Campus Connection

Speaker to give offensive, defensive money moves at ‘Economics & Sports’ event April 28

Managing personal finances isn’t too far removed from a game of basketball. In both, people need to learn to play good offense and defense, explains Adam Carroll, a financial literacy expert whose TEDx talks have reached more than one million views. Carroll is one of four, nationally renowned speakers to present during an “Economics & Sports: Managing Money to Win” event from 4-8 p.m. Friday, April 28, in the Brian and Lori Hesprich Auditorium, 260 Graff Main Hall, at UW-La Crosse. Carroll will also lead a TEDxUW-La Crosse salon presentation and discussion from 3:30-5 p.m. Thursday, April 27, in the Institute for Campus Excellence, 150 Murphy Library. Both events are free and open to the public. They are part of UWL’s celebration of Money Smart Week, April 22-29. See a schedule of all La Crosse Money Smart Week activities. Carroll says a good offensive move in the world of money is to negotiate that first starting salary out of college by asking a few simple questions. Negotiating could result in potentially thousands of extra dollars each year, which could be the difference between paying off student loans or not. “There generally is room to come up, but most students or recent college graduates don’t take advantage of that,” he explains. A good defensive move, especially early in a career, is minimizing expenses, adds Carroll. That’s a good idea at least until more offense — money making ventures — occur, says Carroll.

TEDx salon looks for solutions to student loan debt

Carroll has reached many with a message about the what to do with the $1.3 trillion dollars in student loan debt in U.S. In addition to his TEDx talks, he created the documentary “Broke, Busted & Disgusted,” featured on CNBC and available on iTunes. Carroll’s TEDxUWLa Crosse salon Thursday, April 27, will zero in on the student loan debt crisis and encourage creative solutions to fix it. To say the current amount of student lending is not sustainable is an understatement, says Carroll. The average college freshman starting college this year is predicted to graduate with about $40,000 in student loans. Ten years from now, that number is expected to double, he adds. “The challenge is that real wages have stayed the same or gone down,” says Carroll. “At some point reality … the realism of that situation has to kick in, and people will say, ‘should I really do this?’” By “this,” Carroll means pursuing higher education. Perhaps eventually the amount of debt will be too daunting and more people will opt not to pursue higher education at all, he says. This is where innovators and critical thinkers are needed to help figure out how higher education should evolve, says Carroll. Carroll is pro-education, but he challenges the notion that everyone needs a four-year degree and that they need to get it in person instead of via some other emerging technology such as a virtual reality headset. “The TED mantra is ideas worth spreading,” he says. “This salon is about sharing ideas about what higher education could be to get people talking about it.” Carroll is featured in several TEDx videos, including “When Money Isn’t Real: The $10,000 experiment,” which has been viewed more than one million times. TED is an amazing platform to share ideas that inspire creative thinking, he says. “Money in particular is interesting topic for a TED program because so many of us are not conscious when it comes to money,” he says. “We are reluctant to innovate individually. We follow the herd. I lived my life contrary to what most people do with money. If more people challenge the status quo, they could live a bigger life, not a bigger lifestyle.”

About Adam Carroll

Adam Carroll is an internationally-recognized financial literacy expert, author of “Winning the Money Game,” a two-time TED talk speaker and founder of MoneySavvy.com. He created the “Broke, Busted & Disgusted” documentary, featured on CNBC and Netflix. Carroll has presented to more than 500,000 people worldwide, at more than 700 college and university campuses, hundreds of leadership symposiums and countless local and regional events.

Register for Economics & Sports: Managing Money to Win

Advanced online registration is recommended. Speakers include: Craig Benzel, vice president of Sales and Business Development for the Green Bay Packers; Russ Sobel, professor of Economics and Entrepreneurship at the Citadel; Adam Carroll, a financial literacy expert whose TED talks have more than one million views; and Billy Corben, an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker. The event is co-sponsored by the La Crosse Money Smart Week and UWL’s It Make$ Cents! program. It is also made possible through a $400,000 Wisconsin Initiative for Economic Research grant from the Charles Koch Foundation. Adam Hoffer, UWL assistant professor of Economics, earned the grant that aims to increase people’s exposure to economics at UW-La Crosse and throughout the La Crosse community. “I love economics — I could read and study it all day,” says Hoffer. “My goal with this grant is to engage a non-traditional audience in economics. I thought sports would be a great way to engage our students and the community.”

UWL Money Smart Week

Money Smart Week is celebrated by hundreds of organizations across the country to help consumers better manage their personal finances. UWL started coordinating a Money Smart Week in 2013, attracting nearly 200 people. Last year’s event attracted nearly 2,000. Organizers continue to grow the event, and encourage more public participation. Events during Money Smart Week draw attention to the importance of education on personal finance topics. This year’s La Crosse celebration provides a variety of opportunities community-wide to learn about finances. See a schedule of local events.