New financial educator to help CU-Boulder students navigate money matters
Aug 22nd
The CU Money Sense program was created by the Bursar’s Office in 2009 to provide student financial workshops and other educational opportunities including “Money Smart Week,” according to Susie Jacobs, the program’s director.
“This year our program added a new financial educator position to provide our students with one-on-one education sessions,” Jacobs said.
Niomi Williams, the new financial educator, will offer the free one-on-one sessions in order to give CU-Boulder students — and alumni — a financial leg up in what can be a challenging chapter in many young adults’ lives.
“When I was a recent college graduate, I found myself with student loan and credit card debt and not enough income,” Williams said. “I didn’t know how to manage my finances, I was a mess. My goal in this new position is to help students steer clear of money mistakes and lay the foundation for a stable financial future.”
While all individuals’ needs will be different, Williams said students can request a one-on-one session with her to cover basic financial questions such as how to organize and budget money, a challenging task for many people. Or they can just come in to talk about other financial issues or questions they may have.
“For many students, college is the first time they have to really manage their money, everything from paying rent to understanding how much their student loan payments will be when they graduate,” she said.
Williams said she won’t be offering investment or tax advice, but she hopes she can help students excel in money management.
“Once I learned how to organize and control my finances, all the pressure and financial stress I had been feeling went away,” she said.
Students who don’t want to sit down with Williams can visit the CU Money Sense website at http://bursar.colorado.edu/cumoneysense. Students also can check out the Facebook and Twitter pages, or follow the CU Money Sense blog, all of which can be accessed on the main website. CU Money Sense also puts on several workshops throughout the school year on financial topics of interest to students, free of charge.
Upcoming CU Money Sense workshops include:
- “Money Matters Information Sessions,” Aug. 21-23, 3-4 p.m. in University Memorial Center room 247.
- “Best Money Apps and Websites for Students,” Aug. 27-28, at 3 p.m. in University Memorial Center room 353.
- “Intro to Money, Banking and Budgeting in Boulder for International Students,” Sept. 18, at noon in University Memorial Center room 425.
-CU-
Boulder expands grant assistance available for low- and middle-income home buyers
Aug 22nd
The City of Boulder has joined other jurisdictions in the Metro Mayor’s Caucus in making homeownership more affordable through a non-repaid grant available to low- and middle-income buyers.
The program provides a competitive 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a grant for down-payment assistance equal to 4 percent of the mortgage amount. Income requirements are less than $91,100 for households of two or fewer persons, and less than $103,000 for three or more.
“This is a great opportunity for qualified individuals,” said Jeff Yegian, acting manager of the Division of Housing. “City of Boulder participation in this program adds another resource to make homeownership in Boulder more accessible to low- as well as moderate- and middle-income households.”
Other conditions for participation include:
- Standard loan guidelines must be met.
- Buyers must have a minimum FICO score of 640 (660 for manufactured homes), and a maximum debt-to-income ratio of 45 percent.
- Buyers must complete a HUD-approved homebuyer education class. The class currently required of buyers for the City of Boulder Permanently Affordable Homes program satisfies this condition.
- Purchasers must occupy the home as their primary residence, but they do not have to be a first-time homebuyer.
There is no limit on the property purchase price, although it should not exceed the lender’s loan approval amount. This program is intended for purchase of a primary home, and excludes refinance or purchase of a second property. Approved structures include single-family detached homes, condominiums, townhomes, duplexes and manufactured homes.
This program does not require repayment and funding is expected to continue through approximately December 2014.
A complete list of approved lenders and additional information for lenders who wish to become approved for the program is available at the City of Denver’s website,http://www.denvergov.org/oed/DenverOfficeofEconomicDevelopment/HousingAssistance/MetroMortgageAssistancePlus/tabid/444354/Default.aspx, or email Stacy Houston at stacy.houston@raymondjames.com.
[includeme src=”http://c1n.tv/boulder/media/bouldersponsors.html” frameborder=”0″ width=”670″ height=”300″]
–CITY–

























