Students mix investing tips, games in festival

Dropping $15 on the new Justin Timberlake album in an attempt to enhance personal levels of… Dropping $15 on the new Justin Timberlake album in an attempt to enhance personal levels of coolness may sound like a good investment. But ConnectU, Pitt’s student-run marketing agency, has a different idea about smart investing.

Sponsoring what ConnectU dubbed an “Investival” yesterday afternoon in the Assembly Room of the William Pitt Union, the group offered games, free food, prizes and advice on investing to attending students. Much of the investing advice came courtesy of ConnectU’s client for the semester, American Century Investments.

“The goal of Investival is to educate students on the importance of investing and to really get American Century’s name out there,” Jamie Ennis, a student organizer, said. “Students already invest through their commitment to the arts, sports, grades, their health and their future.”

Investival collaborated with Pitt’s 92.1 WPTS, the Center for International Studies, Student Health Services, Pitt Studio Arts and Disney’s College Program to illustrate the myriad ways students can and do invest their time.

Shannon Payne and Valerie Scandrol, students advertising Disney’s College Program, said that working for Disney was a wonderful investment.

“It was so worthwhile,” Payne said. “And Disney was just rated the number one place to launch your career by Business Weekly, so it really is a great investment for any student.”

Above all, Investival sought to educate students about investing and make the idea of money management a little less daunting.

“Money is just another thing to invest, it shouldn’t be scary,” Ennis said.

Investival offered several games including a putting green, the pricing game Plinko and others that helped educate students about savvy investing.

Students earned fake money in games – which they were then encouraged to “invest” in raffle prizes, including Pitt sweatshirts, $30 to the campus bookstore, Steelers tickets and a pair of Walt Disney World passes.

As far as investing in something a little more long-term than tickets to see the Steelers play the Cleveland Browns, ConnectU offered complementary booklets about personal investment strategies, courtesy of American Century Investments.

According to American Century, it is best to start investing by “getting an early start, having a long-term plan and taking advantage of compounding,” all of which are principles outlined in their booklet.

American Century’s literature also offers advice on prioritizing your investments, something crucial to most college students who lack an appreciable level of expendable income to allot toward investments.

They recommend creating an emergency account with enough money to cover at least three to six months of your living expenses, including your fixed expenses like monthly rent and car payments, as well as your variable expenses such as entertainment and personal care.

From here, American Century suggests you set realistic goals by balancing risk and returns. Though you stand to profit from investments, they caution that no investment is guaranteed and investors should be prepared to receive the best return, but also allow for the possibility of receiving the worst.

On the whole, the students of ConnectU and the members of American Century Investments want students to make a point of becoming aware of investing, both in how the process works and how it can benefit them.