JOBS AND TAXES

A primer for teens on job selection, and on types and purposes of taxes.

Promising to “take the mystery out of money and the fear away from finances,” Sanderson begins with a broad overview of job sectors that are open to teens, including retail, food service, babysitting, tutoring, lawn care, lifeguarding, and reselling items online. She then goes on to detail common payroll deductions, which leads into a discussion of taxes and retirement investments. All this information is presented in easily digestible blocks of narrative interspersed with stock photos of a racially diverse cast of smiling young workers, with summaries at each short chapter’s end. As a formula, the approach seems intended not to offer anything like a comprehensive set of options and expenses but to ease readers into thinking about how they’re going to make money as they move into adulthood and smart things to do with their earnings, while providing some specialized vocabulary (Form 1099, capital gains tax) that may prove helpful. The author closes by urging her audience to take a long view in planning for the future, to be careful with debts and credit cards, and to understand that, financially speaking, life “is full of surprises.”

Just a light once-over, but savvy and soothing.