1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Union Bank and Trust Discusses Financial Literacy Month - April 12th, 2024

Episode Date: April 15, 2024

Union Bank and Trust Discusses Financial Literacy Month - April 12th, 2024Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Welcome in to one-on-one, normally with DP. He's in Atlanta right now, traveling, getting set up for the Supernova's on the road at the Atlanta vibe. That'll be tomorrow, DP and Rico are out. So it's me, Austin, Norman, filling in here for the next hour, joined by our friends at Union Bank and Trust. Financial Literacy Month is upon us here in the month of April. Lots and lots to get to here with our special guests. Thanks to Sulfo Colcina for sponsoring one-on-one with DEP. Without further ado, let's turn our attention to our guests from Union Bank and Trust, starting with you.

Brittany, welcome in. We are so glad to have you. Thank you for your flexibility and scheduling. And Sarah, say hi, too. You're there from moral support. Hi, thanks for having us. Of course. Now, you're both radio newbies, I was told.

Yes. That's correct. The rumors are true. I'm an experienced veteran, not my first rodeo. Perfect. Um, the butterfly's flapping in your stomach. Yes, I'm glad I have my emotional support coworker here. Indeed, indeed.

The emotional support, the financial support, though, is what we're here to talk about, right? With Union Bank and Trust and everything they're doing here to teach young adults, student athletes, you know, people like me who weren't in the, the athletics realm about what it means to, you know, be financially literate. So let's, let's dive into that. But first, Brittany, let's start with you. Tell us about yourself, how did you get to Union Bank and what's your role. Yeah, absolutely.

So I'm first-gen student. I'm proud Husker alumna. I graduated from the College of Education and Human Sciences. But my parents didn't even graduate from high school. And I would say a lot of what I learned about money was through, you know, lived experiences and sometimes failure. And so, well, you know, failure can be a great teacher. You know, I think if we can avoid failure because we have education, that's even more powerful. So I taught for a while. And then I transitioned into the field of higher. I worked at UNLV in Las Vegas, and then I also worked at UNL and Creighton, pretty much all in student advising and student success. So helping students kind of navigate how to be successful during college, manage their finances, understand financial aid and the FAFSA. And that kind of brought me here into UBT and doing community financial wellness. So I really love what I do. And I'm glad to be able to help people in the community kind of every day with their money

management skills. Is money the same in Lincoln as it is in Las Vegas? Oh, gosh. Money's everywhere in Las Vegas. It is like a big small town. A lot of it is who you know, there's a big power of handshake still, right? You also said something that will resonate with our sports audience. Nebraska and Creighton.

Are you a J-Sker? I'm a proud J-Sker. I know it's so bad, right? You can throw tomatoes. It's fine. I can claim both, right? D.P. did this on purpose. He left town on purpose.

because I am so anti-J-skirts. I'll put my bias aside because your message supersedes sports. But, oh, DP, he wins again. It's so taboo, right? It is. She's a very sweet J-scor. And here's the thing you're wearing red. So I think your royalties are really with Nebraska, right?

Truly? Yes. Excellent. Let's learn a little bit more about you, too, because you mentioned, you know, learning in the real world, right? So I think when you're passionate about something, it means something to you. Either it's because it's all you've ever known, it's comfortable, it's familiar, or it's something that's fresh, that's new, that you're really excited about.

You mentioned kind of learning your own kind of financial literacy in the real world. Take us kind of back through your journey personally of some financial literacy learning. Oh, gosh. I don't know how many of you have had a money problem that turned into a bigger money problem. I think all of us have that story, right? I would say mine was my first week of school, actually, at Nebraska-Lincoln. I ran out of gas right in front of the student union. And, you know, I didn't have emergency savings.

And so that was kind of a first lesson. But essentially, you know, had I had emergency savings, I could have pulled from that, you know, to fill up with gas. And so I guess lesson one is that I missed work. So that was, you know, a $50 shift. And now I had to have my car towed. So that was $300. I didn't have that. So I put it on a credit card. By the time this is all set and done, and when I got my car back and paid off this credit card bill, like in total, I had spent $750 some odd dollars. So it was just, I think, a lived experience of like just having a cushion could really, you know, be,

it puts you in a lot of better spot. So I kind of lead with that of, you know, just a quick money story of those money problems that turn into other money problems. But I think that is something that's relatable to people and talking about, you know, what can we do to get to financial well-being? What does that mean? Where do we start? So you mentioned being a first-gen student as well. Are you from Nebraska? Are you around the area? How far were you from home, you know, dealing with this big money struggle? Oh, gosh. So I have family that's from Louisville in between Omaha and Lincoln. And so at least family is somewhat close. But still far enough away, I think, you know, where you don't have that immediate. You know, I need help right now here and now. So, yeah, I think that, you know, when you don't know where to turn, you end up turning to maybe not the best solutions, like, for example, like credit card debt to pay for things. And you don't know what you don't know. And so hindsight's always 2020. And so I think that financial education is really important.

You know, if I can help somebody else avoid mistakes and failure, I think through that education, that's really, you know, the goal. Hindsight's 2020. It's 2020. It's also 750, apparently, in your case. It will get more into some of those top of the time you mentioned with the credit card debt, avoiding that and everything that goes into that. But let's just talk kind of broadly about financial literacy month. How did that start?

And why does it mean so much to Union Bank? Oh, gosh. Financial Literacy Month is definitely a national initiative, which is great. So there's quite a few things happening. American Bankers Association as well. There's things that we're doing just across the country. So I'm glad that Union Bank is a part of just national. national financial literacy month. But I would say that it's really just bringing awareness that

financial health is health. And so that's an important part of our overall well-being. And so I think that the more that we can, you know, take care of that area, the better off that we're going to be. So I think it just brings that into the light a little bit more. I think with financial literacy month, we try to reach, you know, broader audiences. I enjoy talking to children. I think even our older adults are senior citizens. But just kind of being visible and, you know, letting people know that through UBT, this is a free service for nonprofits. So, you know, we're happy to host a class, a workshop,

and just trying to get out in front of more people and bring awareness to financial literacy. What are some of those main tenants that you're stressing here during financial literacy month that are important for people to grasp hold of? Yeah, I think step one is just, you know, get a baseline of where are you? a barometer of your own financial health. I think that where you're starting is where you're starting and that's okay. But if we don't even know where we're starting, I feel like that's, that's kind of step one. So I think just like having the hunger, I think for knowledge, that's, that's a good starting place. So I tell people, you know, step one is really just taking a look at

your budget, figuring out what what income do I have coming in? What are my expenses? Is that balanced? Is that less? Is it more? How much do I have left over, if any? And so I think, that for some people this can be really profound as it might be the first time they've ever really looked at their finances so i think just building a basic budget is kind of step one and then from there it helps to i think set financial goals like what do you want your money to do because it's hard to make a plan you know for saving or anything else from there so that's a key tenant uh budgeting for sure financial goal setting understanding credit managing debt um building emergency savings i feel like that is just Having a cushion is just really, really important.

I feel like that reduces so many other money problems. So yes. Throughout the show, I think here at the ticket, we're most aware of your initiatives with young adults, with student athletes, especially here in a college town, just down the block from the university. So a lot of our conversations coming up will really focus on that young adult aspect.

But before we get to that in segments to come, what are those financial literacy conversations with kids? What are they able to wrap their minds around and how important is it to build that foundation in elementary school even? Oh, gosh. I think, you know, I think meeting kids where they're at, too, in their own development. I'm not going to be talking about investing the same way that I put with a college students. But I think, like, explaining, you know, how, you know, money can grow more money or even with, I think, an elementary student, like, which is bigger or which is worth more, you know, a nickel or a dime. They're always like, well, a nickel because it's bigger.

So it's like, we talk about, you know, just understanding money. And it's funny to me because I think because we've gone so much to using plastic that kids just don't really touch cash anymore. So they get really excited just to see just to see like notes. I mean, I bring in bills and coins and especially old stuff. They like to see that. But it's fun to get it in their hands and have them explore that and get to touch it. And we talk about money and history. And so it kind of gets kids excited just about money and then saving, you know, that there's joy in that.

And so I feel like that's kind of like what I would start with is just basic money stuff with elementary school kids, getting them excited to, you know, learn about money and understand that, you know, what does a bank do? How is this exciting? So the other end of that spectrum of the age scale, at least, is then, you know, senior citizens or retirement age people is retirement a big focus of financial literacy, you know, at the end of a career? Or what are some of those, you know, goals that you like to work with people at, you know, maybe it's closer to retirement age? Yeah, you know, to be honest, it's a lot of scam and frauds. A lot of Nigeria princes. Oh, gosh, yeah. I mean, and it's so sad because it's, you see your grandparents and everybody else, right? But I mean, we've had people that have lost, you know, stories of people, I guess, you know, that I've told me, you know, I've lost $10,000 because I wired money to somebody that I thought was, you know, kidnapping my grandson. And so you just hear these, you know, horror stories and such sad stories that. you know, are clearly a scam, but again, you don't know what you don't know. And so I think it's definitely

a population. I'm trying to do more to reach out to and just talking about fraud and scam awareness. You know, your bank is never going to, you know, call you and solicited and ask for a social security number and the IRS is not going to call you. So I think just bringing awareness of what the scams are that are out there and also just a lot of cell phone education, you know, don't answer numbers that you don't know, hang up. You can always ask more questions later, call the bank back if you're not sure. So yes, it's a lot of education there. Money's been around since the dawn civilization. It's a tool. It's a resource. But some people weaponize it. Just hypothetically, do you think that our generation is going to fall for fewer scams because, you know, we've maybe

seen more of them. They're out there and we're more technologically savvy? Or a scammer's going to get smarter and be able to find new tricks to convince people, do you think? I mean, you know, in the past, I feel like you could always tell a scam text because there's bad spelling, bad grammar. You know, it's obvious. But, you know, with chat, GPT and just a lot of AI, it's really, oh gosh, it can be really hard to tell, you know, what's reality and what's not. And so I feel like scammers are getting more sophisticated. So it's a new frontier, I think, for everybody, for those, I think, in law enforcement, but also, you know, in the financial industry, too. Like, how do we combat this? So, I mean, definitely a bigger. conversation, but something that, you know, we're paying attention to of how do we continue to keep up with the education when when everything continues to become more sophisticated.

We're kind of trying to beat them at their own game, I suppose. You talk about your real world education and even scams, I think, kind of fall into that. You know, trial by fire, learn the hard way. Financial literacy, again, kind of as an outsider, kind of seems like a topic that would be, you know, maybe easiest to learn or have the lessons sync in. a very real world sense. Yes. But how important is it to have the classroom piece alongside?

Oh, you know, it's very important because while I feel like the classroom can't always replicate like real life and point in time information, I think, you know, some things make more sense in the moment, right? I can talk about credit a lot to a high school student, but until they actually have received a credit card application or they're applying for the first time, they'll remember a nice lady that talked to them about. credit, but it just doesn't sink in quite the same way as that just that point in time lived experience that's happening. But that's not to say that it isn't, it isn't useful. I think when

you hear it from multiple sources across time, it really sinks in. And so I think classroom education is really important. And I think it's not just, well, we covered this, this one and done. I just think it's, you know, how do we leave this into, you know, other areas of other curriculum, besides just say business or consumer sciences, you know, how do we continue to provide that across, lots of different topics and subjects. And also in other spaces outside of school, I think education happens, you know, even outside the classroom, you know, churches, community groups.

I mean, there's lots of places where youth live and where they are outside of the schoolroom. How can, you know, we bridge that message of financial wellness, even outside the classroom for continued learning? I think it's easy for that classroom setting for, you know, even like in my career. I got to do projects that I recorded, edited ahead of time, and I didn't get laughed at live on.

there, right? That's a confidence builder, you know, pretty stress-free reps. I think of, you know, sciences where you can do experiments, you can miss a cut on a cadaver and you're fine. I think the same applies to business too, where maybe it's harder because like you said, with cash going away, so much of money is just kind of floating out there. It's more a concept than intangible. But I feel like that's maybe an overlooked part of financial literacy is having that, that safe space, setting up scenarios where you can fail, you can make the wrong choice, you can see the ramification of, and the consequences of these decisions without actually fueling that fire under your Tush in the real world. Oh, absolutely. I think, you know, storytelling is so important, too,

I think in the space. I think that, you know, we can talk about a lot of things related to personal finance, but when people hear a story of I got scammed and this is what happened, or I fell into a lot of credit card debt and this is what happened, it resonates so much more. And so I think for when I think people are able to share that human side, whether it's teachers or just adultier adults who have had lived experiences, like share that with your youth. I think that's important. I think that, you know, youth are listening and they want to hear those stories. They remember that and latch on to that. But yeah, I think back to classroom learning too, even with science, I mean, there's so many cool things that you can do with financial literacy. I remember turning a penny

gold in chemistry and I thought that was really cool. Was it worth more? I don't know. I still have it someplace in my stuff. But even like you could have history. lessons with it. So I mean, there's so much that you can do. So, yeah, back to your point, you know, it can cross into, you know, multiple, I guess areas. And I think that's something that it can sometimes be compartmentalized. I think it's just like, oh, that's just a business education thing. It's like, no, this is just a life skill. We need to put this out there for, you know, other curriculum too. And I can appreciate you being on the radio and talking about and making part of your day job because, you know, the cliche is, oh, money is a sensitive topic.

It gets touchy. We don't like to talk about it. I think in the real world, it's a lot of comparison. You feel, you know, either an inflated sense of pride because of it or you feel less than if you don't have quite as much. But it is important. It's a part of our daily lives. So that's why I appreciate I want you to talk about just how important it is to have these money conversations, even if and especially if they're tough. Oh, yeah. It's so weird, right, that we're so taboo about not talking about money. And it's like that only hurts us, truly. I mean, we don't want to talk about money. but it's like, how do we learn from each other or normalize that a lot of us just didn't get the money memo, right?

You know, I feel like there's this like shame or blame or like, am I the only one who doesn't get what's happening here? Like, I don't understand what CD is. Is that Britney Spears mixtape or is that something with banking? I'm not really sure. You know, I think the more that we talk about our money experiences and I also think, you know, having that vulnerability to share, like, I don't know what's going on. I need help. And other people are more likely to say, yeah. Me too. I don't understand what's going on. But I think, you know, talking about money and getting people to open up, I find that, you know, their experiences tend to be more validated, especially in like a group setting when I'm doing a lot of workshops that other people feel a little bit less alone. And it's also a great opportunity, I think, for people to share resources and different

perspectives. And I mean, I learn about money every single day too. And as a facilitator, you know, I can say the same thing many times. But I always learn something from somebody that shared their own lived experiences. And if somebody knows of a resource or they have a story to share that's able to help somebody else, I mean, that's really a powerful thing. That's empowering when other people in our workshops are able to lift one another up as we're going through this process. I mean, that's pretty fantastic. Before we get out of here, I want to give both of you, Brittany, starting with you, then Sarah, chance to talk up Union Bank. Why should people trust Union Bank with their money and their tough money conversations? Yeah, I think, you know, what I love about Union Bank,

for one is that, you know, we're local here, which is great. We have local experts, but we have people to help in a lot of different areas. And so, whether it's banking or it's financial literacy or, you know, wealth management, if you need help, if you have NIL stuff, we have a lot of people local here that kind of understand Nebraska. We understand Lincoln. We just, we understand the lived experiences of a student, too. You know, we're the bank on campus. And so I think that that's really powerful that there's just a lot of people willing to help. We're part of this community as employees just as much as our students. So we want our young people to succeed.

And so I think that that's, you know, a good reason. Yeah, I think Brittany covered a lot of it. But I would just say, too, you know, back to the point that you guys were talking about, that sometimes it's kind of a taboo subject is, you know, the people that work at the bank are people. And they have the same lived experiences. they have the same things that they've gone through. They are moms and dads and uncles and brothers and sisters too. And so, you know, they are people that are going to be welcoming and want to have those

conversations and want to help you either get over a problem that you're having or achieve a goal that you have. That's awesome. Great first segment. Plenty more to talk about as we're in Financial Literacy Month. A couple great guests from Union Bank and Trust with us here on 937 to take it. This is one-on-one, Austin Norman, in 4D.P. We'll be right back with more.

We're still rolling with Union Bank and Trust here on one-on-one, normally with D.P. But I'm Austin Orman, who are invited Brittany and Sarah from Union Bank and Trust. All right, the young adult portion of this conversation. I'm going to take up the bulk of it. That's what we're most familiar with here at 93-7 the ticket, and we're looking forward to getting this information. Let's start with name image and likeness. It's a big deal in the realm of college athletics.

We spent most of the last four years, really, Talking about this, is it coming, when's it coming? What's it going to look like? The conversation's always changing. Money, obviously changing hands in a lot of cases. But just generally speaking, Brittany, let's start out with this. Figuring out NIL seems hard enough for the adults in the room. And they have no idea what it is.

They want to do what they want to get out of it. I can only imagine being a student athlete, whether it's just enough to make a living or legitimate, like, life-changing, family-changing money, how hard it would be to navigate that, you know, regardless of how good your support system is, but especially if you're on your own in a new place for the first time and you see, you know, six figures roll into your bank account, I can't imagine how difficult that would be to handle. It's a lot, right? This is the Wild West, I think, for all of us, we're still figuring this out,

you know, from the university side of things. I think from a financial standpoint, students, you know, we're all in this together in different ways and trying to figure out, you know, how do we how do we support how do we find support and so i think a good place i think for for student athletes to start you know is with is with the university and figuring out you know what resources are there in place to help you that's going to be more centralized than anything but what i will say once you do have money coming in it's really really important i think to have um you know choosing a team and having somebody on your side to guide you through because it is complicated um everything in finance is. So, you know, having, I think, your team of experts, whether that's your banker,

a lawyer, a tax professional, you need, you need the whole crew, right? And so I think just finding, finding that group that can be there to support you from lots of different areas is important. And so, you know, luckily, I think a bank is a good place to start, making sure that with the money that you have coming in, for one, is it in the right place? For example, like, do you have the right account set up? Are you looking to invest? Do you have things in savings? What do you want to do with that money? But then also, you know, just from the education piece too of like, okay, well, you have this money now. What do you want to do with that in the future? How can we help support you through that? Are you looking to spend a lot right now? Do you want to help your family? What's your

goal here? How can we help, you know, make sure that this doesn't run out or will last you? And so I think when anybody has money, whether it's your first job or NIL, you know, it's tough to know, okay, am I overspending? What can I do? So, yeah, there's a lot of resources in place, I would say, at UBT to help student athletes. Those resources, I can only assume extend beyond banker. Because when I think I hear Union Bank, it's, oh, here's where I'm going to put my money. And that's pretty much it. What else? In terms of, you know, services and professionals, does Union Bank offer to these young adults, maybe navigating it for the first time. Yeah. And I don't know, Sarah, if you want to chip into

about your thoughts here. Absolutely. So I would say, you know, at UBT, we obviously have our frontline staff, which would be the banker when you walk into a branch and they're a great place to start. But as you do start accumulating, you know, more wealth and things like that, we have investment professionals. we have professionals that can connect you with a lawyer and a tax professional and get you higher interest rates on your money once you reach a certain level in your accounts and things like that. So we kind of run the gamut from that entry level. I just need a checking and basic savings account to, okay, I'm starting to kind of build up a cushion here. What are some ways that I can make my money work harder for me?

And, you know, we we have professionals that run the gamut and can really help you make good long-term financial decisions. Obviously, it's Union Bank and trust. I feel like when I hear trust, it's the kind of metaphysical concept. I'm assuming when it's trust, you actually mean the financial aspect of trust. But how important is it, you know, for Union Bank? I mean, I feel like in banking, like your name is your destiny, right? If people don't trust you, then I could come to you with your money. So Sarah, we'll start with you again, then back to you, Brittany. like how important is it for you at Union Bank to provide all these different people that you trust for the student athletes and young adults to be able to trust as well?

Well, I think, you know, it kind of goes back to the point that, you know, NIL is the Wild Wild West right now. And I don't think student athletes are getting a lot of direction and support and help. And so, you know, obviously being in the financial sector, we want to make sure that we're taking care of them and setting them up well for their future. And we want to make sure, you know, that they are working with a tax professional, that they're not getting, you know, something that should be fun and exciting that they've worked so hard for to earn should not be something that eventually, as Brittany put it earlier, makes a little money problem, a big money problem. You know, that's just we're very adamant about wanting to make sure that you have your team of experts aligned and that you're taken care of. Like at the bank, we will make sure that you're taken care of. And yeah, and as a financial educator, a lot of times I would say that I'm in that role of translator too and also just trying to make, you know, complex financial topics or concepts

just a little bit more digestible, a little bit easier to understand. So for example, if you have NIL money today, what could that, how could that grow for you, you know, in a few years? So I'm like, okay, you have $5 in Starbucks. So we put that away, you know, you could have $282,000. you know, in 40 years if you put $100 a month that you would put towards, you know, eating out at Starbucks every day. So I think like putting it in examples that are relevant and student friendly, but, you know, trying to make it a little bit more accessible and easier to understand. But education, again, is so important.

And so I like to be that kind of connector piece at UBT2, just being out in the community. And so, well, I might not be able to set you up with the account. I'm going to be able to connect you to somebody who can. And so I enjoy working with youth and young adults and just kind of hearing what they need support with so I can kind of be that connected tissue. I think there are two sides of this conversation. We'll start with the positive aspect. What are the skills that with the young adults that you work with most often? What do they typically have a better grasp on in terms of financial literacy and your kind of core tenants? Oh, gosh. You know what I would say just bigger picture stuff. I feel like Gen C has experienced a lot of bad. in their lifetime, you know, the financial crisis when they were kids to COVID and just,

you know, economic downturns. And so I feel like they've seen, you know, their family struggle. And so I feel like what I appreciate about Gen Z is that they don't take things for face value and they question absolutely everything. And in the best possible way, I mean, truly they want to, they want to understand money. They're good at saving. They're good about figuring out, okay, I vote with my dollars. How do I want to? What can I buy that's sustainable or what can I buy that's going to support what I'm interested in?

And so I really appreciate just that that conscientiousness of Gen Z. And so I would say I would start with that, that they just have this hunger to learn because they want to, I think, move the needle and be in a better financial position than I think a lot of others and their family were. And so I think that that's just being hungry for the knowledge as a good starting point when it comes to personal finance. One thing that I think is interesting, though, is I do see younger adults, I think, being more suspicious of credit. And rightfully so, right? It used to be given out like candy, right?

Like sign up for a credit card. You get a free T-shirt, you know, at orientation. And so luckily, we're moving. I think a lot of financial institutions are kind of moving away from that. that. But I think that there's still a lot of misconceptions around credit. And so Gen Z tends to be suspicious of it. And so I think it's a lot of like debunking rumors and bad information. And I think so that that's one piece I would say that that we're always trying to grow. It's like you need credit. So here's how we can talk about that. I want to get back to that

conversation because even myself like I know I have good credit score. I have no idea what goes into it. Yeah. I definitely want to get back to that. But then you look at like the hands off. day-to-day skills. If they're good in the big picture, what are some of those day-to-day kind of hands-on skills that you have to teach young adults most often? Gosh, you know, I would say, usually when I'm talking with young adults, I say, what's working well for you in your life right now, not even money-related? What are things that you do really well? Like, I don't know, I show up on time. I do these things. I was like, what aspects of that can you bring into your financial health? Do that more and just do it more often and, you know, and the same kind of things

apply, right? Like if you're an organized person, that's great. that carries through to your finances. And so, gosh, I would say that, like, thinking of those habits is a good starting point. But I don't know, like, when it comes to credit. I can add something. So I would say, too, some things that we see with young people is that they weren't an active participant in opening their first, like, checking and savings accounts. A lot of the times their parents just did it for them and started either like putting money in there, whether it's like birthday money or chores money or whatever.

And so they know that they have these things. Like they're aware of them, but they don't know how they work. And so when they get to be, you know, a young adult college age, they might still not have the fundamental just foundation of how do I move money between my savings and checking. account, you know, like just kind of those basic things. How do I set up a direct deposit for my first job? You know, so I think that building upon the things that maybe their parents did for them and teaching them how to manage it themselves would be a key thing. Another thing that I see too is that younger people are using a lot more fintech companies. So like peer to peer payment platforms than ever before and they don't understand how that's different from a bank. And that's, like, like PayPal's

Yes, like the PayPal, Venmo, cash app, chime, you know, I think that those have have a space, but not for, not for managing your money. I feel like it's truly like moving money, you know, among friends, pizza money, that kind of stuff, right? But it's concerning to me that I'm seeing more and more young people keep significant amounts of cash in these peer-to-peer payment platforms. And so I think there's a lot of education around like this isn't, they're not banks. And then also, too, like they're not secure, you know, that's.

That's really important. Like if you want to establish a financial history, if you want to take out a loan, even if you're not thinking about that now, but if you want to buy a car, buy a house, we're not going to look at your Venmo transactions to see if you have, you know, proof of income or what your expenses are. But I paid rent on time every month. I'm good. Right.

Yeah. And so there's just been a lot of education on how to navigate using just like just using a checking and savings account like Sarah had mentioned just some of those key foundational things. It sounds like a double-edged sword too where not only is it less secure. you're also not earning any interest and not doing anything for you. It's just sitting there waiting for someone to reach their grabby little hand in, right? Oh, exactly. Yeah, you don't earn interest. The other thing, too, is that, you know, it's not secure. It's not FDIC insured. And so, you know,

unfortunately, you know, we talk about students who left their phone out, you know, in a public place or at a party and somebody took their phone and was able to completely drain all of their accounts. And so that's really scary. And so luckily, you know, with a bank, at least we have that. insurance. And so I do a lot of education around that. Let's jump into credit here quick. I think that's a good time for this, this conversation. My understanding is that a debit card and a credit card are not inherently good or bad, but they all have their positives and negatives. At UBT, are you pro debit, pro-credit, balance? What's your approach to debit and or credit cards? Yeah. I think, you know,

I think you're explaining the difference between the two quickly, you know, like, I tell people you swipe your debit card, what happens to the money in your checking account. they're like, well, it goes down. I just like, my money is gone. I was like, yeah, yeah, exactly, right? And like the money that you have in your checking account is kind of what you have to spend. And so with credit, on the other hand, I mean, they both look the same. They're plastic cards.

But like with credit, I'm like, nothing happens to your checking account right there and then in the moment. Essentially, you get an IOU and the bank pays for that right there. And then in the moment, you get a bill at the end of the month saying, okay, this is all the stuff that you bought. Now you have to pay that back, you know, usually within 30 days or it's going to you know, have have interest in late fees on top of that if you don't pay it on time. So I think just explaining just on the back end how that works, like your borrow essentially credit card, when you use a credit card, it's like taking out a loan. And so, but yes, it's not neither good or bad.

It's just kind of how you're using it. And so I tend to be pro credit card in a lot of ways just because there's some security with that that I appreciate. You know, if it's your card is lost, you don't receive goods or services. you get that money back. So there's a lot of protections in place. Plus, you earn rewards. With your debit card, you don't.

And so a debit card, I think we need both. But using a credit card, at least you can build credit in that way where a debit card you can't. And so I feel like that's kind of my starting point, I think, with students. What is a bigger issue for students? Is it that they're overspending with their credit card because they don't see the money go? Or is it that they're maybe not spending enough and not maybe maximizing their return on their rewards potentially.

Yeah, I think that it's a mix of both. I think that students have to learn how to use a credit card and not overspend on it, which goes back to budgeting. So it's not free money. You don't just swipe away. And then I'll figure it out later. That's not a good approach. And so I'm like,

you have to keep track of your expenses, you know, throughout the month to make sure you aren't overspending. So I really talk about having like a secured card. And that's a product like UBT offers, where you kind of bring in your own deposit and you're able to borrow from that. So it's a lower limit and you're borrowing from your own funds essentially. So it's a good way to kind of dip your toe in the water without, oh, I don't know,

using the bank's money is your own money. And so it's a good way to kind of practice and get used to using credit. And so I think after words, for those that get the hang of it, then I'm like, let's dig into rewards. Are you getting what you need out of a card? Look at your spending. Can you be earning rewards on, you know, all the eating out that you're doing, you know. So everybody's kind of coming from a different place.

But I think for a lot of college students, it's just getting used to using a credit card. How easy is it to sign up for one of those through Union Bank? Pretty easy. Yeah, I would say so. We have student cards as well. We have some good products here at the university. If you're a student for checking accounts and savings accounts, which is great, our card that we have for Union Bank, I think is 1% cashback. But a secured card, yeah, it is a great product. You do have to go into a branch to open it. But I really recommend that for students. And there's other cards that are out there too in the marketplace, but I do like a secured card just for any young person. It's a good way to practice. Walking into a branch might be scary, but I know you guys are all over town. So there's plenty of opportunities, plenty of places for people to walk in. And my few experiences with you have been great. You know, super easy to talk to, super understanding, like you guys mentioned, having those real world experiences that you guys are there to to walk people through it, especially if it's the first time. But to wrap up this segment, let's just talk about the importance of having good credit.

Why is it important? How do you build good credit? What's the benefit of it? Yes. So good credit, it matters so much. It's going to determine, you know, if somebody will lend to you and the interest rate that you're going to pay. And so that's going to potentially good credit can save you thousands of dollars over the life of a loan. So it's really important. It's a good barometer of your financial health and something to stay on top of. But essentially what goes into a credit score, it's on a scale of 300 to 850. And I would, say that there's five factors that play into your credit score. So the higher your score, the better we want to shoot for high. But how much you spend on your available limit? So that's one area. So for example, if you have a thousand dollar limit on your card, you really only want to be putting like 30% or less, even better might be 10% or less on that card. So say like $300 or $100, keeping that utilization rate low. Also paying your bill on time and in full. That's one of the best things that you can do for your credit score. Other things that kind of play into that, too,

are your credit history. So that's why young people just tend to have a lower credit score than older people. They just haven't had as much time to build up their credit history. Also, inquiries, that's really important. So anytime that you're out shopping and they're like, do you want to save 15% and open, you know, XYZ card? Say no. You don't need that. It's not worth a hit to your credit score or your credit report. So it stays on there for two years. every time that you apply for credit. And so I think that, you know, only apply for credit when you need it. So that that does factor in.

And then also credit mix. If you actually have a mix of credit cards and loans, student loans to count for that, that can actually help your credit score. So those are kind of the main things that go into your score. But really, you're kind of playing a long-term game. There's no quick fixes. You're not going to have a super high credit score overnight. It just takes time and good, healthy habits of paying your bill on time and in full.

That's the best thing that you can do. Do you see a lot of young people really trying to, I don't say get rich fast, but get out of debt fast or get it all back at once? How do you try to teach that patience that might be hard for young adults that maybe don't have that base of what it means to think big picture in long term in terms of finances? Oh, sure. Yeah. I think when it comes to debt especially, you know, debt can be a good thing. And so I talked to folks. I'm like, well, you know, debt can help you buy assets. Like, for example, your education. That's something that's so valuable in your life. a vehicle, a house. I mean, these are things that help you to build wealth. And so I think not, not all debt is bad. Maybe just a whole bunch of consumer debt, sure, but we talk about the

differences between that. And so also, you know, with debt, we talk about, okay, what can you afford each month? What makes sense? So yeah, it's something that should be carefully considered. But I think in the long term game, you have to think of, I always tell people, like, think of your old lady self or your old man's self. And, you know, like these things, you know, it can take a long time, you might be paying on a loan for five years or with a house up to 30 years. So it is something to consider carefully. Brittany and Sarah from Union Bank and Trust are with us here on one-on-one. Normally with DP, but I'm Austin Norman.

Let's take one more break here on the show. Talk about budgeting and wrap up one-on-one when we get back. Back one final time here on one-on-one with DP. Haven't heard him. He's in Atlanta with Rico, Supernova's action, tomorrow night here on. 937, The Ticket and the Ticketfm.com. Here with Brittany and Sarah from Union Bank and Trust. And ladies, one thing that hasn't been explicitly mentioned, I think it's going to be

important to hit here is that my takeaway from these conversations is that there's a lot in the financial realm, a lot for people to learn. It's okay to not know everything. Ask a lot of questions. But you're not one size fits all. It sounds like Union Bank's approach to banking financial literacy is, I don't know if, you know, personizable, maybe just personal, customizable. It seems like you guys make an effort to meet people where they're at.

Is that a fair characterization? Oh, absolutely. Yes. Yeah, I think that, you know, everybody's money story is different and your level of knowledge about money is going to be really different. So your solution and your questions are going to be different, right? So I think that, yes, that's what I appreciate, you know, about UBT, is that we're willing to help anybody where, meet them where they're at, truly.

So no money questions are stupid or too big, too small. You know, we're, and what I also appreciate about UBT, too, is that we have so many experts. And so I'm not always the expert on all things financial literacy if I need to make a referral or connect somebody to somebody else. Somebody has the answer, which is good, even if it's not me. And I would say that that's true about everybody here at UBT. Yeah, for sure. I would say, you know, we love it when somebody comes in and allows us to walk that journey with them. You know, we want to be a partner in that journey, and we want to make sure that we're helping to customize the solution that's going to help you with your long-term goals, your long-term plan.

I think it's important, too, to mention that, you know, some people have that base. Some people don't have that base. So there are situations, too, where you guys at Union Bank are the resource. Like, you are the trusted people for them to go to. But how important is it for parents to, to, to take a situation? take financial literacy seriously and maybe not, you know, pile all the troubles or all the issues on the kids, but to make sure that they're involved some way, you know, in the family finances, like maybe like a sense of ownership almost in the family. Is that, is that fair? Kids need to know that there's money has value. I think that that's one of the biggest things too is, you know, I mean, you don't want money to seem like a negative concept to a child. like if you are having some struggles or some, you know, some money problems,

you don't want it to always be a negative thing to a child. And also teaching them, you know, if you do use a credit card to get rewards, that you can't just swipe a card to pay for whatever you want. So I think that, you know, studying that foundation, parents, grandparents, setting that foundation for their children is really vital.

Definitely. I think like even just, you know, modeling what you're doing and explaining, what you're doing. If you're making a decision or trying to choose between, you know, one product or another, you're out shopping. And it's like, well, we want this, but maybe not that. And here's kind of why. I think like walking through your thought process can be really powerful. I think that, you know, children are always listening. They're, they're sponge, I think, to everything that we're doing. And so I think, you know, walking through even like your insurance documents

and all the boring stuff, right? But insurance sucks. Yeah, yeah. It's important, but it sucks. Yeah. And, you know, walk through these. things and, you know, being more, I think, transparent and open, you know, of course, to your comfort level. But I think that kids want to know, you know, what are you doing? You know, I want to listen in on this. That's incredible. We are up against it here. Brittany and Sarah, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for your knowledge, your information, your willingness to talk. Maybe good dude again in the future. This is great. That'd be great. Thank you. Thank you. I'll put a bow on one on one here. Thanks for tuning in. More ticket weeknights next. If not,

we'll flip you over to the Kansas City Royals. Thanks for listening. Have a great weekend.