Portokali Press · First edition, 2026
Mr. 401(k)’s Principles of Financial Literacy
The Young Person’s Guide to Money, Markets, and the Modern Economy
On sale December 1, 2026, in paperback, hardcover, and e-book editions.
[AMAZON-LINK]
The record
- Title
- Mr. 401(k)’s Principles of Financial Literacy
- Subtitle
- The Young Person’s Guide to Money, Markets, and the Modern Economy
- Author
- Petros Koumantaros
- Imprint
- Portokali Press
- Place of publication
- Jackson, Wyoming
- Publication date
- December 1, 2026
- Edition
- First edition
- Formats
-
- Paperback · ISBN 979-8-9972106-0-1 · $19.99 · 334 pages · 6 x 9 in · perfect bound · cream paper
- Hardcover · ISBN 979-8-9972106-1-8 · $27.99 · 334 pages · 6 x 9 in · case laminate · cream paper
- E-book (EPUB; Kindle edition) · ISBN 979-8-9972106-2-5 · $9.99
- Audience
- Capable teenagers and young adults, and the parents and teachers who guide them
- Subjects
- Young Adult Nonfiction / Personal Finance (BISAC YAN040000); Finance, Personal
- Language
- English
About the book
Money is the one subject school forgets to teach. Most money books jump straight to budgets and tips. This one starts with a better question: what is money, really? Once that clicks, the paycheck, the credit card, and the index fund all start to make sense.
Mr. 401(k)’s Principles of Financial Literacy is written for capable teenagers and young adults, and for the parents and teachers who guide them. It builds real financial understanding from the ground up, in plain English, takes the ideas seriously, and does not talk down to you.
The book traces money from thousands of years of history to the dollars in your pocket, then puts those dollars to work. It explains how money gets its value, why prices keep rising, the three ways to make money, and the difference between what you earn and what you keep. It covers assets, debt, net worth, how banks create money, and Bitcoin, explained without taking a side. It shows what inflation, interest, and time do to a dollar, asks whether college is worth its cost in real numbers, and walks through how to start investing, keep fees low, and use retirement accounts, including the Trump accounts the Treasury opened for more than 60 million children in October 2026. It closes with insurance, credit, the scams that target teens and young adults, and a business-plan project that puts the whole book to work.
Every claim is shown with the math, so the reader never has to take a number on faith. It all adds up to this: Learn It. Earn It. Own It. Grow It.
A free companion guide for teachers and parents maps the book, benchmark by benchmark, to the National Standards for Personal Financial Education (CEE and Jump$tart) and turns it into a ready-to-teach unit.
Where to buy
The book goes on sale December 1, 2026. Retailer links appear here on that day.
[AMAZON-LINK]
For educators
The companion guide, the standards map for educators, and the one-page plan are free, with no signup, at the author’s site.
About the author
Petros Koumantaros has devoted most of his career to helping Americans prepare for their financial futures. He spent two decades leading Spectrum Pension Consultants, the retirement plan consulting and administration firm his father founded in Tacoma, Washington, and co-founded a financial technology company serving retirement savers. He has testified before the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on improving retirement savings and was appointed by the Governor of Washington to the Washington Saves Governing Board. He has earned professional credentials from the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries and the National Association of Plan Advisors, and has written and spoken extensively on retirement policy and financial education. In 2022, he developed a financial literacy course and began teaching it as a volunteer; his students came to know him as Mr. 401(k). Mr. 401(k)’s Principles of Financial Literacy grew out of that classroom. He wrote the book he wishes someone had handed him at fourteen.