Money smarts can save your assets

Dear Editor,

I would like to issue a challenge to Kent State University.

There is a subject that currently is not being taught by the university (or by any other as far as I know), yet it is the one subject every student who would take it would benefit from more in their life than any other. I would like for Kent State to set a nationwide precedent and consider making a personal finance class mandatory for incoming freshmen.

Having worked in a finance field for more than 10 years, I have seen what poor financial decisions can do to people and how companies line up to take advantage of people without good financial knowledge. The subprime crisis that we are feeling the effects of right now is a good example of what can happen to an ill-informed consumer. A few of the things that the class would explain would be: how credit cards work, what your FICO score is, how it is calculated and how it affects credit decisions, 401K plans, profit sharing plans, and home loans and the different types of products that exist. The more informed a student is toward these issues, the greater the ability that student will have to save tens of thousands in their lifetime and make themselves more successful, no matter what career field they may find themselves in. If the university would be interested in developing and offering such a class, I would only be too happy to discuss my ideas with them.

Brett Grenesko

Mild/Moderate Intervention

Speciaist and Graduate student