Picture this. You've got a degree in hand, you've broken free of the family threshold, and your feet are firmly on the rungs of a 'glittering career ladder'. Sounds okay, doesn't it?

But simmering beneath this, there are niggling voices in your head (and many more coming from parents and peers), muttering words like 'pension', 'tax', and 'mortgage'. Whether you stick your head in the sand or not, you know these are matters you are going to have to deal with at some stage, and sooner is probably better than later.

Let's face it, trying to clear your student debt is a big enough headache, let alone organising life assurance or making your first investment. What happens when you want to buy a house? How do you go about setting up your first business? Are you ever going to need a financial adviser and what for?

In your 20s and 30s you make the biggest financial decisions of your life. Most of us find it frightening, bewildering, and at the very least, painfully dull.

Well, this book is for you. It's not written by grey-suited men who still think the Rolling Stones are cool. The Money Zone is written with you in mind - your needs, your worries, in a style and language that won't confuse more than it confirms. It will guide you through every financial decision you will need to make, from getting a student loan, renting your first flat, to investing in your future and planning for your retirement.

The Money Zone: young, free and solvent.

"A money book for the Freedom Years that's both funky and factual. Packed with career and finance tips but cool enough that you won't have to hide it on the bookshelf."

- Marianne Curphey, Editor, Money Unlimited