With graduation less than two months away, many seniors who will soon face the financial responsibilities of adulthood attended a lecture on investing by Dartmouth endowment manager David Russ in Collis Commonground on Thursday evening.
"I'm here because I don't know anything about money management," Emily Bussigel '06 said. "It's something I haven't had to deal with yet."
Russ told the students at the event to get a credit card in order to establish a credit rating and avoid being "ghosts." He cautioned students, however, to make sure to pay off the bill every month.
Russ recommended that students invest in a house as soon as they can and that, because they are young, could take some money risks, like investing in mutual funds and stocks instead of lower-yielding bonds.
He also suggested that graduates enroll in their company's defined contribution plan, such as a 401(k), and bring a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich to work instead of going out to lunch, putting the money they save in the plan. By taking such actions, the power of compounding will help the money grow for retirement.
"You're going to have a nice endowment for your old alma mater," Russ said.
Many students, however, left the event confused after Russ started showing graphs of specific mutual funds and discussing topics like the efficient frontier of investment and the theory of capital markets.
"He didn't know the audience he was talking to," Josh Schriffen '06 said. "I came just wanting to learn basic stuff."
The workshop was part of Career Services' "Backpack to Briefcase" workshop series geared toward graduating seniors.
"The idea is really to give them a bridge to life after Dartmouth," Career Services director Skip Sturman '70 said.
Career Services will hold an etiquette lunch and another lecture for seniors next week, as well as a small group dinner series on "Careers for the Common Good." There are also information sessions by financial firms like McKinsey and Company, which drew approximately 30 students to the Hanover Inn last night.
Sturman said some Dartmouth alumni receive help from Career Services with graduate school applications and can access the Alumni Advisory Network database, but he encouraged students to take advantage of the office's resources while they are in Hanover.
Likewise, he hopes the senior workshops will encourage new graduates to sign up for the database or get their companies to come to Dartmouth.
"It is a lifelong relationship and [we want] to get that relationship off on the right foot so students are left feeling the College made some effort to equip them with real-life skills," Sturman said.
