Long Beach State students attended a workshop on Wednesday, March 1 from 12:30-1:30 p.m., that was both online and in-person, in the Social Sciences and Public Affairs building, about financial literacy.
Interest Rates, Loans, and Inflation is part of a three-part Financial Literacy Workshop series about the current economy in terms of budgeting and recession.
GenExcel coordinator Sonia Munoz-Duran and her team came up with the workshops behind the scenes in collaboration with Beach Transition Transfer Center (BTTC), Student Orientation, Advising and Registration (SOAR) and other organizations.
“We have some topics that we go through every semester and we get feedback from students and try to introduce new topics based on what students are saying they’re interested in,” Munoz-Duran said.
Associate professor of finance Laura Gonzalez helped students with their financial needs at the workshop. She’s the one behind the workshops alongside SOAR.
Gonzalez makes aware of the opportunities that students miss out on, such as scholarships, calling it “free money” for students that qualify.
“Do not give up this free money that the federal facilities owe you,” Gonzalez said. “It’s your money, you just have to ask for it.”
“With loans, students should only borrow what they need, never what they want,” Gonzalez said.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) is a free service in CSULB where students and families alike can have both their federal and state income tax returns filed by certified IRS tax preparers. Some of the tax preparers include students who major in accounting.
Benjamin Kash, a senior business finance student, attended the workshop to learn about Gonzalez’s basics on financial literacy.
Kash felt the workshop would not exceed his financial knowledge, but the free pizza lured him in.
He admitted that he had no idea about VITA and that he would have his tax returns filed by them this year.
“It’s a win-win. Get them some experience for the real world,” Kash said.
The last workshop for this semester will be on April 5. Interested students can register with the link in their Instagram bio.