About this ebook
Her work has appeared in Forbes, Business Insider, and The Wall Street Journal's careers section, where she writes about the intersection of personal finance and career strategy for the millennial and Gen Z workforce. She has been quoted as a financial independence expert in CNBC, and her side hustle framework for new graduates has been adopted by career centers at three major public universities.
Before launching her own platform, Cynthia spent seven years in corporate finance at a Fortune 500 company, where she managed multi million dollar budgets and observed firsthand how the salary trap operates from the inside. That experience watching talented colleagues become paralyzed by golden handcuffs in their late twenties and early thirties convinced her that financial literacy and income diversification are not optional skills for the modern workforce. They are survival skills.
She holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Virginia and a master's in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where her research focused on household financial decision-making and the gig economy. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her partner and a growing collection of houseplants that she refuses to name because naming them makes it harder to throw them away when they die.
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About the author
Cynthia Rizer is a personal finance writer and entrepreneur focused on helping young professionals build financial independence before traditional career paths lock them in. She is the founder of SalaryFreeLife.com, a resource dedicated to side hustle strategy, salary negotiation, and the psychology of money for early-career professionals.
Her work has appeared in Forbes, Business Insider, and The Wall Street Journal's careers section, where she writes about the intersection of personal finance and career strategy for the millennial and Gen Z workforce. She has been quoted as a financial independence expert in CNBC, and her side hustle framework for new graduates has been adopted by career centers at three major public universities.
Before launching her own platform, Cynthia spent seven years in corporate finance at a Fortune 500 company, where she managed multi million dollar budgets and observed firsthand how the salary trap operates from the inside. That experience watching talented colleagues become paralyzed by golden handcuffs in their late twenties and early thirties convinced her that financial literacy and income diversification are not optional skills for the modern workforce. They are survival skills.
She holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Virginia and a master's in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where her research focused on household financial decision making and the gig economy. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her partner and a growing collection of houseplants that she refuses to name because naming them makes it harder to throw them away when they die.
