Little Silver, Shrewsbury

Jun 05, 2018

Little Silver’s Joe DiFiglia Helps Set a Path for Better Financial Footing

Since closing the chapter of managing Red Bank-based DiFiglia Capital Management, I have spent the last few years transitioning my career to economic education. It was a graduate school friendship with NYU professor Peter Boettke that ignited my passion in market-based economics.

The challenges we experienced following the 2008 financial crises then served to highlight the urgency of teaching students about economics and personal finance. With a new post-crises personal finance high school graduation requirement being implemented in New Jersey, I volunteered to resurrect the 60-year-old nonprofit NJ Council for Economic Education (NJCEE) in 2013. See the mission and strategic initiatives at njeconomics.org. Thanks to so many friends who have supported this endeavor since its inception.

The NJCEE Board presents its annual “Econ Exchange” speaker series at Navesink Country Club each fall. Previous guests have included Alan Krueger, former chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors; Princeton Professor Burton Malkiel; Duncan Niederauer; Dambisa Moyo; Consuelo Mack; Bill Wilby; and John Stossel.

Also, thank you to my wife, Alice, who supports me as I pursue what she considers an “expensive hobby.” The irony of an economic educator working without pay has not been lost on her! Yet it has been a rewarding experience, and NJCEE’s impact on students across the state continues to grow.

As I move down the econ education track, I have also spent time in the college classroom teaching personal finance as an adjunct professor at New Jersey City University. This in-person experience is most rewarding as I instill in my students the “economic way of thinking” – the framework for good decision making and the understanding of how their decisions affect themselves, their families, and the world around them.

Personal finance education is gaining traction beyond K-12 and higher ed as many companies have become interested in providing their employees with financial wellness sessions. I recently launched a workplace education venture – Think Further, LLC (thinkfurtherllc.com).

When I am not at home in Little Silver, I spend time in my other favorite part of the country – Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Much of my time there is spent with my camera in Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks shooting mountain landscapes and wildlife. “Above the Yellowstone” photo won best photo a few years back at the Guild of Creative Art Gallery in Shrewsbury. The photos I deem worthy of print are developed using traditional silver gelatin process.