Posts published on June 17, 2019

The Importance of Insurance Education for College Students

BY ANTON LUCANUS

As a young child, insurance is word we may hear tossed around in medical offices or hearing other adults discuss vehicles. By the time we make our way into being a young adult we understand that insurance means safety, and necessary. It is true that insurance is a measure of safety that allows us a form of protection if something should go wrong. Whether it is a broken arm, a flooded house, or a wrecked vehicle, it’s important to have that protection because without insurance, unnecessary costs can rise quickly.

The main problem with insurance isn’t whether or not someone is covered, it lies more within the issues surrounding people not having the proper education about what type of insurances are available or how to go about learning more. Financial education is frequently taught in secondary education, but it should be made a priority for higher education institutions. Unless someone is majoring in business, finance, or accounting, they might not often understand the implications that they will face of not knowing what happens when they are legally considered adults.

Purchasing an insurance policy can seem scary because it can seem like a sale or advertisement where someone is trying to get the most money out of you instead of truly help you make your best purchase for your income range and specified needs, especially when it is done via a call center. For college students, many schools have corporate sponsorships with certain businesses that may allow them the opportunity to get a discount when purchasing an insurance premium. Places like Brantford insurance brokers and other educational resources are able to help those struggling to find education about insurance.

Many studies have concluded that the financial education young adults have is primarily learned from their parents or caregivers. Family income and money skills carry down through generations. It can actually be a hard habit to break for those who struggle with negative spending habits. So understanding where those core financial values come from can help someone looking to improve their financial stability from a young age.

There are many questions a student might have about their personal finances. From budgeting, to credit scores, insurance plans and financing a car, there are so many different things that adulthood can bring. And then there are essential student expenditures: textbooks, private VPN services for public wifi on campus, travel and accommodation. Couple all of that with student loan debt and coming to college can start to seem overwhelming. That overwhelming feeling stems from a lack of uncertainty in the areas of finances. Not all college or university students have their parents to help them when they are venturing out into the real world. For those those students on their own, signing a promissory note of agreeing to pay back over 100,000 dollars can be amazingly frightening. They may start to question whether or not college is even worth it at times. Without proper education, it can be difficult to understand where to even start when creating a plan.

Starting with budgeting, an insurance plan must go in place somewhere in a budget. There are many financial advisors and therapists that can help students budget. Online resources are available to teach students about budgeting. College is not often a place where students are financially fruitful. Most of their money goes to pay for books and tuition before food and housing. All of the necessities of college and time requirements of dedication can make it difficult to even hold a part time job. The most important part of budgeting in college is to understand no spending should be done until necessities are paid for. Reckless spending can be harmful to one’s overall mental health and grades.

Some students may feel insecure discussing finances due to their lack of education in that area which is why it is important to break down the stigma that we are born understanding financial limits. It would be wise for higher education institutions to implement a program that would provide introductory education to first year college students about the financial hurdles they may need to overcome while in college. This program might involve people within the community that are insurance companies, business owners, investors and other financial stakeholders that can come educate and give advice to students about what is available to them.

College students are generally too bogged down with lecture information and exams to think financially first. They are school oriented adults who have a passion for education, they just need to know what is available to them to help them implement financially savvy skills and build good credit scores. Ignorance is only unacceptable in the refusal to be educated. It is crucial to the advancement of society that we continue to educate students on everything available to them and set them up for success, not failure.

Byline – Anton Lucanus is the Director of Neliti. During his college years, he maintained a perfect GPA, was published in a top cancer journal, and received many of his country’s most prestigious undergraduate scholarships. Anton writes for The College Puzzle as a means to share the lessons learnt throughout his degree and to guide current students to achieve personal and educational fulfilment during college life.