New York Times Columnist Ron Lieber to Appear 3/30 as Next 'Writer in the Loft' at The Music Hall

Portsmouth, New Hampshire -- The Music Hall's Innovation and Leadership and Writers in the Loft series welcomes Ron Lieber, the award-winning New York Times columnist and personal finance expert, to Portsmouth on Monday, March 30, 2015. Mr. Lieber will speak to Loft audiences about his New York Times bestseller, THE OPPOSITE OF SPOILED: Raising Kids Who are Grounded, Generous and Smart about Money.

Renowned for his compelling articles about student loans and financial aid, Ron Lieber offers a persuasive parenting manifesto on how to help children make better financial decisions, develop better habits, and acquire the tools needed to grow as young adults with good values. Lieber proposes a foundational guide for the most successful ways to handle everything from allowances and part-time jobs, to greater issues of materialism, paying for college, and the general anxieties of comparing wealth and income. THE OPPOSITE OF SPOILED is an essential read for all parents who hope to raise kids who are smart about money and prepare the next generation for an increasingly complex economic reality.

The 7pm event includes an author presentation and moderated Q+A, plus book signing and meet-and-greet. It will be held at the Music Hall Loft at 131 Congress Street, in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

"In this era of heightened materialism, must-have gadgetry for all ages, and escalating college tuitions, Ron Lieber offers a much-needed guide for families navigating the rough seas of personal finance," says Margaret Talcott, Producer of Writers in the Loft and the evening's moderator. "Whether you are a first-time parent, a generous aunt, or a wise grandparent helping with college payments, don't miss this opportunity to learn and ask questions from one of today's thought-leaders in the field of personal finance."

For Ron Lieber, a personal finance columnist and father, good parenting means talking about money with our kids. Children are hyper-aware of money, and they have scores of questions about its nuances. But when parents shy away from the topic, they lose a tremendous opportunity -- not just to model the basic financial behaviors that are increasingly important for young adults but also to imprint lessons about what the family truly values.

Written in a warm, accessible voice, grounded in real-world experience and stories from families with a range of incomes, The Opposite of Spoiled is both a practical guidebook and a values-based philosophy. The foundation of the book is a detailed blueprint for the best ways to handle the basics: the tooth fairy, allowance, chores, charity, saving, birthdays, holidays, cell phones, checking accounts, clothing, cars, part-time jobs, and college tuition. It identifies a set of traits and virtues that embody the opposite of spoiled, and shares how to embrace the topic of money to help parents raise kids who are more generous and less materialistic.

Ron Lieber has been the "Your Money" columnist for The New York Times since 2008. His columns about student loans won the 2011 Loeb award, business journalism's highest honor, in the personal finance category. Before joining the New York Times, he wrote the "Green Thumb" column for The Wall Street Journal's Money & Investing section and was part of the start-up team at the paper's Personal Journal section in 2002. He has also been on the staff of Fortune and Fast Company magazines. Mr. Lieber lives in Brooklyn, NY, with his wife, Jodi Kantor, a fellow New York Times reporter and the author of the 2012 New York Times bestseller The Obamas, and their daughter.

The ticket package for Writers in the Loft: Ron Lieber on Monday, March 30, at 7pm is $41. In addition to a reserved seat, the package includes a copy of THE OPPOSITE OF SPOILED: Raising Kids Who are Grounded, Generous and Smart About Money (hardcover, $26.99), a bar beverage, and book signing meet-and-greet. Packages can be purchased through The Music Hall Box Office, located at 28 Chestnut Street, Portsmouth, over the phone at 603.436.2400, or online at www.themusichall.org.

About Innovation and Leadership - In this Age of Participation, The Music Hall has expanded its programming to focus on issues critical to our time. The Innovation and Leadership series was first launched three+ years ago to serve our local business community, bringing together the best and the brightest in technology. The series has since broadened to showcase opinion leaders, authors and all variety of educators, and to serve audiences from a tri-state region and beyond -- all who are interested in bettering the worlds they live in, at work and at home, locally and around the world. These lively and informative conversations feature experts in their field sharing experiences and providing participants practical tools for making meaningful advances in their lives. From demonstrations in the art of all things digital to special forums featuring regional and global leaders in sustainability, from book discussion-demonstrations on the positive effect of meditation to awareness-raising events led by today's champions in philanthropy, feminism and family matters, each Innovation and Leadership event is memorable and impactful. The Music Hall is committed to community building and personal flourishing. Our Innovation and Leadership series delivers on that commitment.

About Writers in the Loft - Akin to The Music Hall's anchor author series, Writers on a New England Stage, Writers in the Loft features well-known authors but in a smaller, more intimate space. The series brings audiences today's top authors, the best of fiction and nonfiction. The evening package includes a reserved seat and bar beverage, author presentation and Q+A, a copy of the book, and a meet-and-greet book signing with the featured writer.

About The Music Hall - The Music Hall is a performing arts center featuring curated entertainment from around the world in two theaters in its downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire campus - one, a landmark 1878 Victorian theater, designated an American Treasure for the Arts by the National Park Service's Save America's Treasures Program, the other the intimate Music Hall Loft around the corner, recently named "best performing arts venue" by Yankee Magazine and the recipient of the NH AIA award for design excellence.

With acclaimed signature series including Writers on a New England Stage -- a partnership between The Music Hall and New Hampshire Public Radio -- and the Intimately Yours music series, we bring top authors and artists to both stages. Also, HD broadcasts from The Metropolitan Opera and the National Theatre of London as well as extraordinary cinema fill both screens almost every night of the year.

This dynamic arts center urges patrons to Explore + Learn via master classes, post film panel discussions, and matinees for children. An anchor organization in this historic working seaport, The Music Hall is one of downtown Portsmouth's biggest employers and largest contributors to the regional economy: The Music Hall and its patrons contribute $7.1 million annually to the local economy through show and visitor related spending.

Innovative in its outlook, the organization is community oriented and committed to making the Seacoast flourish. The Music Hall is a 501(c)3 nonprofit managed by a professional staff with the assistance of a volunteer board. Though global in the scope of its artists and programs, The Music Hall operates independently with the support of 3,000 members, 300 corporate partners and 58 community partner organizations. Welcoming more than 100,000 patrons (including 20,000 children) each year from the tri-state area and beyond, The Music Hall is the region's center for the performing arts, literature and education...easy to get to, impossible to forget.

For more - Web: www.TheMusicHall.org | Twitter: @MusicHall | Facebook: /musichall | YouTube: /musichallnh.

To post a comment, you must register and login.