Born in Manhattan, New York and raised in Los Angeles, California, Khalfani-Cox holds a BA in English from the University of California, Irvine and a Master of Arts in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Southern California. While earning her graduate degree in Journalism, 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 & Co. in 1994 as a reporter covering the brokerage industry, corporatefinance and deal-making activities on Wall Street. During her tenure of nearly a decade at Dow Jones, Khalfani-Cox rose through the ranks, holding positions of increased responsibility. She was a Special Writer,Philadelphia bureau chief, Personal Finance Columnist, and Deputy Managing Editor for Dow Jones Newswires, as well as a Wall Street Journal reporter for CNBC, a position she held 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.

To date, Khalfani-Cox has written six personal finance books for adults, and has co-authored The MillionaireKids 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 paying off $100,000in credit card debt in just three years.

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

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 andtheir constituents. Lynnette launched the tour during an appearance on Fox and Friends on the Fox News Channel.

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

Khalfani-Cox was 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 LiteracyEducation (EIFLE) Award from the Institute for Financial Literacy forThe Millionaire Kids Club. The Institute recognized the first threebooks in the series as Retail Book of the Year, in the category of money-managementbooks for children.