A free, four-part webinar series is offering tips for financial literacy and wealth creation for everyone in the Memphis community.
Leading the webinar series is University of Memphis instructor Kelley Anderson, along with guest lecturers and speakers. Anderson has taken segments of classes she teaches at the University of Memphis's Department of Finance in the Fogelman College of Business and Economics and broken them down to their most essential elements.
Anurag Pandit is the chief investment officer at ALSAC and president of CFA Society Memphis, which developed the webinars from a CFA community service initiative. ALSAC is the fundraising arm of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
“When people feel financially independent, they can make decisions that are much more balanced,” said Pandit. “And so the goal is to actually make people aware of the importance of saving, the importance of owning a house, what it takes to own a house, what that does to your community.”
Pandit believes everyone in Memphis could benefit from participating in the webinars. He said most of the population couldn’t access $400 for a financial emergency. The goal of these workshops is simply to help people become more financially secure for their own benefit and the community as a whole.
Pandit said that if people thought of financial fitness similarly to the way they think about physical fitness, building financial literacy would be like a rising tide lifting all boats.
“When you go to the gym for a class, the good thing is that everyone's doing it. This is the same thing. We want everyone to come to a class, you learn a little bit about it, you get some financial discipline, you think about saving, and everyone wins," he said.
The first webinar, "Elements of Personal Financial Management," took place February 10. Pandit said he was encouraged by the turnout and response to the class.
Registration is open now for the remaining three over the next few months. For questions, contact Abby Spann at 901-413-6256 or
[email protected]. The remaining webinars are:
Understanding Taxes | March 3, 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. | What you need to know about Uncle Sam. Learn about credits and deductions and how they affect your tax return.
Register here.
Salary and Compensation | April 7, 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. | There's more to compensation than just your paycheck. Come learn about retirement plans, health insurance and other perks.
Register here.
Investing in the Stock Market | May 5, 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. | If you've ever wondered who Dow Jones is and where he lives, come find out at this session on investments.
Register here.
The series is produced by the University of Memphis Financial Infrastructure Stability and Cyber-security (FISC) Center and the CFA Society Memphis.
CFA Society Memphis is a chapter of CFA Institute, which is a nonprofit that works to advance ethics, market integrity, and standards of practice in the core investment management industry. Pandit said CFA is a global group with about 155 chapters worldwide.
The FISC Center's mission is to find and use financial data to identify threats to financial stability and market resiliency. It is part of the Fogelman College's Department of Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate.
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