“Adulting”: It’s a word many students love to use when talking about the future, but it’s also associated with the fear of the word becoming their everyday reality.
Following graduation, students may find themselves overwhelmed when it comes to managing money — from paying off student loans to buying groceries, or even saving for retirement or taking out a mortgage. A global financial literacy test distributed to adults in the U.S. showed that only 57 percent were financially literate, meaning that more than four out of every 10 adults may not know how to make smart choices with their money, according to Forbes.
The University of Portland’s new Cash Flow Club hopes to help students of all majors become better informed about money and more confident in making financial decisions, stressing the importance of starting to save money early in order to plan for the future.
“It's open to all majors, anybody from any background,” board member and sophomore Cyrus Maunakea said. “We want everybody to be financially literate.”
Finance professor Christopher Dunnaville started the club last year when he recognized the challenges that young Americans have managing money and felt he needed to do something about it.
He is working toward developing a full financial literacy program at UP. This includes Dunnaville’s “Smart Money” (BUS 191) course, which had its pilot this past summer and Dunnaville says has continued to be offered since.
Dunnaville and his team of students are hopeful that the club will inspire a “movement” on campus of students taking control of their own financial futures.
“What I want to do, actually, is empower students to be in control,” Dunnaville says, “to set themselves up for financial freedom in the future and to be successful.”
The club holds meetings every other week, where they plan to hold workshops and bring speakers to talk about a variety of topics related to personal finance.
The Cash Flow Club is looking forward to hosting “The Challenge” later this semester. This campus-wide activity investment game will aim to teach Pilots how to make smart investment decisions. The club plans to have each of the University’s schools and various campus organizations go head-to-head in the competition.
“Our finances are a big deal,” sophomore board member Brooke Hintze said. “By learning to invest, you’re investing in yourself.”
The Cash Flow Club will hold this semester’s first general meeting Feb. 1 from 6 to 7 p.m. in a yet unspecified location.
