When author Vanessa Summers took responsibility for her financial life, she found it affected the rest of her life. ‘When I took responsibility for myself at age 26 by getting on budget, addressing credit card debt and creating financial security for myself, the quality of my life upgraded, in terms of my health, well-being and sense of accomplishment,’ she says. Summers is hoping to help other young women achieve financial security through her book, ‘Get in the Game! The Girls’ Guide to Money & Investing’ (Bloomberg Press, $15.95). She’ll be speaking about her book on Thursday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Village Books, 1049 Swarthmore. The book is an accessible look at financial basics aimed at 20-something women. The author, 32, is a registered investment advisor, who uses her own experiences as a way to connect with young women. A former model, Summers became a stockbroker at age 23 with a Hong Kong investment firm. Despite working in the field, Summers didn’t apply sound financial principles to her own life, and she found herself spending more than she earned and maxing out credit cards. After returning to the U.S. she worked as head of sales for a women’s equity fund. At a conference, she learned some frightening statistics about the poverty conditions of many elderly women. In her book, she cites an Institute for Women’s Policy Research statistic that 50 percent of all women 65 and older who are single or widowed live on $12,000 or less a year. ‘My jaw dropped,’ she recalls. ‘This was a big awakening for me. I realized I’d done nothing to plan for my financial future.’ Growing up in Miami, Summers was used to a lifestyle of vacation homes, luxury cars and country club memberships, until age 17, when her parents divorced, causing a downward shift in lifestyle for Vanessa, her siblings and her mother. Summers learned from this that as a woman, no one was ultimately going to take care of her financially. In her book, she shares statistics about women and money, giving guidance on budgeting, debt reduction, starting retirement and emergency funds and choosing investments. She includes information about socially responsible investment funds, which screen companies they invest in according to considerations such as environmental or labor practices or animal welfare. Summers wrote the book and also started her own private foundation, the Sutra Foundation, four years ago to educate young women about investing, retirement planning and other money matters. She has recently been bringing her message to college-age women at universities. Summers, who has been called ‘the financial guru of the MTV generation’ also offers a four-week wealth and success workshop in Beverly Hills. The next workshop begins May 4. Contact: 754-9706 or go to www.sutrafoundation.com.
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