By Laurance Traylor/reporter
The personal, philosophical and emotional problems and strengths people have will be reflected in their use of money, an academic advisor said during a Sept. 25 seminar on NE Campus.
“Will you control your money, or will your money control you?” Randy Saleh asked to open Three Simple, but Vital, Financial Lessons.
The first lesson was to know money is active. Like the weather, money’s value constantly changes, Saleh said. Understanding the change is essential to make a proper financial decision.
Small sacrifices early in life can produce big payoffs, Saleh said was the second lesson. By making small cuts in money usage and saving as little as $100 a month early in life, the easier things are financially over time, he said.
His third lesson was that every decision involves trade-offs. Something usually has to be given up to gain something else, Saleh said.
All lessons pointed to the same conclusion: start saving now. Investing in something at an early age will create a nice financial cushion when one reaches 50-60, Saleh said. An emergency fund should be a self-requirement and should be used solely for emergencies. He also said better deals can be found if purchased with cash instead of credit. People should reduce debt by creating their own credit account. Instead of getting a $500 credit card with an interest rate, they should try putting $500 in an account to use so they can pay themselves back interest-free.
One of the points that hit close to home with everyone in the room was the handling of college debt. According to The Wall Street Journal, the average college student has more than $30,000 in student loan debt. Saleh offered one solution: graduate.
“Students who graduate from college get, at an average, around $15,000 more annually than workers who don’t,” he said.
Other methods consisted of budgeting, borrowing only what is necessary and proactively paying off debt as fast and aggressively as possible.
Saleh said the final point of the process would not be easy for some, but they should not give up. Resources like Cash Flow Plans and contact information was handed out to show that there was help and support to make the path to financial security less bumpy.
“The whole thing of getting through is managing the situation,” he said. “We want to make it how we manage it.”
The second half of the seminar series, Culture of Debt, will be 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Nov. 14 in NBSS 1103 on NE.
