Seminar series teaches investment principles
Whether or not USU students consider themselves to be in a good position to begin investing, they may have a chance to learn about opportunities to invest now and begin making money from principles taught at the Investor Education Seminars sponsored by the USU Family Life Center.
“You have time on your side. You can do a lot with a little bit of money and more time,” Kristilyn Jensen. That will be better than investing with a lot of money later,” said Kristilyn Jensen, graduate student studying family consumer and human development. She said she helped plan and organize the seminars.
For the past three weeks, in conjunction with the Utah Division of Securities, the USU Family Life Center has hosted Investor Education Seminars every Wednesday night.
These seminars have featured different speakers and experts seeking to educate students on the fundamentals of investing — the basics of getting started, introduction to financial markets, making family financial, investment planning and how to avoid and recognize investment fraud. The final session of the seminars will take place this week.
“We heard about this program that the Utah Division of Securities offered and we knew the directors,” said Alena Johnson, lecturer for the USU FCHD department. “We trust them and have no problems counting on their advice.”
Jean Lown, another FCHD professor who assisted in planning the seminars, acknowledged what she said are mistakes she believes students make or misconceptions they have.
“The earlier you start investing, the more time your money has to grow,” said Lown, who also advises students to be patient and avoid frequently switching activities.
“Don’t change lanes,” she said. “Stick with low-cost mutual funds through its ups and downs, avoid buying into hot stocks that the media has highlighted, because usually by that time the prices are too high.”
“The truth is, you really don’t need a lot of money to invest,” Johnson said.
However, low funds are a concern for art major Alyssa Davidson, a junior who said, “Honestly, I don’t feel like I would get a lot out of investing right now in the stock market or anything with the little money I have. I know investing is something I should do, I just don’t know a lot about it.”
Chase Terry, a junior majoring in entrepreneurship, said he invests but has a hard time trusting government bonds at this time.
“To me it seems like the return on anything would be pitiful,” he said. “However, a big benefit I think any students, right now, have is time, much more so than any senior citizens or anything. I would invest if I knew more and if I had more money, but the truth is I rely a lot on my parents for all of this information.”
“I don’t think there’s a person out there that shouldn’t be investing — student or not,” said Jared Taylor, a junior majoring in finance. “I’m investing in a Roth IRA account in a mutual fund with an index 500. I’ve had it since high school. The reason I’m studying finance is because my dad sat me down one day and showed me some basic financial principles like rates of return and other things, and it really interests me.”
The final session of the Investor Education series is Wednesday, Oct. 26 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. in Eccles Science Learning Center Room 130. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.
– timothyjbarber@gmail.com