Tanja Hester

Tanja Hester retired early from a career in political and social change communications, and journalism before that, to devote all her time to purpose-driven projects. Called the matriarch of the FIRE (financial independence/retire early) movement by the New York Times and a female financial influencer you should be following by US News, Tanja has used her leadership position within the personal finance media community to push for more social and environmental awareness, more diversity and...See more

Tanja Hester retired early from a career in political and social change communications, and journalism before that, to devote all her time to purpose-driven projects. Called the matriarch of the FIRE (financial independence/retire early) movement by the New York Times and a female financial influencer you should be following by US News, Tanja has used her leadership position within the personal finance media community to push for more social and environmental awareness, more diversity and inclusion, and more philanthropy, not simply wealth accumulation. She draws on her journalism background to research how best to incorporate values into financial decisions. Tanja is the author of the award-winning book Work Optional: Retire Early the Non-Penny-Pinching Way, called the best step-by-step guide to retire early by MarketWatch. She also writes the award-winning blog Our Next Life and cohosts The Fairer Cents, an economics podcast about women and financial inequality. She is a columnist for MarketWatch, and has spoken at Google, Tesla, and conferences around the world. See less