As part of Siena’s Lynn Rondeau ’75 Center For Private Wealth Management’s mission to promote financial literacy for Siena students, the Financial Planning Club has hosted various guest speakers on campus since the start of the fall semester. Through these meetings, Siena students have learned from guest speakers a deeper understanding of when, where, why, and how to invest. In the past month, the Financial Planning Club has partnered with the Financial Management Club to host Mr. Tom Curran of Curran Wealth Management and Siena’s own Dr. Rick Proctor of the college’s School of Business.
On October 30th, Tom Curran visited to give Siena students an overview of his new book called Investing Ahead. Tom Curran works at and owns his investment company, Curran Wealth Management in Albany. Curran Wealth Management helps those seeking to invest money and deliver a high return on their investments. Tom Curran outlined the eight steps he laid out to secure a stable financial future that may seem unattainable, but a future that can be achieved through proper planning and investing. His eight steps follow the eight chapters of his book Investing Ahead that summarize his life experience in the finance field and the habits he has cultivated with regard to money and asset management.
Mr. Curran spoke on the logistics of investing for both students and adults, as well as using investing to plan for one’s future. Points of his discussion included the misconceptions surrounding investing in real estate, investing money into equities and highly compounding investments and the importance of looking at a dollar in future terms. Mr. Curran’s last point particularly resonated with the audience, as he explained that one can only spend a dollar once. Although it may seem like just a dollar today, the nature of inflation and the potential for investment can make a dollar today worth much more. He explained that a purchase of a brand-new truck for market price equates to the equivalent of six figures on the truck if inflation and the potential to invest the money were factored into the scenario. Mr. Curran also noted that about $10,000 invested now can turn into six-figure savings by a current college student’s retirement, showing Siena students that a future of financial security is a matter of planning ahead. After the event, Mr. Curran was generous enough to provide everyone who attended signed copies of his new book, Investing Ahead.
On November 20th, Siena’s own Dr. Rick Proctor gave a presentation in the Maloney Great Room in the Sarazen Student Union explaining how Siena students can both manage student loans and build their credit. Dr. Rick Proctor has made it his mission to educate students in the classroom and is now preparing them for life after Siena through his invaluable knowledge. Dr. Proctor gave two presentations during this meeting, “Understanding and Managing Your Student Loans,” and “Establishing and Managing Good Credit.”
Dr. Proctor first explained the size of the student debt crisis, sharing enlightening facts about the impacts on any college student. Dr. Proctor shared fast facts about the over $1 trillion of outstanding student loan debt, including that over 40 million borrowers and over 50% of all undergrads carry student loan debt. Each borrower carries an average of $37,700 worth of debt, with Siena undergraduates carrying an average of $24,000.
For Siena students concerned about the process of paying off loans after graduation, Dr Proctor provided many insights. Students can begin 6 months after graduation after they finish Loan Exit Counseling. Students can choose different plans to pay off federal loans, with each plan providing different timelines for repayment depending on students’ preferences. The main plans offered include the Standard Repayment Plan, the Graduation Repayment Plan, as well as the newly-introduced SAVE Plan, where payment is introduced by one’s income and family size.
From Dr. Proctor’s “Establishing and Managing Good Credit,” there were also many valuable insights the audience gleaned. This included establishing good credit by paying bills on time, opening a credit card under one’s name, and taking out a credit-building loan. Furthermore, Dr. Proctor explained how to apply for one’s first credit card through a variety of banks. Lastly, Dr. Proctor showed students how to check their FICO Credit Scores and compare them to metrics for good, fair, and bad credit scores. Dr. Proctor also spoke about how students taking out their first credit card should focus on parsing through both the benefits and drawbacks of available credit cards, such as reward and travel points with potentially high-interest rates. Finally, he finished this portion of the presentation by giving tips for Saints to improve their credit scores and creditworthiness, such as paying bills on time, increasing credit limits over time, and borrowing only when necessary.
Investments and budgeting, student loans, and building credit are present in formative parts of college students’ lives. They can be helpful if used properly but also can be detrimental to students in the long run if they do not understand their responsibilities related to each of these financial topics. These points of discussion by Mr. Curran and Dr. Proctor are incredibly relevant to Siena students because of these factors, as all Siena students will or have encountered investing and budgeting, loan repayment, and managing credit in their daily lives. Although these events were hosted by the Financial Planning Club and the Financial Management Association, the topics discussed are truly beneficial to students of any major to develop advantageous financial literacy skills for life at Siena and beyond.