Business iota 14'imer of the 2009- 2010 Most Oeative Pqam Award
HOoL. 'A ES* BH' No BEACON a t 9
Quote of
the Week:
Catch a man a fish,
and you can sell
it to him. Teach a
man to fish, and
you ruin a wonder
ful business oppor
tunity.
-Karl Marx
The foundation of financial well being
AYAN CHOUDHURY
ill I fle s.s writer
The Finance Speaker Se
ries at Penn State Erie, The
Behrend College, hosted fi
nancial planner and alumna
Kathryn Nusbaum on Thurs
day, Dec. 2.
Nusbaum's presentation,
Foundation of Financial Well
Being offers the basic tools
and knowledge investors
need to manage their finan-
cial lives
Nusbaum started her pre
sentation clearly stating the
fundamentals of her teaching.
"This is not a budgeting
class or a get-rich-quick in
vestment seminar," Nusbaum
said. "Rather, I teach the
unbiased, time-tested tools
needed to build wealth and
persevere through turbulent
financial times.
I want to put individuals on
the path to financial security,
confident financial decision
making, and greater overall
well-being."
Nusbaum talked about
how money management is
different for everyone and
how it depends on a number
of factors.
"It depends on what you
want to be doing with your
life," Nusbaum said. "Where
you want to be investing your
time and your financial secu
rity is part of all these inter
related parts."
The speaker also spoke
about the importance of
swapping emotion for wis
dom.
"We make emotional deci
sions all the time but we must
rise above those emotions in
order to make the right fi
nancial decisions" Nusbaum
said.
She demonstrated her the
ory by making one member
of the audience give 20 dol
lars to another member. She
brought the audience's atten
tion to the emotion involved
in someone losing the money
and someone else getting the
money.
Nusbaum used statistics
from the Dalbar Studies to
show the average investor
and equity investor returns.
The difference in the two
figures can be explained by
equity investors failing to
stick to the core principle of
buying low and selling high.
"People allowed their emo
tions and the media hype to
dictate their decisions. In
2008 investors began to buy
high and sold low.
So we have to rise above
that and put a plan in place
where we feel confident of
the portfolios we hold and be
wise and confident enough to
stay the course."
In her presentation, Nus
baum offered the students a
fool proof method of making
investment decisions.
"Simple way of doing that
is dollar cost averaging. It
forces you to stick to the prin
ciple of buying low and sell
ing high by regular periodic
investing." Nusbaum said.
"The goal in investing is to
get the greatest return pos
sible while taking the least
amount of risk. By far the
most important factor when
building your portfolio is as
set allocation. The most ef
ficient way to have a diversi
fied portfolio by investing in
low cost broad market index
funds"
Nusbaum ended her pre
sentation by reiterating her
key points of keeping true to
the core principles and hav
ing a well balanced invest
ments.
In the 21st century where
making money quickly seems
like a few high risk invest
ments away, many students
and other audiences walked
away from the presenta
tion knowing that having the
proper plan, confidence and
making wise decisions is the
way to fulfilling ones finan
cial well-being.