Farnoosh Torabi is a journalist. Generally speaking, she is best-known for being someone who specializes in personal finance, which is a subject of incredible importance that doesn’t get enough attention. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Farnoosh Torabi:
1. Born in Worcester, MA
Torabi was born to Iranian parents in the city of Worcester, which is the county seat for the country of the same name in the state of Massachusetts. It is interesting to note that the city has incorporated a heart into its official symbol. However, there are two potential explanations for why this is the case. One, Worcester is located in Central Massachusetts, thus making it the “Heart of the Commonwealth.” Two, it was a Worcester resident named Esther Howland who popularized Valentine’s Day cards in the United States.
2. Studied Both of the Subjects that She Is Known For in School
Most people who recognize Torabi’s name will recognize her for her involvement with either finance or journalism, both of which are subjects that she studied in school. In the first case, she studied not just finance but also international business when she was an undergraduate student at Pennsylvania State University. Meanwhile, in the second case, she went on to get a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
3. She Didn’t Like Her Personal Name When She Was Growing Up
Nowadays, Torabi has no issues with her personal name whatsoever. However, she has stated that she hated being named Farnoosh when she was still growing up, presumably because it made it more difficult for her to fit in with her peers. As a result, Torabi went through a phase between the ages of 11 and 14 when she would start using names such as Ashley, Christina, and Nikki. Fortunately for her, Torabi’s parents had no problems with going along with her whims, as shown by how they would call her by these names as well as introduce her to other people by these names.
4. Pennsylvania State University Wasn’t Her First Choice
While Pennsylvania State University is a pretty prestigious school in its own right, it wasn’t Torabi’s first choice. For those who are curious, she managed to get accepted to three schools, which were New York University, Northwestern University, and Pennsylvania State University. Besides these schools, she was also waitlisted by Georgetown while turned down by both Harvard and Yale. Eventually, Torabi made a choice to go to Pennsylvania State University because it was the cheapest of the options available to her. Said choice was also sweetened by her father promising to get her a new car to make up for everything else, though she never actually got said gift.
5. Came Very Close to Getting Fired As an Intern
At one point in time, Torabi was an intern at a major magazine when she made an erroneous claim that people could buy everything at dollar stores for just a dollar. Due to this, she got blasted in front of a lot of other people in the newsroom, though she managed to avoid getting fired from her internship for the incident. With that said, it seems safe to say that the incident was pretty devastating, seeing as how Torabi has stated that she cried in the work bathroom afterwards. Besides that, she also stated that she learned to fact-check everything because of it.
6. Has Had a Lot of the Same Experiences As Her Target Audience
Torabi has had a lot of the same experiences as her target audience, thus putting her in a better position to relate to said individuals. For instance, when she had just started out as a reporter and a researcher at Money magazine, she was living in an expensive city on low earnings while having something like $30,000 dollars in debt. In her case, her situation was bad enough that she made a habit of smuggling toilet paper from her parents’ home as a way of cutting down on her household costs.
7. Puts Effort Into Teaching Her Kids About Personal Finance
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Torabi has commented a little about how she has started early when it comes to teaching her kids about personal finance. For example, she has mentioned talking with her son about what they need, what they don’t need, and what they already have when she brings him with her to the grocery store, which is a process meant to teach him something about decision-making while differentiating between needs and wants. With that said, it is amusing to note that there is a limit on what she can and can’t teach her kids because they are still too young to grasp some of the more abstract concepts when it comes to personal finance.
8. Drinks Black Coffee
Generally speaking, Torabi drinks black coffee. However, this isn’t because she likes black coffee so much as because the other options have been ruled out one by one. For example, she liked having milk in her coffee, but that option was ruled out when she went on the Whole30 diet. For a time, Torabi went with almond milk instead but winded up cutting that out as well because the baristas would tell her about how bad its carbon footprint was. As a result, she tried out oat milk, which stopped when she realized that it was a bit too close to being a muffin from a nutritional perspective for her personal comfort.
9. Believes in Being Hands-On with Money
Torabi has recommended for people to be more hands-on with their money in both a literal sense and a metaphorical sense. This can sound pretty odd, but it is based on the fact that we have a harder time grasping the value of money when it is represented by something abstract such as an app on a smartphone rather than something more concrete such as physical coins and bills. Certainly, apps are very convenient, but that convenience has been known to breed carelessness in their users.
10. Stresses the Importance of Saving Early
Like every other personal finance expert out there, Torabi stresses the importance of starting to save as soon as possible by putting in small sums on a regular basis. That might not seem like a huge contribution, but thanks to the time value of money, even those small sums can make a significant difference over the course of decades.
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