Westchester Community College aims to help area residents make the most of their money at the third annual Financial Education Day on Saturday, March 22 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The conference, free and open to the public, takes place in the Gateway Center on the college's main campus at 75 Grasslands Road in Valhalla.
Advance reservations are strongly encouraged although walk-ins are welcome.
Individuals can register online at www.mysunywcc.org/fed or by phone at (914) 606-6559. For more information about Financial Education Day, contact Suzanne Matthews at (914) 606-5627.
Financial Education Day is hosted by the college's Center for Financial and Economic Education and the Westchester Community College Alumni Association. It offers participants the opportunity to attend workshops by some of the Hudson Valley's leading financial experts. Partnering with the college to organize this event is the Westchester Financial Education Alliance, which includes the United Way of Westchester and Putnam, the Financial Planning Association of the Greater Hudson Valley, and GreenPath Debt Solutions. The Public Private Partnership for Aging Services of Westchester is also a partner organization.
Keynote speaker Sharon Epperson, CNBC Senior Commodities and Personal Finance Correspondent, will share her perspective on "Your Money, Your Future," addressing financial issues that individuals confront on a daily basis. Presentations will also be made by speakers from such leading financial firms as Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Ameriprise Financial, and other Westchester-based financial firms. There will be more than twenty workshops on specific financial topics including planning for retirement, estate planning, investing basics, elder care, social security, insurance, managing credit and debt, paying for college, and starting a business. Private sessions with financial counselors will also be available.
Suzanne Matthews, director of the Center for Financial and Economic Education, said: "I'm pleased that this year's program features several workshop tracks targeted to different demographic groups, particularly seniors, young adults and women. Financial Education Day offers something valuable for everyone—and perhaps most valuable of all is the accurate and unbiased financial information that attendees will receive."
Sandford (Sandy) Wollman, director of Pro Bono and Public Awareness for the Financial Planning Association/Greater Hudson Valley, notes that the ongoing success of Financial Education Day lies in its collaborative nature. "It really does take a village," he said. "The time and effort invested by our partner organizations make this event relevant and worthwhile to so many area residents—and that makes it good for the community as a whole." Perhaps testament to that are the overwhelmingly positive reviews by attendees, such as this one from last year: "Excellent, thank you! The event really got me motivated about being smarter with money and debt."
The Center for Financial and Economic Education at Westchester Community College is generously funded by the JPMorgan Chase Foundation.
Financial Education Day is also made possible by the generosity of the Foundation for Financial Planning, Merrill Lynch, Key Private Bank, BNC Insurance and Risk Advisors, the Academic Federal Credit Union, College Planning 101, Maier Markey and Justic LLP, and J.D. Moschitto & Associates, Inc.