Finance
JHS Course Teaches Personal Finance
Previous to instructing, Amy Schultze helped run her household enterprise — a neighborhood ironmongery store — the place she aimed to assist clients construct their very own toolbelt.
Now a Jamestown Excessive College enterprise instructor, she’s energized by the prospect to assist the subsequent technology of JHS college students construct their “monetary toolbelt” and earn faculty credit score within the course of.
Schultze teaches BUS 1610 – Private Finance at Jamestown Excessive College, a course obtainable by means of SUNY Jamestown Group School’s School Connections program and designed to “present college students with the required instruments to realize monetary success.”
“College students create a ‘software belt’ that’s customized based mostly on their very own monetary objectives,” Schultze mentioned. “We talk about the significance of setting brief, mid-range, and long-term objectives and every learner’s objectives differ based mostly on what they deem as being financially profitable. The important thing takeaway from this course: it’s not what you make, it’s what you save.”
The course additionally encapsulates a wide range of different points such because the distinction between financial savings versus investing; easy versus compound curiosity; and the variations between scholarships, loans, and grants. They’ll additionally take part in Junior Achievement’s WNY Fall 2022 Inventory Market Problem throughout November.
Subject expertise has additionally been of the utmost significance to Schultze: in September, college students visited Northwest Financial institution to study concerning the significance of constructing relationships together with your native financial institution; in early October, they attended a New York state sponsored profession truthful and heard from companions at Jamestown Enterprise School concerning the significance of finishing the Free Utility for Federal Pupil Assist (FAFSA); and most just lately, they discovered concerning the rudiments of shopping for and sustaining a automotive from representatives at Shults Auto Group and discovered concerning the significance of managing one’s funds throughout a go to to Summit Wealth Administration.
Subject journeys are additionally scheduled to The Legend Group and Southern Chautauqua Federal Credit score Union later within the semester.
“My hope for all college students is that they’re able to fill their ‘monetary software belt’ for present and future utilization,” Schultze mentioned.
“As an illustration, college students will not be able to buy their first automobile at this time. However hopefully by the point they’re performed with the category, between the analysis, actions, and area journey to Shults Nissan Subaru, they’ll really feel a little bit extra conversant in the automotive shopping for course of.”
That area expertise was significantly significant for JHS sophomore Owen Caswell.
“My favourite factor thus far has been studying about automotive loans,” he mentioned. “It’s vital to me as a result of I’ll be getting my allow quickly and whereas there are some points of automotive shopping for which can be acquainted to me, there’s quite a bit that I’ve discovered that I’ll want to contemplate throughout that course of.
Caswell has additionally appreciated Schultze’s perception within the classroom.
“She’s a pleasant instructor and he or she’s created a fantastic setting within the classroom,” he mentioned. “She makes studying about these things enjoyable.”
“The entire class has been very academic about what to anticipate as an grownup,” he concluded.
“As we ship our college students out and into the world, I simply need them to be ready,” Schultze mentioned. ” I confer with a quote from (American financier) Suze Orman that ‘making it in America means you’ll be able to sleep at evening, and never fear once you stand up within the morning how are you going to pay your payments. … Smile for the issues that you’ve got, not for the belongings you want you probably did.”
Finance
I’m not financially literate. Here’s how I could be. – The Boston Globe
If you asked me what the process for setting up a Roth IRA looked like, I doubt I could offer you a thorough response. The same goes for mortgages and loans and interest. When I had to fill out my first W-9 form, I was admittedly more than a bit confused.
In short, financial literacy isn’t my forte. And that’s because, like many Massachusetts public school students, I’ve never had to take any sort of personal finance class.
Indeed, throughout the debates over eliminating MCAS as a graduation requirement for high schoolers, we heard quite a bit about the state’s educational gold standard. So is it not the least bit shameful, or at least embarrassing, that our state does not require high school students to take a financial literacy class when a majority of states do?
Absolutely. And it needs to change.
Twenty-six states, including Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Connecticut, have passed legislation making a personal finance course mandatory for high school students. Meanwhile, Massachusetts received an “F” from the Champlain College Center for Financial Literacy, which released a report card in 2023 evaluating how each “state delivers personal finance education in its public high schools.” In addition, a 2023 report card(link?) from the American Public Education Foundation gave the state a “C” for its financial literacy requirements — a score worse than or equal to all but six states.
Meanwhile, across the state, credit card and student loan debt have spiked to eye-popping levels. As of the second quarter of this year, the average Massachusetts resident had a credit card balance of $8,556 and $33,710.38 in student loan debt. The latter is particularly troubling for young people like myself. For the next four years, countless high school seniors throughout the Commonwealth will be attending college, paying tens of thousands of dollars on top of day-to-day expenses.
The need for personal finance courses in Massachusetts is tremendous — a need that, as per a 2021 report from the state’s Office of Economic Empowerment, is recognized almost universally among teachers and, importantly, students.
Yet, as a result of being taught next to nothing about personal finances, many of us are left ill-prepared for these new circumstances. Our understanding of credit cards is limited to, as State Treasurer Deb Goldberg so eloquently articulated to GBH, “The parent puts a plastic card into the wallet and boom: out comes money.” And so the cycle of taking out loans, accumulating massive debt, and working for years before being able to pay it off persists.
Why perpetuate the cycle when it is so clear that these classes work? According to a 2021 Ramsey Solutions survey, among the teenagers who have completed a personal finance class, nearly 80 percent said that they’ve created a monthly budget for themselves, 94 percent felt confident about saving money, and 87 percent understood how to pay income taxes. And, as noted in the OEE’s report, personal finance courses are tools that “increase social mobility for low-income or immigrant students.” Requiring such classes really couldn’t make much more sense.
At my own high school, Brookline High School, financial literacy is offered in the form of a popular elective, “The World of Money: Practical Studies in Finance and Investment,” which “integrates the basic principles of economics, money management, investing, and technology,” according to the course catalog. Every spring, as course selection rolls around, hundreds of students eye this semester-long course, but with only so many spots, most cannot take it — and, consequently, miss out on an opportunity to learn about financial literacy.
Recognizing the imminent need to educate ourselves on matters of taxes, loans, investments, and more, several members of Brookline High School’s Student Council, including myself, have proposed amendments to our student handbook that would incorporate a financial literacy component in our graduation requirements and incorporate personal finance lessons into our weekly advisory classes. Our work would ensure that such important life skills are accessible to all students, not merely for those lucky enough to find a place in the class.
But while such efforts are certainly a step in the right direction on this issue, they are not enough. Financial literacy should not be a privilege for schools with a proactive student body; it is a fundamental aspect of our lives, and our state’s education system must begin reflecting that. The state must require personal finance courses for graduation — it’s the smartest investment we can make.
Ravin Bhatia is a senior at Brookline High School.
Finance
NexPoint Real Estate Finance, Inc. Announces Series A Preferred Stock Dividend
DALLAS, Dec. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — NexPoint Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE: NREF) (the “Company”) today announced a dividend for its 8.50% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (NYSE: NREF PRA) of $0.53125 per share. The dividend will be payable on January 27, 2025, to stockholders of record at the close of business on January 15, 2025.
About NexPoint Real Estate Finance, Inc.
NexPoint Real Estate Finance, Inc., is a publicly traded REIT, with its common stock and Series A Preferred Stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NREF” and “NREF PRA,” respectively, primarily focused on originating, structuring and investing in first-lien mortgage loans, mezzanine loans, preferred equity, convertible notes, multifamily properties and common equity investments, as well as multifamily and single-family rental commercial mortgage-backed securities securitizations, promissory notes and mortgage-backed securities. More information about the Company is available at nref.nexpoint.com.
CONTACTS
Investor Relations
Kristen Griffith
IR@nexpoint.com
Media Relations
Prosek Partners for NexPoint
pro-nexpoint@prosek.com
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nexpoint-real-estate-finance-inc-announces-series-a-preferred-stock-dividend-302339003.html
SOURCE NexPoint Real Estate Finance, Inc.
Finance
Stock market today: Nasdaq, S&P 500 edge higher ahead of Christmas break
US stocks opened higher to kick off the final, shortened trading session before the Christmas holiday. The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) edged up about 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose roughly 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) hugged the flatline.
Wall Street is looking to enter its Christmas break rejuvenated, after tech stocks including AI chip giant Nvidia (NVDA) led the march higher on Monday. Markets close at 1 p.m. ET today and are off tomorrow for Christmas Day.
Sizable gains on Friday and Monday have put the indexes back on the path toward their record highs, from which they took a Fed-fueled nosedive last week.
Wall Street is reassessing the path of interest rates next year as it grapples with the reality that the Fed mostly pulled off a so-called soft landing — but couldn’t fully shake the US economy’s inflation problem. According to the CME FedWatch tool, most bets are on two coming holds at the Fed’s January and March meetings, followed by a toss-up in May.
Meanwhile, many eyes continue to be trained on Nvidia, which saw a more than 3.5% gain on Monday. As Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley writes, 2024 was Nvidia’s year, with the stock up some 180%. But 2025 could contain plenty of challenges.
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