Steve Burkholder

My name is Steve Burkholder and I had the same questions as your young adults about personal finance at one point or another in my life. Everyone does.

In high school, I mowed lawns and had a part-time job at McDonald’s. I had a paycheck in my hand and thought the sky was the limit. Then, surprises, emergencies, and the real world arrived. I was lucky enough to have family that understood personal finance and was willing to teach it to me. I am forever thankful.

I graduated from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management; focusing in the areas of finance and accounting. After university, I worked as a CPA for one of the largest public accounting firms in the world in multiple states and internationally. I’m now a member of a Corporate Finance department at a higher education institution. I have a wife and daughter and we love to travel and experience various cultures every chance we get.

I personally use every single concept in I Want More Pizza and really enjoy teaching them to others. If you’re curious as to what my favorite concept is, it’s the Auto-Saver (although, compound growth is a close second). It’s so simple, yet so effective. As a third generation educator, helping others learn is what our family has a passion for. Volunteering with Junior Achievement educating students about personal finance is what motivated me to create this resource. I now spend my educational time teaching the concepts in this book to high school students.

While my name is on the book as the author, I definitely cannot take all of the credit. It took about 65 talented individuals to create this book including other finance professionals, high school teachers and students, publishing professionals, and, of course, educational expertise from my family.

I hope this book provides your young adults with answers to many of their questions and helps them achieve all of their life goals. Some of us have family, friends, or others to help us with this important topic; others don’t. As they learn, please encourage your young adult to pass their knowledge along to another. Together, what a difference we’ll make.

Thank you for wanting to help our young adults and thank you to your young adults for having the courage to read and apply the concepts in this book in their lives. I wish you both all the best.

--Steve