This is not your average Financial Literacy course. Did you know the second most stressful influence on college students is Finances (academics, of course, is number one)? In this 3 week series, we’ll explore the “personal” in Personal Finance: how your relationship, habits, and attitudes about money, credit, debt, spending, and saving can shape your future.  The program is designed for any student who wants to educate themselves about all aspects of personal finance.  We use Dave Ramsey’s Foundations curriculum for college students as a resource for teaching the following concepts: Hope for the future:  We’ll start off talking about you and your habits.  Part of the problem is that for one reason or another, financial matters intimidate folks.   It’s important to be educated.  Knowledge is power and with that knowledge you can make a plan resulting in options. Wealth equals options.  Saving: The only way to build wealth is to save and invest.  In order to save, you have to spend wisely and live beneath your means.   We’ll talk about building your “savings muscles”…developing habits that start you down the road to success.  Even as a broke college student, you should be saving a percentage of your income.   Ultimately, we hope you would walk away from college with (at least) a transition fund to help you make your next step (read: options) Budgeting:   Building a budget is not difficult.   It’s really just math.  There’s income and outgo.   We’ll talk about the mechanics of your regular monthly budget.  The real challenge is sticking to that budget by telling yourself ‘no’ when all you want is Chipotle.  Debt:  Dave Ramsey says that Debt is Dumb.  At the end of the day, borrowing money does not lead to wealth.   Debt is the number one marketed product in American society.   We’ll ‘unpack’ what our culture tells us about borrowing money.  There is no “good debt”.  The credit card points are not worth it (do you think you are beating them at their own game.)    Being Debt Free: Close your eyes and think about how nice it would be to not owe anyone in the world money.   Most Americans have debt.   How can you plan and operate your life that leads you out of debt and towards wealth and a dignified retirement?  The road to debt freedom takes deep personal sacrifice. The FICO Score: Your Credit Score or FICO score is an algorithm based in your relationship with debt (do you have debt, capacity for debt and a history of managing debt successfully.)  It’s not a measure of your wealth or career trajectory.   The credit industry spends billions every year convincing you that you need a good credit score and that score represents success.   We’ll spend some time in the course blowing this concept out of the water.   We’ll also help you understand the mechanics of your credit score so you don’t trash it while you are moving away from dependence on debt.  Retirement:   Building wealth is a marathon, not a sprint.   Saving long term for retirement is part of the equation.   This session focuses on investment vehicles – 401K, 403B, IRAs, Roth IRAs – and what that means when you take your first job. Investments:   Where should you put all that money you’ll be saving?   We’ll talk about risk, return and investing options, specifically focused on Mutual Funds.