Students taught finance

STAFF REPORT

April is Financial Literacy Month, and the Financial Aid office at Eastern New Mexico University partnered with Inceptia, a non-profit organization that educates students on financial literacy, to offer students tips on preparing for and understanding their financial future.

“Our goal is to give students the tools they need in order to pay back their student loans and ultimately be successful as not only students, but adults as well,” said Brenda McCafferty, a strategic business director with Inceptia.

According to McCafferty, college students are a high risk group for identity theft due to many reasons, including that they live in dorms.

“In dorms, people are coming in and out, doors are unlocked, and student documents are left lying around,” McCafferty said. “Students haven’t been educated or had the experience to think that anyone would be dishonest and take advantage of them.”

McCafferty added that students often have their mail sent home to their parents, then the parents may move and forget to put the student’s name on the forwarding address, enabling strangers to get their mail.

McCafferty offered tips on how students can protect themselves from identity theft, which included checking credit reports, reading statements, creating strong passwords, using anti-virus software and shopping on secure websites.

“The way to know if the website is secure is to look for https before the address,” she said.

The presentation also covered the power of saving and the importance of budgeting, and McCafferty explained that it is important to track your current spending and learn to identify spending leaks.

“It ultimately comes down to needs versus wants,” she said. “We all have vices, and the wants can be very persuasive.”

McCafferty said it is important to categorize needs and wants, and to write down income, expenses and savings goals.

“Use the 50/30/20 rule,” she said. “Needs equal 50 percent, wants equal 30 percent, and savings equal 20 percent. Learn how much you can save and how often.”

McCafferty also covered savings options, which included savings accounts, money market accounts, certificate of deposits, stocks and mutual funds.

McCafferty discussed credit and credit reports, and said that students can visit annualcreditreport.com to request their reports.

“The more you are aware of your money, the more successful you will be,” she said.

In order to get more educated on budgeting, McCafferty said students can go to financialavenue.org, a website that provides courses on educating students and adults on the basics of personal money management.