% savings for the future is the last thing many young people have on their mind, but if they aren't careful now, some will live out their last years in dire financial straits. >> i would love to save money, but literally every paycheck i get goes to school. >> school. >> economizing, straight ahead. >> you're exemployering new issues each week. you're watching equal time. >> hello and welcome to this edition of equal time. i'm your host professor rucker.

these days students find it tough enough to pay tuition let alone save. we are introduced so to some students and their spending habits today. >> food, clothes, textbooks, tuition, housing, bills and gas. p students have their financial responsibility and their own way of managing it. >> i buy soups and crackers a lot, and then i try to kind of use those when i get broke. >> 22-year-old works a part time job at starbucks and takes a part of her tips to spend on groceries each week. >> often times i can get like wheat bread. this was only like $2.50 at safeway so i just got luckty. >> she believes her budgeting skills are something she learned from her parents. >> my family was super frugal.

when i was in high school i learned to shop at like thrift stores. me and my mom always looked for sales. although i didn't have to do that when i was younger, i think watching my family do that, i did that the minute i knew that i needed to. >> all though she makes just enough, she says she wishes she had more money for going out. >> it's sad, obviously, because i can't go out and do those things, but at the same time it means a lot to me when i can. >> she also says she tries to budget for her future. >> i have a savings account, too. i look at that and i'm like that's for my future. that's not just for paying off student loans but things i want to do later like maybe get a nice car one day. >> she is right to be thinking about her student loans now. they say americans now owe more than $875,000 on student loan which is is more than the total

amount that americans owe on their credit cards. noel garcia works three jobs and has a different method of spending. >> my first semester i had an excel sheet that i used to keep track how much i would spend. i would write it all down on an excel sheet. >> nowadays he has a more simple approach. he divides his paycheck in half and puts one part in his checking and the other in his saves is. garcia said he simply doesn't have the time to budget like he used to. >> i wish i had the time to do that again. the workload has been more, been working more, getting internship. i don't particularly have enough time. >> some students have it harder than others. >> i paid for it and when i

decided i wanted to go to college, my parents said you have to pay for it with yourself. >> she is about the graduate with a broadcast home journalism-degree. she is completely financially independent and manages her own money. >> i have an app on my phone that i check daily and i log into my on line banking everyday. >> but she wasn't always so responsible. >> i was cons, of money as a -- conscious as a kid but because my parents were so conscious i would blow it all when i got money. literally every paycheck that i get now goes to school, so no money has been saved. it goes to tuition or the expenses around it. >> she says she knows she has missed out on some of the traditional college experience. >> it is the ideal situation. it is great for them, but it can be very frustrating at times because they like to

insist how stressed for cash they are and i look at them and wonder how are you strapped for cash when you're paid for. it's a mystery to me. >> a mystery that many students wrestle with. where is their money going exactly, and more importantly, where should bit going. >> when we come back we look at a san jose professor who is trying to give his students a peek at the future. >> it is really critical that you begin to plan for your future now. >> a class offering tips on saving and investing when equal time returns. 

% not many people can discipline themselves to save at a young age. as mary ann reports, every penny may be needed for their retirement. >> here at san jose state michael takes a sociology class entitled the american dream.

>> it provides them an opportunity to gain that knowledge. students are taught budgeting. they are taught financing. >> they know how vital it is for students to put aside money for their future. a pension or an ira, social security, homeowner ship with equity. these are not going to be available for your generation when you come of age, so it's really, really critical that you begin to plan now for your future. >> the future is now for many students. they can't see how they can say because these days they are accumulating debt at a record place. the average final year student carries more than $4,000 in credit card debt alone. willie rivera say this is class

has given him useful tips. >> gave me a different prospection how to manage -- perspective on how to manage finance. >> al has learn maryland of these lessons already. >> i am now retired and i have enough to live on. we can go pretty much where were we want. >> he just says students should really think about how they spend their money now. >> watch your money. just because off credit card or have the ability to spend it, don't. you don't go to the coffee shop and spend 5 bucks far cup of coffee everyday -- for a cup of coffee. that's 30 bucks a week. >> balanceing a checkbook to basic savings plans, and lit do all that. almost every university has it. >> students should realize that the little things really do go a long way.

>> those little habits, watch them. those midnight taco bell runs. those habits last through your lifetime. >> 70 million american workers do not have access to employee based retirement benefits according to america's for secure retirement. >> start doing it while you're waiting tables in college because then you're just used to doing it. it becomes a part of your regular life style. and by having it be a part of your regular life style you will retain those goals of being able to retire at 65. >> according to a study, three out of five middle class retirees can expect to out live their financial assets if they maintain their standard of living. >> somebody who spends $100,000 a year after social security, they are going to need 2 and a half million dollars saved in order to live the rest of their lives comfortably. >> the president of a financial

advisory firm says some people don't realize how much they have to save in order to be financially secure. >> people aren't just saving as much as they used to. the problem that causes is two things. they are not saving and they are living a more extravagant life style. >> students should start thinking about retirement, he says. >> i suggest that students are going to have to wait until they get a full time job. once they get a full time job. they are going to have to think immediately about retirement. >> this is the ceo of a nonprofit organization. she say she is has seen her money grow through wise investments over the years. >> i could retire if i wanted to. i don't want to right now, but do have that option. i feel i have probably done some things to make that work. >> she says her spending

choices really benefited her. >> when my children were young and i was a single parent, we didn't spend a lot of money on frivolous things. i spent a lot of money on education. >> bottom line is just start saving now. >> you might save $30 a month to start with. you get a raise and you're saving $100 a month. pretty soon it goes to $1,000 a month. now you're saving the maximum. when you do that over your whole lifetime, you'll have plenty of money to retire. >> when we come back, we'll sit down with experts and students to see how the money is adding up when equal time returns. 

% welcome back. this is equal time. our focus today is on finances and young people planning for the future. let's meet our guest. >> hi my name is willie rivera. >> my name is danny, theessler. >> my name is ryan curry. >> my name is jason poppy. i'm president of fluent wealth partners. >> thank you for being here. young people planning for the future, planning long term now,

is that an oxymoron. >> ever since i was young i have always saved money and kept one my spending is. >> is that true of all of you at this young age? >> for me i try to plan as much as i can, but it really starts at the core. when you're very young you can really start to plan. once you get into college there is no learning thousand plan that easily. it is really just habit. >> there are courses in some departments but there is no universal rule that says everybody has got to take a course that does it. >> i can tell you my classmates will not really teach me or i can't really get anything from them to understand how to invest or save money. they just want to spend it. >> we kept hearing students are always strapped for cash. they don't have time to think about using or investing their money. >> like you said, you asked

have you thought about it. sure. i have thought about it. but have i acted on it? not so much. it's something i am aware of in college and i have to be aware of money and how to spend it. so i know what that's going to be like down the line, but as far as monitoring it, got to be honest, not so much. >> does this scare you? it scares me. >> it scares me. i think you're more of the average. i think students for the most part don't pay attention to their assets. i think students for the most part think they are indestructible, they are not going to die, therefore they are not going to run out of money. >> those are tales that sometimes don't fall the way they should. >> we see it everyday. people working until they are 75, 77, 80 years old. social security now is 66. >> let's use willie here. willie, give us an idea of what you want to see your life

unfold as. give us a plan that you want to happen. then we'll ask jason how do you make that happen. >> well, i want to send my caught tore a good college and pay off my house -- daughter to a good college and pay off my house. me and my wife own our own business. we have a shop, a graphics company. we want to grow that business and see where it takes us. >> sounds like a noble goal for your future. how is he doing? >> what's important is he's taking charge of his financial future. he's starting his own profession. >> yes. >> yes. most people don't do that. second of all, saving for your children. 529 plans are probably the best way. you can start with a little. you can add a little no that. there is a program out there called you promise. you get at you promise card for free. go to the letter u promise.com.

when you go shopping, anything that you buy that is sponsored by you, you get points back. that goes into the 529 plan and helps save for your children's education. >> so all these numbers, we see that happening to people my age and older. they don't understand what these plans are and i don't want to learn because it's just too much for my brain. do you have a sense of that? >> not at all. my uncle is a financial adviser so it kind of sounds familiar to me. >> at a young age i can hear him always stressing to me plan for you future, save your money. put half of it away. pretty much that's what i do. i put away $1,200 a month. >> you say the words we heard when we were growing up. put up money for a rainy day. what is your goal? what do you want to do with this broadcast journalism

thing? >> i would love to get on tv doing it. obviously i know i would have to start in a smaller market and build my way up. if i do it to right way i will get to the point where i'm want to be, but i will be making a good chunk of money doing it as well. that's the plan. >> now, some of your goal and dream i have lived, having worked and moved up that ladder in broadcast journalism. we noticed that companies during my time provided benefits and provided a way for me to have that march to the future. that's not happening much anymore. >> used to be doing your time they provided pensions. now there is more and more stress on the individual to save for retirement. additionally, there is a big push -- >> with an investor or somebody who know what is they are talking senate. >> no. there is a big -- talking about? >> no. there is a big push of people not working at all.

where i was going with this is freelancers. >> let's talk about that. that's something that is definitely apart of media future for you and ryan. in our professions they are saying we will give you a really nice salary, up front. maybe not right out of college, but somewhere soon. you plan your own health care and investments. and, oh, by the way, you bet bumper planning for a very good health care plan well into the future. you ready to do that? >> the reality is when you're given such a huge chunk, you have to understand from learning what you learned in college how to allocate funds. if you paid that much attention in college, you probably could understand. from an advertising point of view i have worked on several media plans and i know exactly where to allocate funds so it is really a budget. you have to think of yourself as a product. how do you advertise yourself. do you buy gucci or do you buy walmart?

do you have a mercedez or do you have a prius? it is really how you allocate. you have to take into consideration your family. so if you're getting married, if you have children, you're not going to buy them all mercedez. you're going to try to think exactly how you can help them. as jason and i were talking before the break, entitlement. kids don't realize their parents have to work for it so now when they are in the real world they are saying why don't i have this. >> they are going to learn soon they are going to have to work for it. one of the numbers in the report is that on average college students leave here with a $4,000 debt, credit card debt. what's going on with those credit cards, guys? >> it's a lot of money. like i said, i'm aware of the problems, but am i really

focusing on them right now? no. like you said, that's the average. that might be a lot of kids my age, students my age where the credit card thing they are aware of it but i've got more important things. i have to get through these classes. i have to find a place to live. i have to please mom and dad. when you put it on the line, $4,000 in debt, that's $4,000 that you're going to have to come up with. >> you were taught to be careful about that, right? >> exactly. when it comes to financial college debt, i have always tried to pay it off every semester and not carry that burden over me. once i do graduate i'm going to have significant student loan. >> when you hear classmates talking about oh i'll just throw it on my credit card.

i will worry about it later. >> that kind of trips me out. that's foreign to me because i'm not comfortable to have in the back of my mind a significant amount of debt, especially maybe 10, $15,000 in student loans. i just try to pay it off every semester up front. i find out how many classes i am going to take, know the cost and pay for it. >> it's tripping you out. it's going to trip them up if they keep adding on. didn't you mention, jason, two and a half million dollars. they should be planning on having that when? >> when they are 65 years ole if they are spending $100,000 a year over social security. and, remember, they may not have social security. there is what's called a 5% rule. that says you can spend 4 or 5% of what your overall savings are. to give you a quick example, if

you spend $100,000 a year using the 5% rule, you need to save $2 million. so, $2 million times 5%. >> college students, $2 million. does that sound like pie in the sky? >> absolutely. the way we're spending our money is ridiculous. it's not the media. you always blame the media. you always blame us. we're the devil. no, that's in the true. what it really is is peer pressure. not the peer pressure of smoking cigarettes or doing drugs are. it's i have a mac book. you need a mac book. >> keeping up with the jones'. >> exactly. it's gotten into a very interpersonal level that's terrible. i remember when i walked in and pulled out my phone. i pulled out my phone and they said you don't have an iphone like i'm some kind of strange r. because i don't have what's

popular. peer pressure is big when it comes to finance and saving your money. >> sounds like a good system. if i can only spend 5, 10% of what i earn, i'm on board. but, do you see people doing that, and do you real history think people can accomplish such a thing -- realistically think people can accomplish such a thing? >> there are individuals that are doing it. there are people who have a culture of savings. they saw it with their parents or with other relatives, and that's led to them saving early. that's going to help them in the future because really when you start saving is in your 20s, your 30s, your 40s and 50s when you're making the most.

if you don't have that culture already and you're in your 50s and bought your kid a mercedez and they are wondering why everyone isn't giving them mer say des, you're going to find that you don't have enough money for retirement. >> your point is well taken. that culture in college teaches us about how to put together a story or how to develop something for a career or resume. now they are saying take that same thinking and apply it to planning for you future and be vigilant. don't let up. don't take a break. don't give yourself a chance, oh i need buy this one thing and i'll get back on track. once you do it then you will do it again and the next thing you know you're in the ready for it in the future. you're hoping that what happened because you have a child you're trying to prepare for you future. tell me about that. >> she is in middle school right now. every chance i get every weekend we have a discussion about what's going on in her

life for that are week. i always try to empathize to her something like what college are you trying to go to. what college are you thinking about going to. >> can you add to that conversation, okay, honey, let's see that biggy bank now. every time you have a desire to organize a theater go to college, let's drop something in there so you associate the notion of that goal can be achieved with this action. have you done something like that? >> yeah. that's exactly what we do. she has a piggy bank. i have a piggy bank. any spare change or dollars we leave around she automatically takes it and puts it in there. >> very good. >> that's something i have always done in my life. >> it is just common practice, what i do. i see her do it now. it's cool. i like it. >> that's great. growing up as a kid when i got

birthday money or allow wans every single time my mom would say to me that's great. put it in your savings account. i would get so mad every single time like no. but, yeah, i'm not going to say it's her fault or my fault but i wish i would have taken that into consideration a little more when i was a kid. it's great she's already doing that. >> i think it is important to teach children through their own actions but they also can have conversations with children. most importants don't do that. most parents keep it close to the vest. i don't know how many any of you have grown up. most parents dope talk about finances. i don't -- don't talk about finances. i done mean college and savings. i mean this is what our balance sheet looks like. this is how much money we have to have for retirement. it really makes it real if you're able to do that with your children. >> that's an excellent point.

let me add two things. we don't talk to them about sex or financial planning. the same thing that i learned, not the hard way, but when our parents get older and if they didn't plan well enough, they need you. what are we going to do about that. very briefly, how can you see that happen? >> our culture really demands of us that we take care of our parents. here, there are a lot of young people who if they need to take care of their parents they just throw them in a nursing home which is not a very good thing to do because they helped you out. how are you not helping them back. >> that's something that you eventually have to face. may be something you have to plan on right now. >> we call them the, theweeners right now. that is people who are taking care of their parents and their children. >> that's something everybody should be thinking about.

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