inherited, partner conversations about money, the identity formation that happens when your salary doubles, the “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves” pattern as it starts in early adulthood.

View the listing →
First Principles
Secondary

First Principles of Master Investing

$99

The synthesis of Buffett, Munger, the Outsiders CEOs, Philip Fisher, Li Lu, BYD, 3G. The investing framework that travels across decades and continents — for the serious DIY investor who wants the underlying principles, not another stock-picking newsletter.

View the listing →
LEP
Secondary · for the eventual exit

The Liquidity Event Playbook

$99

Read it now, use it in 10 years. The eight planning mechanisms that capture $5M-$15M of value before a sale closes. QSBS qualification at startup formation. State-residency change. Charitable substitution. Worth knowing while your first equity grant is still small enough to plan around.

View the listing →

Free tools sized for this stage.

No signup. Browser-based. Print or PDF the report.

First Apartment BudgetDoes the salary support the lease? First Paycheck WalkdownGross → FICA → net. 401(k) Match MaximizerThe 50% guaranteed return. Job Offer Comparator3 offers on total comp + COL. Roth as Tax-Free LotteryMax it before the bracket creeps. Student Loan AmortizationIBR/SAVE/PAYE vs Standard. Credit Card Trap24.99% APR + minimums. Emergency Fund Builder3-6 months by income stability. Side Hustle / 1099 EstimatorBefore the IRS sends the bill. Roth Conversion StairstepMulti-year bracket fill. Quarterly Estimated TaxBoth safe harbors side-by-side. W-4 Withholding EstimatorStep 4(c) sized correctly.

More on the filtered tool catalog →

Not for you?

Pick the route that matches where you are right now.

Route 1
Student
HS, college, recent grad. Money Reality series.
Route 3
Wealth Builder
Self-employed, business owner, founder.
Route 4
Family Office
$5M+ NW principals and the pack serving them.
Route 5
Specialist Practitioner
PE, CFO, CPA, attorney, RIA.