About the Author
Charla McKinley
Growing up, Charla was not taught the important skills she would need when she walked out her parent's door at 18. She wanted to do better for her kids. Unfortunately, she learned the hard way how easily wise words are ignored. Charla's passion is helping parents create opportunities for kids to learn how to adult before they leave the nest.
As a semi-retired CPA, she crafted with a degree in Finance from the University of Texas. She went on to become a Certified Public Accountant with over 25 years working in both the corporate and private sector. While homeschooling her two children, she was inspired to write an interactive personal finance curriculum that opens the student's eyes to the high costs of being an adult. After retiring from homeschooling, Charla continues to teach teens locally and across the country using her Beyond Personal Finance curriculum. Charla's passion is teaching the importance of choices and planning as it relates to life and money.
Product Review 2020
Lisa Nehring writes:
" While the Dave Ramsey course is excellent, it is really designed for adults who are in financial trouble and need a way out of that trouble. Most high school kids have a difficult time understanding what that could look like. Money is, after all, something most of them don’t have much of, think much about or struggle with. A benefit of Middle-class America is that our kids have their needs met and a good portion of their wants provided for, too. As a result, most teens have an abstract rather than concrete understanding of money. As one of the students in my high school class said, “Bills? I don’t have any.”
And that is exactly why Charla wrote this course. To give kids an idea of what kind of money questions and issues they will face as young adults and how to plan for, manage and think about the monkey wrenches that life continually throws in the way of all everyone out there “adulting.”"
Product Review 2019
Cathy Duffy writes:
"Beyond Personal Finance is a clever approach to teaching about finances. It goes further into the details of personal financial planning and decision making than do most other high school courses, and it presents scenarios that are based on common life experiences and decisions. Teens are likely to find this very interesting. The decision choices and plot twists used in the course make it more fun while reflecting the variability and unpredictability of real life."