The University’s Department of Finance in the College of Business will host Money Smart Week, an event geared toward helping community members manage personal finances. This annual event, which is sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, will hold multiple presentations from April 2-9 at various locations including public libraries. Representatives from banks and other colleges will host workshops, too.

Guest speakers will present topics ranging from maintaining good credit scores to financing a startup business. Some workshops in the past included going through a grocery store and teaching consumers how to get more bang for their buck. Other speakers opined on ways to more successfully look for a job.

“Dealing with modern financial system can be a nightmare if you haven’t had an orientation,” said Elizabeth Oltheten, assistant professor in finance.

The participating entities include community groups, financial institutions, government agencies, educational organizations and financial experts. Each serve the consumers’ needs and help them manage their financial life through tips on how to interact with the money system.

“We’ve been running a financial literacy program since 1995,” Oltheten said. “There are lots of things going on in Champaign, and so we decided to make an event to highlight those things. We’ve been doing this program for years.”

High school students will have the opportunity to participate in the rotary challenge. This is a contest where students are each given an online brokerage account and allowed to buy and sell US equities. Students compete to generate the highest rate of return for themselves. Teachers whose class has the highest average rate of return wins.

“Teachers (who) talk about risk management end up winning,” Oltheten said. “That’s our longest running event.”

Oltheten added that she has market mentors help high school students understand how stock works.

“These are my University students who are part of the Finance Club,” Oltheten said. “They go into the classroom in local high schools. We have programmed iClickers so they act like broker’s inputs. We run mock trading sessions to see how brokers interacting to buy and sell stocks determine prices.”

The high point for Oltheten was how students who are normally shy become so engaged in what’s going on.

Another element of the Money Smart Week is the video contest, which introduces the purpose of this financial literacy program. Video essay contest winners have been announced. The winning video is one that sends out a clear financial message.

Last year’s video was about a young woman’s credit card spending habits, and it was aimed at peers high school level, Oltheten said.

“We’re trying to help teenagers deal with the modern (financial) system,” she added.

For a detailed schedule of workshops and locations please click here.