Personal finance workbooks · Ages 15 to retirement
Plain-English workbooks that follow a financial lifetime: your first paycheck, building wealth, then protecting it and passing it on. Real numbers, real worksheets, and real mistakes you don't have to repeat.
“We lived it and learned it, so you don't have to.”
One series. Three stages of life.
The series
Each book covers one stage of life and is built on five pillars. The ages are a guide, not a rule. Start with the book that fits where you are now.
Book 1
Your first financial playbook for real-world money
First paychecks, budgets that work, credit scores, car loans and rent, and getting money invested early. A strong graduation gift.
Book 2 · 2026 Edition
From surviving money to growing it
Growing your income, getting out of debt, investing, buying a home, insurance and family finances, with worksheets and calculators in every chapter.
Book 3 · 2026 Edition
How to build control, security, and legacy
Taxes, retirement income, Social Security, Medicare, long-term care, trusts and estate planning: a money manual for the second half of life.
Coming soon to Amazon
Tell me when it's outA free lesson from Book 2, Chapter 6
Same credit card. Same $8,000 balance at 22% interest. The only difference is the monthly payment.
Paying $400 instead of $160 saves about $11,800 and more than nine years.
$160 / month
$400 / month
Fixed payments, no new charges; figures rounded. Education, not financial advice.
Enter a balance, its interest rate and what you pay each month. Then raise the payment and watch what it saves.
Group and bulk orders
Union locals, schools and employers can order copies for their members at a group discount. Hand them out at apprenticeship graduations, new-member orientations, retirement seminars or the start of the school year.
IBEW, plumbers and pipefitters, carpenters, ironworkers, operating engineers, laborers, sheet metal workers.
NEA and AFT locals, school districts, and personal-finance classes.
Firefighters, police, nurses, letter carriers, and city and state workers.
CWA, Teamsters, UAW, credit unions, employee wellness programs and churches.
Videos
One money lesson at a time, under a minute each, taken straight from the books. The first videos are in production now.
Credit and debt
Why $160 a month on an $8,000 card takes over eleven years.
Cars and insurance
What a new car loses the day you drive it home, and what to buy instead.
Wealth building
The five pillars, earn, keep, grow, protect and build, in plain English.
Want to know when the channel launches? Join the free list and you'll hear first.
Free for readers and everyone else
One page with the numbers that change every January. Keep it on the fridge or in your phone.
About the author
Steven spent his career as a telecommunications professional, working as an outside customer systems technician and an IBEW union electrician. For more than twenty years he served as a union steward, and a big part of that job turned out to be helping coworkers make sense of their 401(k) plans, pension options and benefits.
He retired in 2021, just after turning 50. He has no finance degree. What he knows came from reading, classes, and his own good decisions and expensive mistakes.
He wrote The Hard Knocks Series™ to hand those lessons to the next person before they have to pay for them.
“Knowledge is the only inheritance that can never be spent down to zero.”
Questions
Start with the stage you're in now, not your age. If you're still getting control of a budget or debt, start with Book 1 at any age. If the basics are handled and you want to grow money, start with Book 2.
Yes. Each book has worksheets, checklists and trackers you fill in as you go, so you finish with your own plan on paper. They're printed 8.5 × 11 inches so there's room to write.
No. The Hard Knocks Series™ is education based on real experience and research. For decisions about your own taxes, investments or legal matters, talk to a qualified professional.
The Advanced Wealth & Freedom Playbook is finished and coming to Amazon soon. Join the free list and you'll get an email the day it's available.
Not yet. The books are paperback only for now, because the worksheets work best on paper. Kindle and hardcover editions are planned.
Contribution limits, tax brackets and other figures change each January, so each book gets a new yearly edition with updated numbers. The free cheat sheet is updated every year too.
Get in touch
Reader questions, corrections and ideas for future editions. Every message gets read.
steve@thehardknocksseries.comOrdering 10 or more copies, or want Steven to speak to your union local, school or workplace? Use the group pricing form above, or email with “Group order” in the subject.
Go to group pricing