By: Teresa Acosta
The financial aid office is offering virtual financial workshops throughout the month of September.
The workshops focus on helping students understand and improve their personal finances.
Each workshop in the series encourages financial literacy by explaining how money is spent and saved.
Students can use the practical tools and advice and apply it to how they manage their money.
This can lead to a better understanding of money as well as a healthy relationship with money.
The introductory workshop breaks down many aspects of personal finance starting with how to identify and set financial goals.
Beginning with placing the goals into short, medium and long-term categories.
Knowing the difference of high and low priority when it comes to these goals can help create a more efficient budget to be able to reach goals easily.
After identifying how students want to spend their money, the workshop shows students how to create a budget, a savings plan and an emergency fund.
The workshops are Wednesdays and Thursdays every week until December.
Over the next few months the workshops will add to these foundational tools, eventually helping students to understand certain attitudes about money, the difference between good debt and bad debt and how to plan for retirement.
Students are encouraged to join at any time during the series, as each topic will have multiple dates and times that they are presented.
“It is significant for students to be aware of budgeting, if they don’t have the tools, or they are not used to managing money, they might spend it as soon as they get it,” said workshop host Magaly Rojas-Gonzalez. This can be a factor when it comes to creating debt, living paycheck to paycheck or not having the funds for unexpected costs.
There are a few short optional activities for attendees to complete in private using their own financial information. Questions are always welcome during and after the presentation.
Students can reach out to the financial aid office at financialwellness@elac.edu. You can also follow @elacdreamresourcecenter or @elacfinancialwellness on Instagram for a list of the workshop dates and times.