Mr. Tucker's Money Class

Book 1 got your money working. Book 2 teaches it to work smart.

Mr. Tucker's Money Class: Real-Life Investing Lessons takes teens and young adults under the hood of investing. Learn to read a company the way a pro does, figure out what a stock or bond is really worth, build and rebalance a simple portfolio, and see how taxes and Social Security shape the money you'll actually have in retirement. Every chapter opens with a story, works the math in plain numbers, and tells you what Mr. Tucker would do.

Together, Books 1 and 2 cover all 68 national high school standards for personal finance education. Personal finance is now a graduation requirement in 39 states.

23 chapters in 7 parts

• The investor's mindset: investing vs. speculating vs. gambling, expected value, supply-and-demand graphs, risk and return, and the money biases built into your brain
• Reading a company: the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow, P/E and other valuation ratios, and how to spot a good business
• Stocks and bonds in depth: sectors and styles, how indexes are built, bond math and the Federal Reserve, credit ratings, TIPS, munis, and the yield curve
• Building your portfolio: asset allocation, the three-fund portfolio, rebalancing, and dollar-cost averaging vs. a lump sum
• Taxes and accounts: capital gains, the tax triangle (taxed now, taxed later, tax-free), 401(k)s, Roth accounts, HSAs, and the real story of Social Security and its projected shortfall
• Advanced tools: calls, puts, payoff diagrams, covered calls, margin, and short selling, and why to handle them with care
• Beyond stocks and bonds: real estate and REITs, gold, crypto, and collectibles, and your own written investing plan

Every chapter includes

• A real-life story and worked examples with real numbers
• Words to Know, Your Turn questions, and a Try It Yourself activity, with answer keys at the end of each part
• An At the Movies pick: a film tied to the lesson, with its rating

Also inside: a before-and-after investor self-check, a Pop-Up Economics music-video project, a glossary of more than 300 terms, and discussion questions for every chapter. Free online calculators on the book's companion website match many chapters, plus a free play-money stock market game.

About the author: Robert B. Tucker is a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran with a BBA in economics and international business and an MBA from Georgia Southern University. He worked as a financial advisor, formerly held Series 7 and 66 licenses, and taught economics at a small rural high school in Georgia, where his students produced three Georgia InvestWrite state winners in three years. He later became a software company CEO.

General education only, not personal financial, tax, legal, or investment advice.