Financial Life Skills Retreat

In response to a strong demand by many families like yours, The Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine plans to partner again with IFF Advisors, LLC (http://iffadvisors.com/), a national consulting firm located in Orange County, to present a retreat for young adults focused on financial life skills. The sessions are presented by our faculty, who are some of the most experienced and talented academics and professionals in the field.

Previous faculty have included the Dean of the Business School, Prof. Andy Policano, national tax expert and Chairman of IFF Advisors, Douglas K. Freeman, J.D. LL.M., the national director of IFF’s Fiduciary Training Division, Victoria Collins, Ph.D., C.F.P., and the national director of IFF’s Family Enterprise Division, Lee Hausner, Ph.D.

The curriculum is designed to prepare your adult children for the responsibilities of wealth now and in the future. You may be concerned that your children may not have the wide range of skills they need for today’s financially sophisticated world, including managing personal cash flow, using credit wisely, negotiating and investing. Unless the responsibilities that come with wealth are understood, mistakes, that could be irreversible, might be made.

In a survey reported in USA Today, on October 30, 2002, 70% of the parents reported that good money habits are essential, but only 28% say they have taught those skills to their children. Another study revealed that, in 2002, 75% of the graduating seniors didn’t understand basic investment principles and only 10% of the schools in the U.S. teach financial management.

While academic achievement has set in motion a competitive environment for higher education and career placement, the lack of training in life skills and practical financial skills can create major stumbling blocks for you children and undermine their confidence and self-esteem.

The Financial Life Skills Retreat will provide an overview of critical skills through seminar and practical experiences that will be challenging, fun, peer oriented, age appropriate, and relevant.

The retreat will focus on specific financial skills required for responsible adults, including:

Investment principles and strategies
Credit and banking
Risk management
Managing personal cash flow and purchasing
Marital property issues
Inheritance rights, responsibilities, and expectations
Computer skills, including on-line banking, and financial software
Selecting, differentiating, and working with advisors

While these financial skills are essential, the curriculum incorporates critical life skills that competent adults must also develop, including:

Team work
Communication skills
Leadership skills
Goal setting
Career decisions
Consensus building

The class size is limited to twenty adults between the ages of 18-35 in order to assure maximum personal mentoring.

Please e-mail Lynette Albovias at lalbovias@merage.uci.edu to be added to our e-mail distribution for future program offerings.