Lynnette Khalfani Cox

Early life and education

Born in Manhattan, New York and raised in Los Angeles, California, Khalfani-Cox holds a bachelor of arts in English from the University of California, Irvine and a master of arts in broadcast journalism from the University of Southern California (USC).

Career

While a student at USC, Khalfani-Cox began her career in 1992 as a reporter for the Associated Press in Los Angeles, where she covered local news, community re-development and business activities in the aftermath of the L.A. riots.

In 1993, she moved to Philadelphia, serving as a correspondent for the Philadelphia Inquirer by day, and at night working as a writer/assistant producer for the FOX 10 O’Clock News in the City of Brotherly Love.

Khalfani-Cox joined Dow Jones & Company in 1994 as a reporter covering the brokerage industry, corporate finance and deal-making activities on Wall Street. During her tenure of less than ten years at Dow Jones, Khalfani-Cox held many different positions, including Special Writer, Philadelphia bureau chief, Personal Finance Columnist, and Deputy Managing Editor for Dow Jones Newswires.

She was a Wall Street Journal reporter for CNBC until 2003. After leaving her on-air reporting job at CNBC, Khalfani-Cox launched her brand as The Money Coach® in 2003, and created an independent publishing company, Advantage World Press.

Khalfani-Cox has written six personal finance books for adults, and has co-authored The Millionaire Kids Club, a series of four money-management books for youngsters between the ages of 5 and 12. Khalfani-Cox is perhaps best known for her New York Times best-seller,Zero Debt: The Ultimate Guide to Financial Freedom, which she wrote in 2004 after she says she paid off $100,000 in credit card debt in just three years.

In addition to giving motivational speeches and financial seminars nationwide, Khalfani-Cox is on the board of directors of WorldofMoney.org, a New York City-based non-profit agency that teaches financial literacy skills to underprivileged teenagers.

Khalfani-Cox has contributed to Essence (magazine), Health and Black Enterprise magazines. She has been featured in publications ranging from the Washington Post and USA Today to Smart Money and Redbook Magazine. Khalfani-Cox once appeared on Oprah Are You Ready for a Windfall 2006, the Dr. Phil Show Where'd the Money Go, Dr. Oz, Anderson, The Talk, the Tyra Banks Show, Rachael Ray, and on other shows on networks ranging from CNN and MSNBC to FOX Business Network and BET.

Khalfani-Cox has also appeared on reality TV shows such as Oprah's Big Give and the Emmy Award-winning TV series Starting Over. In 2008, Khalfani-Cox started giving personal finance tips on a nationally syndicated radio station based in Maryland called the Russ Parr Morning Show.

Honors and awards

Khalfani-Cox is a two-time recipient of the Dow Jones International News Award (in 1996 and 1998) for her reporting of financial scams and Wall Street trends.

In 2009, Khalfani-Cox and co-author Susan Beacham received an Excellence in Financial Literacy Education (EIFLE) Award from the Institute for Financial Literacy for The Millionaire Kids Club. The Institute recognized the first three books in the series as Retail Book of the Year, in the category of money-management books for children.

Personal life

On July 7, 2007, she married Earl Cox, who is also her literary agent and business manager. In 2009, the couple launched and underwrote The Zero Debt Tour, a national financial literacy campaign featuring free financial workshops and complimentary copies of Khalfani-Cox’s books for churches, non-profit agencies and their constituents.

Khalfani-Cox and her husband live in northern New Jersey with their three children.