Investing and managing money can be simple, but it is understanding where the money goes that is the key to planning a future, a financial planner told TR students at a Nov. 10 workshop.

Brandon Brinkman from Edward Jones Investments was the speaker as part of the Discover Center for Student Success’ Lunchtime Workshop Series.

When it comes to investing in stocks, Brinkman said students should invest at their own risk.

Dividend stocks are a good way to invest money and make some money in return, Brinkman said. Typically, dividends pay anywhere from 1-3 percent on an investment.

“It’s another way to make more money,” he said.

Another easy investment opportunity is mutual funds, Brinkman said. Mutual funds have several shares of different popular corporations that typically have high stock prices.

Brinkman compared mutual funds to soup. 

“Vegetable soup is what I use with my clients,” he said.

The different vegetables, like onions, celery and tomatoes that go into vegetable soup, represent the many different stocks that make up mutual funds, Brinkman said.

But students in the room had a different question for Brinkman. Where does a college student start saving for investments? That’s when Brinkman explained how to manage money for the future.

To begin saving, Brinkman suggested prioritizing for not only a short period of time, but also a long one.

Brinkman called his plan, “the three buckets.” The first bucket has bank accounts and cash, the second has savings and an emergency fund and the third is the retirement bucket.

An emergency fund is the most important thing to have, Brinkman said.

“I recommend all my clients to get to $1,000. It’s Murphy’s Law,” he said. “Anybody that has over $1,000 in their emergency fund, [bad] things don’t happen to them.”

TR student Ashley Ford said the presentation raised her interest in investing.

“People my age aren’t interested because they think it is for an older generation, but it’s the best time to invest,” she said. “It’s easy to understand when someone shows you. I’m glad I came.”