As young adults navigated the responsibilities of adulthood, many college students struggled to manage their finances. To become financially responsible, students were encouraged to seek guidance from those with more experience.
Dr. Roston Willis, finance program director and owner of his own investment firm, discussed his struggles with money during college.
“I did not manage my finances well. Later I would pay the price for that, but in college it was more about the today and the right now, as opposed to the tomorrow,” Willis said.
Seeing that even a finance professional once struggled with money reassured students that it was never too late to make changes for the future. Seth Torry, senior finance and accounting double major who completed four finance internships during college, shared insight into budgeting.
“I have an Excel spreadsheet that I use, [and] a lot of people use apps, which are pretty cool too. I budget on a monthly basis,” Torry said.
Budgeting and tracking spending were important steps in financial planning. Another key step was building an emergency fund with three to six months of expenses saved in a separate account. Willis also shared his perspective on emergency funds and the difference between saving and investing.
“We don’t save, [besides] a three to six month savings for emergencies. That’s the only savings that we really have, and then everything else goes into our investment fund,” Willis said.
With that approach, investing became an important part of long-term financial planning. Ambrin Pienaar, junior business administration major, emphasized the importance of diversifying investments.
“I would say to plan how you use your money very wisely. If you’re looking at investing, I would say to invest in a large portfolio of different types of investments,” Pienaar said. “Don’t just put your money into one thing. If that thing goes downhill, then basically all your money is gone. So just to prioritize.”
Compound interest also played a significant role in long-term financial growth. Torry explained how valuable it could be for college students planning their futures.
“Compound interest is a real thing, and that’s how people retire. Time [is your best] asset when you are young, and makes a really big difference,” Torry said.
“Like in some finance extracurriculars, we show an example where [you have] 40 years and you want to retire at 60,” Torry said. “Let’s just say hypothetically your money would compound to like five million, but if you waited until you were 30, or if you waited until you were 25 instead of 20, you’d only have hypothetically three million or something. So that five years makes like a really big difference in terms of compounding.”
With many steps involved in becoming financially responsible, the process could feel overwhelming. However, experts encouraged students not to handle financial planning alone.
“You don’t have to do it on your own. You have resources. We have financial coaches here, and if you didn’t know that, we have financial coaches,” Willis said. “You can walk in and say, I don’t know where to start. I don’t know what I’m doing. Let them guide you on where to go from that point.”
Although financial planning could feel intimidating, CBU offered resources to help students learn about personal finance and prepare for the future. By seeking guidance and developing habits such as saving and investing, students could build a stronger financial foundation for themselves and others.
