At 21 years old, I was a new college graduate with sixteen years of education behind me, a professional writing degree, a couple dollars to my name, a job + a few side hustles, and zero clue about banks, credit cards, retirement funds, the stock market, or where to begin learning to invest. Although I’d enjoyed math classes I’d taken in school–and was occasionally guilty of participating in algebra competitions for fun–there was a definite practicality gap in their focus. I could use the quadratic formula in my sleep, but compound interest and dividends…not so much in my vocabulary. …
