North Hills students, Personal Finance students and members of FBLA were a part of a podcast by Gene Natali, Jr., where he discussed different types of student loans on Tuesday, January 21 in the high school library.

Natali has written the book, The Missing Semester, which addresses the financial decisions students in high school and college should consider making to prepare for their future, including how to use student loans to your advantage. “Investing now, while you’re young, is the best time to prepare for your financial future,” said Natali.  When asked about what the best thing high school students can do now to prepare for their future in terms of their finances, Natali said, “Open a Roth IRA. It will give you a huge advantage in your finances later in life if you open one when you’re in high school. If you wait, other people will get ahead of you.” Natali hopes recording more podcasts and spreading financial literacy will make money more of a conversation piece. “Typically, we talk about money in terms of celebrities or how it’s involved with the people who work on Wall Street. We want to help make money a safe thing to talk about with others and want people to do the right things with their finances.”

Natali is also a professor at the University of Pittsburgh and travels the area helping high school and college students make smart financial choices. Students in Personal Finance read Natali’s book as part of the class’s curriculum. Natali hopes to create an app or website that helps people manage the pressures of making financial decisions in the future.