Recalculating 10 percent: every little bit counts for retirement
What started out as an extra credit project for an economics class could turn into $10,000 for two freshmen Utah State University students.
Natalie Howe and Paige Rood were selected as top ten finalists in a national video contest sponsored by Financial Services Roundtable. Each top ten finalist will be awarded a $1,000 prize. The grand prize winner, to be announced on March 8, will be flown to Washington D.C. and awarded $10,000.
“When I got the top ten I was so pumped it was almost unreal because I didn’t really think I would make it,” said Rood, a biology science major.
The contest included creating a 60-second video explaining the importance of saving 10 percent for retirement.
Economics professor Scott Findley was contacted by the Financial Services Roundtable, who asked if he would make his students aware of the national video competition.
“In order to encourage my students to think about retirement, I offered this as bonus points in my class,” Findley said.
Around 60 to 70 students submitted videos for the extra credit. As soon as Howe heard of the chance to earn extra credit, she started brainstorming an idea for her video.
“The whole idea popped into my head within five minutes,” Howe said, an undeclared major.
When she got home, Howe went dumpster diving. Grabbing the biggest cardboard box she could find, she labeled it “time machine” with marker on the side. Then she and her 16-year-old brother Preston, a senior at Mountain Crest High School, went to work.
In the next couple of hours, Preston recorded most of the video on Natalie’s phone. Preston jokingly stated he wanted a percentage of Natalie’s winning money for helping with the project.
“When they say save 10 percent, they mean save 10 percent for your younger brother,” Preston said, laughing. “Every vote for her is 10 percent to me.”
The video demonstrates how saving 10 percent can pay off in the long run. Natalie enters the time machine to find that her future house is a broken-down shed. She returns to the present and starts investing 10 percent to retirement. She returns to the future to find the shed transformed into a mansion.
“I think my video very clearly and simply and visually shows the importance of saving 10 percent without words,” Natalie said. “I was very happy with the outcome.”
Both Natalie and Preston named their dad, Dale Howe, as an important influence during the project.
“He’s been very influential to me,” Natalie said. “He’s taught us well, he’s taught us about the importance of saving.”
Dale Howe, who manages a credit union, said he was glad to see Natalie place as a finalist.
“I got a kick out of watching her video,” Dale said. “She’s been asking me all sorts of questions about IRAs. She even opened her own Roth IRA.”
Natalie wants to use the award money to reach her goals of serving an LDS mission and graduating debt-free from college.
While Natalie went dumpster diving for time machines, Rood was composing an original song for her contest video.
“I got the idea for my video by looking at other commercials. I noticed that a lot of them were the ones with catchy little jingles that got stuck in my head,” Rood said.
Rood has played the guitar for around four years, and though admits she’s not a professional singer, she loves music. She said she had written a few original songs before making the video, so composing a quick ditty was easy.
Her video features a little girl named Sally who earned money from her lemonade stand. She invests 10 percent of her earnings in a retirement fund and is therefore richer and ready for retirement.
“If I win, I’ll definitely use the money to help pay for the rest of my schooling and save ten percent for retirement,” Rood said.
Findley still remembers both of the videos Howe and Rood submitted in his class.
“I wish Paige and Natalie best of luck,” Findley said. “I’ll stay neutral on it, because two of the 10 finalists are former students who did it for extra credit in my class.”
The videos will be judged by a board of judges and public voting. Voting on the final videos is open for the public until Feb. 19. Voters are allowed one vote per day. To watch the videos and vote, visit save10.org/#voting.
— ashley.ruth.stilson@aggiemail.usu.edu