by Emma Keates
Financial management is certainly a daunting topic to many people, myself included. Our high school rowers got an important head start, however, in a workshop at Maverick Capital on Tuesday, July 14th!
First, the Maverick Capital Foundation’s Director, Mali Locke, enlightened our rowers with a presentation on the ins and outs of personal finance. The boys and girls learned valuable lessons on making – and sticking to – a budget, the importance of saving vs. spending, the difference between savings and checking accounts, and even some methods to protect against credit fraud.
They also learned the value of maintaining a good long-term credit score, and how the positive financial choices they make today can directly impact their future endeavors and investments. With all of this amazing preparation, we have no doubts that they will succeed!
After these valuable insights, former Maverick employee (and college coxswain!), Erika Long, shared her professional story and spoke about potential careers in finance that our rowers could pursue. The room then erupted into a lively discussion covering all topics from the importance of women’s involvement in the financial field, to questions and advice on college classes, and even to the benefits of mentioning rowing in an interview. As Erika put it, involvement in rowing shows a potential employer that you are dedicated, that you can work at something year round, and of course, that you are excellent at working with a team.
Wrapping up the conversation, Mali asked the rowers what their financial goals were after learning all that they did. To “pay bills on time”, “not have bad debt”, and “go to my bank and make sure that my savings and checking accounts are working for me” are just some of the smart takeaways that were mentioned.
This workshop was an amazing opportunity for our rowers to learn the basics of finance management before they go away to college. The most important lesson for all was definitely that balancing a budget doesn’t have to be scary – if you’re knowledgeable and prepared, it can even be fun!
