Estrella Mountain Community College (EMCC) employees are invited to take part in a four-part series of classes designed to help them better prepare for retirement. Financial Literacy - Build My Foundation, a Maricopa Community Colleges District-sponsored program, begins Feb. 8. EMCC is hosting two sessions of classes. One session is from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and the other session is from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. Both sessions are offered over four consecutive Fridays ending on March 1. Classes meet in the Center for Teaching and Learning on EMCC’s campus. The series is open to all EMCC employees, including part-timers, as well as their spouses or partners.
“Often times, we do not think about retirement until the last few years,” said Heather Edwards, Administrative Specialist Senior. “The more you prepare for retirement, the more financially stable you will become.”
The course will be taught by Anthony Blackford, a senior adviser with One2One Wealth Strategies.
“The one item that we recognized from the start is that the majority of employees do not truly understand their benefits and resources,” One2One President Gavin Jensen said. “With that being recognized, we developed a series of PowerPoints that help employees better understand the basics of investing and planning for their retirement.”
Jensen said the Financial Literacy - Build My Foundation program has been reviewed, approved, and sponsored by the college district for the betterment of all employees through education.
“Retirement does not happen by itself, it takes planning,” Jensen said. “Retirement is like a puzzle, as each piece of your puzzle will be of different sizes and shapes, and no one will have exactly the same puzzle as anyone else around them. That is why each person or couple needs to fully understand the best way in which to complete their puzzle.”
Over the four weeks, EMCC employees will learn more about their retirement benefits, not limited to, but including their ASRS Pension and Social Security. “We will cover the four P’s of investing: Preparation, Planning, Patience, and Prudence,” Edwards said. “These meetings have been designed to help you better understand benefits and resources by providing a foundation of knowledge.”
Each class will last 30 minutes with the rest of the allotted time devoted to an optional Q & A session. To register, go to the employee portal, click on “Employee Learning Center” under the “Applications” tab on the right side of the page, click on “Search for Training,” and enter “Financial Literacy Build My Foundation.”