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A certified financial planner gave examples of students’

lack of financial literacy and awareness to a group of student

journalists November 12.

“It’s interesting how many people come into Red to Black and

they don’t even know how many loans they have out or who they’re

with,” said Luke Einerson, a financial planning doctoral student

at Texas Tech.

A lack of financial literacy and awareness can be

detrimental to a student’s financial future. There is help for

students who want to manage their assets, but do not know how to

do so. Einerson, a Red to Black employee, gives students coaching

and advice about managing money.

Red to Black is a service where students can get financial

coaching. Einerson said a student can go there for advice on

budgeting, debt, student loans, and other financial issues. The

service is paid for in tuition, so Tech students can walk in and

get help free of charge.

Susan Moore is a bank manager at Prosperity Bank in Abilene,

Texas. She said it is rare for a person to walk into her office,

and be financially literate. People of all ages have come to

speak to Moore, and she said generally they have no clue what

they are talking about.

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“You’d be surprised how much middle-income people don’t

know,” Moore said.

Einerson said being knowledgeable about money and knowing

how to handle it, can put a person ahead of the curve. He

believes, with students, budgeting and money mismanagement are

issues he encounters most frequently.

“People will come in with loans and blow through the student

loan by the middle of the semester, and they don’t have any money

left,” Einerson said. “If you get budgeting down, you are like 90

percent of the way there.”

Red to Black volunteer, Carl Larimore said he sees students

with similar issues coming to get advice, often because they are

unaware of how to properly maintain a budget. He said based on

past his clients, the cause of mismanagement is usually due to an

ignorance of financial matters.

“I think that financial literacy is extremely important for

everybody, not just students or middle-aged adults,” Larimore

said earnestly. “Everybody needs financial literacy of some

kind.”

He said a base knowledge of things like debt, credit,

retirement plans, and insurance will help students become

successful adults. In order to increase student financial

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knowledge and awareness at Tech, Larimore suggested a personal

financial planning course be required for all majors.

Richard Gass, senior from San Antonio, is enrolled in a

personal financial planning course. He hopes to receive a

University Studies degree at the end of the semester, and

immediately start studying personal finance in graduate school.

Gass explained why he wanted to study personal finance.

“When it comes to finance, a lot of people are uneducated,

and I didn’t want to be one of them,” Gass said.

Gass said his personal financial studies have increased his

financial literacy. He said various courses cover various ranges

of financial issues from budgeting to income tax accounting. Gass

also suggested people do not care about finances until they are

faced with financial issues.

He explained that when he was 20 years old, he did not pay

much attention to how he spent his money. He said he would

essentially work and throw money away. He said he did not care

about saving and investing because he was ignorant to it.

Now at the age of 29, Gass said he thinks it is kind of sad

that for nearly ten years he worked, and has no remnants of the

money he made.

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“If you’re not educated in it and you don’t know about it,

then you don’t care about it really,” Gass said, “and once you

know some of the stuff you learn in these finance courses, you

start to take it a bit more seriously in your own personal life.”

Einerson said students need to start learning about personal

finance and begin saving now. He said if students do so, they can

save themselves grief as they get older. He said often young

adults do not realize the impact of choices they make now on

their future.

Gass searched his flash drive and found his tax returns. He

said he got his highest tax return at the age of 22, and

basically had $17,000 over the course of a year to spend however

he wanted to.

“Honestly, I don’t know where that $17,000 went that year,”

Gass said. “I made $17,000 and had nothing to show for it. I had

no investments or savings. I just spent money on beer, pizza,

DVDs, and playing video games.”

Einerson advises students to pay attention to their personal

finances, and to be willing to get help if they do not understand

something. He said he acknowledges situations are different for

everybody, but that there is help out there for people who want

to increase their financial knowledge.

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