Ron Lieber
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Ron Lieber (born 1971) is an American journalist for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', where he writes the "Your Money" column. He is the recipient of three Gerald Loeb awards for his writing in the column. He previously wrote the "Green Thumb" column for the ''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
''.


Early life and education

Lieber grew up in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, Illinois. He attended the full 14-years of grade school at Francis W. Parker School, a private school in Chicago, becoming a scholarship student after his parents divorced. Expecting to continue living in the Chicago area after college, Lieber decided to choose a school outside the
Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...
, attending
Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...
on scholarships and financial aid. He was inspired to try writing for the ''Student'', the school alumni magazine, after reading the work of Chris Miller in the publication. The summer after his junior year, he
interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...
with the ''
Daily Hampshire Gazette The ''Daily Hampshire Gazette'' is a six-day morning daily newspaper based in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States, and covering all of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, Hampshire County, southern towns of Franklin County, Massachusetts, Fra ...
'' for three months. He graduated in 1993.


Career

Lieber began his career in 1993 as a reporter for Lawyers Weekly USA in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, a legal newspaper for small law firms. His boss inspired him to want to work for ''The Wall Street Journal'' by bringing him clippings of
Edward Felsenthal Edward Felsenthal (born September 3, 1966) is an American journalist. He is a former editor-in-chief of ''Time'', a biweekly news magazine. Early life Felsenthal was born into a Jewish family on September 3, 1966, in Memphis, Tennessee, where ...
's articles . He moved on to work as a staff reporter for the ''
Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually. History ''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...
'' and ''
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''. In 2002, Lieber joined ''The Wall Street Journal''. He was hired by Felsenthal as a founding member of the Personal Journal team. He wrote the "Green Thumb" managing-your-money column until he left in 2007. Lieber helped start FiLife in 2007 as the managing editor. FiLife, a joint venture of
Dow Jones Dow Jones is a combination of the names of business partners Charles Dow and Edward Jones. Dow Jones & Company Dow, Jones and Charles Bergstresser founded Dow Jones & Company in 1882. That company eventually became a subsidiary of News Corp, an ...
and IAC, was a personal finance website aimed at younger readers. Lieber said the name was "a semi-mashup of Financial Life and High Life." Lieber left FiLife in 2008 to join The New York Times as a financial columnist. He writes the "Your Money" column, which earned him three Gerald Loeb awards. In 2023, Lieber introduced an online course on merit aid.


Personal life

Lieber is married to
Jodi Kantor Jodi Kantor (born April 21, 1975) is an American journalist. She is a ''New York Times'' correspondent whose work has covered the workplace, technology, and gender. She has been the paper's Arts & Leisure editor and covered two presidential campa ...
, a
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
-winning journalist for ''The New York Times''. They live in Brooklyn with their two daughters.


Awards

* 2011:
Gerald Loeb Award The Gerald Loeb Awards, also referred to as the Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, is a recognition of excellence in journalism, especially in the fields of business, finance and the economy. The award was e ...
for Personal Finance business journalism for "Student Debt" * 2018: Gerald Loeb Award for Personal Finance business journalism for "The Equifax Breach" * 2019: Gerald Loeb award for Personal Service business journalism for "The Daunting Road to Loan Forgiveness"


Selected bibliography

* ''Taking Time Off'', co-written with Colin Hall, 1996,
Noonday Press Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer P ...
* ''Upstart Start-Ups'', 1998,
Broadway Books Broadway Books is an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.. It released its first list in Fall 1996. Broadway was founded in 1995 as a unit of Bantam Doubleday Dell, a unit of Bertelsmann. Bertelsmann acquire ...
* ''Best Entry-Level Jobs: Paying Your Dues Without Losing Your Mind'', 2004,
Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...
* "Student Debt" articles in ''The New York Times'', winner of a 2011 Gerald Loeb award: ** "Placing the Blame as Students Are Buried in Debt", May 29, 2010 The linked PDF contains the articles. ** "Student Debt And a Push For Fairness", June 5, 2010 ** "What Love Joins Together, Debt Can Put Asunder", September 4, 2010 * ''The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money'', 2015,
Harper Harper may refer to: Names * Harper (name), a surname and given name and place names, for example: Harper Islands, Nunavut. Places ;in Canada * Harper Islands, Nunavut * Harper, Prince Edward Island ;In the United States *Harper, former name ...
* "The Daunting Road to Loan Forgiveness" articles in ''The New York Times'', winner of a 2019 Gerald Loeb award: ** "A Student Loan Fix for a Teacher", March 30, 2018 The linked PDF contains the articles. ** "A $350 Million Fund Helps Many Public Servants. Meet the Ones Left Out.", April 6, 2018 ** "Who Is a Public Servant? Borrowers Have a Lot Riding on the Answer", April 13, 2018 ** "The Public Student Loan Forgiveness Rescue Hasn’t Gone Well So Far", October 17, 2018 ** "A Teacher’s Long Road to Student Loan Forgiveness (and a $4,500 Surprise)", December 7, 2018


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lieber, Ron Living people 1971 births American male journalists The New York Times columnists Gerald Loeb Award winners for Personal Finance American newspaper editors Journalists from Chicago Francis W. Parker School (Chicago) alumni