Athletes coach students on spending

Nancy Lieberman had already distinguished herself as a world-class athlete by the time she enrolled at Old Dominion University. She had won an Olympic silver medal at the age of 18, the youngest basketball player ever to do so.

Though Lieberman became famous for her skills on the court, her presentation on Tuesday focused on the skills she honed in the professional world. Lieberman and her colleague Bill Poutre presented "Playbook for Life: The Student's Guide to Understanding and Planning Your Financial Future." The program was developed by the Hartford Financial Services Group in partnership with the NCAA. Poutre, an entrepreneur and professional golfer, is also an adjunct professor and Division I golf coach at the University of Hartford.

To a full lecture hall, Lieberman and Poutre presented the "Playbook," a pragmatic approach to financial preparedness. While at first a seemingly strange union, this marriage of sports and personal finance has appeal. Lieberman emphasized how the same goal-setting and planning skills that are important to success in athletics are exactly the skills a person needs to navigate the minefield of finance after graduation.

The discussion began with students calling out figures that seemed to be reasonable starting salaries, with the general consensus being a $50,000 mean. The chemical engineers in the room were undoubtedly pleased with themselves when Poutre said that this was indeed an average starting salary in their field; however, the majority of the room seemed disappointed by the average numbers for their respective professions. These numbers, along with what Lieberman described as a "spend-what-you-know-you-can-pay" approach to budgeting, constituted the theme of the lecture.

Not only will newly graduated college students receive lower initial salaries than they would like, but many will also be saddled with debts from student loans before they even begin working. The average student debt upon graduation is now approximately $20,000. As the cost of college is rising steadily, a degree no longer carries a guarantee of financial or career security. This is particularly true for the current generation of students. With a constantly growing pool of qualified graduates at employers' disposal, the job market has the potential to become exponentially more competitive.

Poutre and Lieberman presented a pragmatic approach derived from athletic experience that prepares students to face the potential difficulties of personal finance. The remedies they discussed are both simple and practical and anyone can implement them.

One of the challenges experienced by recent college graduates occurs when they look at their paychecks and realize that approximately 25 percent is immediately taken by state and federal taxes. The lecture primarily focused on how graduates choose to spend the remaining 75 percent. Poutre placed an emphasis on the importance of effective budgeting and defining both short- and long-term goals. He remarked that when hiring employees he would "look for those with sports experience," citing the lessons of hard work and integrity that can be learned through participation in sports.

The two recommended careful saving, an awareness of basic economic ideas, and small, thoughtful investing.

To the average undergraduate, this does not seem like much of a deal. After four expensive years of hard work, most Boston College students are expecting a bit of a break to come their way, in the form of a significantly larger bank account. The simple fact is that this may well not be true.

An underlying assumption to Tuesday night's lecture seemed to be that a college degree does not correlate directly to greater wealth, as many people like to believe. Interestingly, neither Poutre's nor Lieberman's career has been a typical one. Poutre began his career as an entrepreneur as an undergrad with a direct marketing company he ran from his residence hall room, making $250,000 in profits by his junior year. Lieberman emphasized that she came from a poor background, but the advantage of being a world-renown athlete by the age of 18 is something most BC students do not have on their side.

The students who packed the lecture left with a copy of the "Playbook," available on The Hartford's Web site, which outlines the lecture. Lieberman and Poutre left BC students better prepared and more aware of the financial issues they may face upon graduation.