November 10, 2014
Retirement saving, investing seminar Nov. 12
Join Powercat Financial Counseling as they host a seminar presented by TIAA-CREF on retirement saving and investing from 4-5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, in the Alumni Center's Banquet Hall A. The session is targeted for graduate students, although faculty and staff are welcome to attend.
The session is part of a larger grant project designed to assess and increase the financial literacy of graduate students. Survey data collected from Kansas State University graduate students in fall 2013 revealed that the personal finance topics of most interest to graduate students included general investing, selecting employee benefits, and planning for retirement, so this session should be especially interesting.
Other survey data revealed that even though 75 percent of students received some sort of free money through a fellowship, scholarship, grant or tuition waiver, 34 percent still took out additional federal loans and 3 percent took out private loans.
This reliance on debt could have serious implications for retirement planning post-graduation. Students appear to be somewhat concerned about their financial status. Fifty-nine percent of the students surveyed reported stress about their financial situation, 37 percent of the sample reported concern about not being able to meet their normal monthly living expenses, and 28 percent reportedly use credit to meet their monthly expenses.