Your Money Mentors: Expert Advice for Millennials

Retired financial professional Robb (Buying Your Own Business) and his millennial granddaughter Robb Meehan, an executive-level administrator, advise millennials and their parents on generation-specific financial challenges in this well-intentioned but unfocused guide. As an educated, underemployed, and debt-ridden generation, millennials need a specific set of financial knowledge for landing work, starting a family, and planning for the future, the authors write. They lead readers through such tasks as finding a mentor (look for someone respected and encouraging), choosing a “starter job” (a reputable company looks good on your résumé), and tackling the gig economy (it’s got plenty of shortcomings, but “could be an ideal situation for couples with children who can’t afford childcare”). Each chapter ends with “Katie’s Korner,” in which Robb Meehan offers advice on leadership, education, and developing soft skills (communication and social-emotional intelligence have served her most, she writes). Unfortunately, the book’s organization is messy, the authors tend to repeat themselves, and Robb alternates between underestimating his audience’s knowledge (claiming, for example, that millennials are “financially naive”) and overestimating it (he fails to explain such terms as ETF and IRA). While it’s a fine look at the younger generation’s unique concerns, millennials will likely find this to be a case of diminishing returns. (Feb.)