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Financial Awareness Series

Financial Awareness Series. Save for Your Future Budgeting Basics, Savings and Investing , Credit and Debt Plan for Your Future Retirement Lifestyle, E xpenses, Income and Obstacles Protect Your Future Retirement Distributions, Maximizing and Protecting Income. Please Note.

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Financial Awareness Series

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  1. Financial Awareness Series Save for Your Future Budgeting Basics, Savings and Investing, Credit and Debt Plan for Your Future Retirement Lifestyle, Expenses, Income and Obstacles Protect Your Future Retirement Distributions, Maximizing and Protecting Income

  2. Please Note In today’s session, your CalSTRS benefits specialist will guide you through the basics of financial literacy and retirement planning. All specialists have CalSTRS benefits knowledge and are your resource. We’re committed to CalSTRS’mission: Securing the financial future and sustaining the trust of California's educators. CalSTRS benefit specialists are not financial advisers, so they cannot advise, recommend or influence your financial decisions. In addition, the information we provide is not intended to be financial advice and should not be considered financial advice.

  3. What to Expect • Budgeting Basics • Savings and Investments • Credit and Debt

  4. Why Create a Budget? • Acts as a roadmap • Reveals waste • Accelerates financial goals • Builds new habits

  5. Evaluating Evelyn’s Budget • See workbook page 7 • Take 5 minutes to work on the exercise and then we’ll discuss as a group

  6. What Are Must-Haves and Wants?

  7. Must-Have or Want? Cell Phone

  8. Must-Have or Want? Home Phone

  9. Must-Have or Want? Groceries

  10. Ways to Create a Budget • Your bank’s website • Software such as Excel or Quicken • Apps • Pen and notepad • What do you use? #1

  11. Build Your Own Budget • See sample Monthly Budget Worksheets on pages 8-10 • See the Your Monthly Budget Worksheets on pages 11-13 to create yours #2

  12. Budgeting for Success • Keep a positive attitude • Keep a support system • Keep realistic expectations

  13. Savings and Investments

  14. The State of $aving in the U.S. True or False: 36% of U.S. workers have less than $1,000 in savings and investments, not including their primary residence or pension. Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2014 Retirement Confidence Survey TRUE!

  15. The State of $aving in the U.S. Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2014 Retirement Confidence Survey

  16. Savings and Investing Accounts #3

  17. Savings and Investments 5 Questions to Ask 1.What is my risk tolerance? • What is my timeline/horizon? • Do I understand it? • What are the fees, expenses, and commissions? • How easily can I get out of it?

  18. To Save or Invest? • What am I motivated to save for? • How much time do I need to make it happen? • What resources do I need to make it happen? • How does it fit into my overall budget? #4

  19. How Much Should I Be Saving or Investing? • A practical strategy can help provide benchmarks for saving and investing • See the 50/30/20 guide on pages 24-31 #5

  20. Savings and Investments Stick to your savings goals… • Make it automatic—payroll deferrals, automatic withdrawals • Monitor progress—monthly, quarterly, annually • Leverage the services of an adviser if needed

  21. Credit and Debt Credit is a tool that can be extremely helpful when used wisely. Debt is necessary for most of us, and requires supervision. You’re the CFO!

  22. The Truth About Credit and Debt Quiz! • See the Quiz on page 35 • Take a few minutes to answer the questions and we will go through the answers together

  23. The Truth about Credit and Debt True or False: A credit report is the same as your credit score. FALSE!

  24. The Truth about Credit and Debt The biggest factor in your credit score is: • Whether you pay your bills on time • How much debt you have • How long you’ve had credit

  25. The Truth about Credit and Debt True or False: You’re shopping for a mortgage and several lenders make inquiries for your credit report within a month of each other. This puts your credit score at risk. FALSE!

  26. The Truth about Credit and Debt Quiz! • To keep your credit score high, you should keep old • credit accounts active because: • You may need the money someday. • The higher your total credit limit, the higher your score. • The length of your credit history affects your score.

  27. The Truth about Credit and Debt True or False: No credit is the same as bad credit. TRUE and FALSE!

  28. Truly Free Credit Reports • The three consumer credit reporting companies are required to provide you with a free credit report every 12 months. • Want to review your report more often? Request one every four months from a different company.

  29. Truly Free Credit Reports #6 • Request your report: • Online at AnnualCreditReport.com • By phone: 877-322-8228

  30. Four Main Components of a Credit Report #7, 8 • Public Records • (#3 of the sample report) • 2. Credit History • (#4-6 of the sample report) • 3. Inquiries • (#7 of the sample report) • 4. Personal Information • (#8-9 of the sample report)

  31. Credit Scores • Credit Score Ranges: • A credit score uses the info in your credit report and helps lenders predict how likely you are to pay your bills in the future. • The FICO credit-scoring model is most widely used. Source: Credit.com

  32. Credit Scores #9 • What effects your credit score the most? • Ways to improve or maintain your credit score

  33. Good Debt vs. Bad Debt Sometimes it makes sense to borrow–a lot of times it doesn’t

  34. 6 Steps to Managing Your Debt 1. Know how much and to whom you owe 2. Pay bills on time each month 3. Make more than the minimum payment 4. Build an emergency fund to fall back on 5. Stick to your monthly budget 6. Decide which debts to pay off first

  35. Prioritize Your Debt Payments • Debt Categories: • Housing costs • Secured debts • Taxes • Federal student loans • Medical bills • Unsecured debt

  36. Debt Summary Worksheet • See the Debt Summary Worksheets on pages 49-52 • Use your credit report and statements to make a list of all your debts • Assign a priority to each account based on what you want to pay off first #10

  37. Debt Pay-Down Strategy • Pay more than the minimum • Snowball your debt payments • Renegotiate terms with your creditors • Research other alternatives

  38. What Are Your Next Steps? • Review your action plan • Sign up and attend next workshops: • Plan Your Future • Protect Your Future

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