When it comes to personal finance, understanding the benefits of compounding interest is a powerful tool that can help you build wealth over time. The longer you let your money sit and grow, the better.
Compounding interest means that you earn interest not only on your original investment, but also on the interest that your investment earns over time. Christopher Magnan, director of the Money Management Program within the University of Miami’s Department of Enrollment Management, created the program to help students achieve their financial goals.
Whether you are entering your first year or are preparing to graduate, every college student could benefit from enhanced personal finance skills. For young adults who are unsure where to begin when it comes to financial planning, the program offers CashCourse, a free financial education resource that is especially designed for university students.
“I often hear students say, ‘I don’t know about personal finance terminology,’ or ‘I don’t know where to start,’” said Magnan. “CashCourse has many options that students can benefit from, including budgeting, credit, loans, buying your first car, developing credit, and the most popular topic, investing.”
“I would say, time in the market beats timing the market,” said Keegan Vaughn, Magnan’s graduate assistant who is in the second year of the Miami Herbert Business School MBA program. Vaughn has helped refine the Money Management Program within the past year and often hosts the online Money Talks series speaking on various personal finance topics.
“If you try to beat the market by waiting, thinking you’re going to earn a higher return out of luck, you’re setting yourself up for failure,” said Vaughn.
Magnan and his team are dedicated to assisting students in taking ownership of their personal finances, and they work to provide students all the necessary tools to better help themselves.
“Through our program, we work one-on-one with students to teach them things like how to choose stock, what a Roth IRA is, even help them understand cryptocurrency,” said Magnan. “We want students going to the right places and not falling victim to scams. We provide guidance.”
Students are not the only ones who can benefit from CashCourse. Faculty and staff members can use the platform to guide them in making informed financial choices.
“You have to sign in with a University email and there will be opportunities for professors to assign assignments in CashCourse for extra credit, if they are interested,” said Magnan. “We are also working with First Year Directions, a one-hour seminar class, to help promote this new platform to our first-year students.
“You will never regret investing early,” said Magnan. “You should have a life plan created for yourself. There are long-term benefits of investing—especially if you are starting at a young age.”
Located in the Office of Student Financial Assistance and Employment, the Money Management Program also offers free one-on-one peer financial coaching. Undergraduate students can book their initial session to attend in person or online. Students who are interested in becoming a peer coach, can apply here.
