Cruzbusiness

Save money and invest early.

Those were the two most important delivered during Thursday night’s community class on the basics of saving and investing hosted by Bay Federal Credit Union. It was part of a series of free financial education seminars hosted by Bay Federal that are open to the public.

Angelica Reyes, Bay Federal’s youth financial education coordinator, gave tips to the class on how to effectively save money: save 10 percent of everything you earn, including bonuses and tax refunds, set aside an emergency account and use automatic transfers to put money aside.

Investment adviser Paul Clark outlined the basics of investing for the group of 17 in attendance. The most important principles of investing are to begin early, focus on accumulating shares, diversify investments and, most importantly, to keep a long-term perspective if the market begins to decline.

“It’s not timing, it’s time in the market,” he said during his presentation.

Felton resident Jordan Howard went to the class to learn more about saving money, but ended up singing praise for investing that money instead.

“You can save $10 now and it will be gone tomorrow,” he said. “But if you invest that $10 it can turn into $80 over time. That’s great.”

The credit union began hosting classes on various financial topics after Reyes, who travels to local schools to teach finances, began to see a demand for financial education for adults. Now, she said, the economy has made such community outreach more important.

“This is a really tough subject, especially during these times,” she said. “It’s not only tough for people to come and listen, but for people to do — they say I can’t even pay my rent, how can I invest?’”

Bay Federal’s next financial class, titled “Yours, Mine, & Ours — Budgeting for Couples,” is a hands-on workshop for partners to build a budget together.

Aptos resident Stela Fenwick, who attended the Thursday class, said she might be at the next class as well — even though she said her daughter had to drag her to the investing class.

“I came to keep her company but I learned more about stocks and mutual funds,” she said “It’s a pretty comfortable atmosphere. I would come back.”

Courtesy of santacruzsentinel.com