Kansas State University

search

Powercat Financial

Tag: SALT

5 Reasons Why You Should Use Your Salt Account in April

Posted on by ekoochel


Happy Financial Literacy month! When it comes to finances, there is always something more to learn or improve on. Have April be the month you finally get all your questions answered! K-State has provided the opportunity for every student to have an account on www.saltmoney.org. Salt is a free financial website that can answer various financial questions as well as provide students with tools to enhance their financial fitness. Here are 5 reasons you should use your free account during the month of April.

New Interface

New year, new Salt interface! The website, www.saltmoney.org has updated its look to be more aesthetically pleasing as well to help tailor the Salt experience to each individual user. All of the same assets Salt has are located in the new webpage, but may be in a different place than before. However, they are not hard to find—spend 5-10 minutes exploring the new page!

Goals

The new Salt goals tool are what is helping Salt know what information will be most valuable to the user. When you sign onto the website, it will have you select your goals and their order of importance. The goals are: Manage Money, Repay Student Debt, Find A Job, and Plan School Costs. At least one of these goals can apply to anyone; more than one may be applicable to you! By defining your goals, you are one step closer to achieving them. Once you elect the order of importance to you, Salt will direct you to your first step in tackling each goal. As previously stated, anyone can benefit from this tool!

Scholarship Search

“I could use less scholarships”, said no college student—ever. As we each prepare with our strategy for paying the next semester of college, scholarship money is yearned for. Salt has a very helpful tool to help find scholarships unique to each student’s location, education, background, work, and activities. To access the scholarship search, sign onto your free Salt account, click the Menu button followed by the Tools and Calculators option, and you will find the scholarship search under the Plan School Costs heading. If you would like further help on deciding how to pay for your college experience, do not hesitate to schedule an appointment with Powercat Financial.

Job/Internship Search

There is one thing we all have in common as college students: the desire to be employed upon graduation. As May approaches and you still find yourself not knowing what to do after graduation or for the summer, save some time of your day to use Salt’s job and internship search! To access the job/internship search, sign onto your free Salt account, click the Menu button followed by the Tools and Calculators option, and you will find the tool under the Find A Job heading. This tool will help you narrow down jobs or internships depending on your major or area of interest and desired location.

Scholarship Giveaway

The final reason you should either log onto your free www.saltmoney.org account or create an account with Salt is because you can win either a $200, $125, or $75 scholarship provided by Powercat Financial! In order to qualify, you must complete Salt courses. These can be found under the Menu button on the Salt homepage. The courses are over various financial topics that either apply to your life currently or will apply to you in the future. The more courses you do, the better chance you have to win! The courses must be completed and passed between April 1st and April 30th in celebration of April being Financial Literacy Month. In order to win, you must be a currently enrolled K-State student with a Salt account. To sign up for a free account, go to www.saltmoney.org/k-state. Your account will be free for life, even upon graduation!

If you would like more information on any topics discussed above, please don’t hesitate to schedule an appointment with Powercat Financial. Any peer counselor would love to help you out!

Allison Becker – Peer Financial Counselor II

Your Guide for Senior Year

Posted on by ekoochel

Senior year, while characterized by fun, maybe too much from time to time, can also be characterized by overwhelming stress regarding finding a job. At times, finding a job may seem impossible, but the good news is K-State is here to help you succeed in this endeavor…and here’s how!

Meet With Your Career Advisor

Meeting with your career advisor is an excellent way to jump start the job hunting process and to help you go the extra mile to set yourself apart from other candidates. Whether you don’t know what type of job you want or you want advice on how to score a job in your favorite city, your career advisor at the Career Center is here to help you. You can set up your free advising appointment by calling the Career Center at 785-532-6506.

On top of this, your college may also offer career advising services. For instance, if you’re majoring in the College of Business Administration, you can meet with a Career Coach by calling 785-532-3982 or by emailing CDBusiness@ksu.edu and receive some specialized advice for your specific major. If you’re outside of the College of Business, I recommend contacting your department and seeing what services are available.

Did I mention it’s all free?

Your Resume

Unless you have already been networking with recruiters, your resume is the first impression that employers will have of you. Making sure your resume is free from error and top of the line can be difficult with only one set of eyes. Having your resume looked at by your parents, roommate, coworker, etc. can help make sure that your resume isn’t tossed out for an “it’s/its” catastophe. It can also be difficult to put your expereinces into words, so having a professional in your industry review your resume can help as well. Asking your professors or your professional mentor to review your resume can also be a great way to make it through this stage of the job hunting process. The Career Center also offers resume critique drop-in times from 12:00-4:00pm Monday through Thursdays.

Interviews

Interviews can be terrifying, but luckily there are some resources that will help reduce this stress and help you obtain your dream job. Many K-State colleges host their own mock interviews conducted by professionals in the industry. You can also set up a mock interview with your career advisor. If you’re tight on time and your interview is around the corner, the Career Center has some awesome tips for acing your interview at http://www.k-state.edu/careercenter/documents/interviewpreparationpresentation.pdf. Further, looking up some common interview questions like those at the Glassdoor (https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/common-interview-questions/) can help you prepare for your interview.

Career Fairs

While the All-University Career fair is in the Fall, K-State offers several in the Spring! The Business Career Fair is coming up on Februray 22nd, as well as Education On-Campus Interviews will be coming up on March 6th. The Design Expo, for opportunities in architecture, product design, graphic design, and more, will also be coming up on on March 10th. For more information on any of these events, please visit http://www.k-state.edu/careercenter/students/events/.

Job Offers

Congrats on the job offer! You did it, but now which job offer do you accept? For some, this can be an easy decision based on location, type of job, start date, or other factors that are important to you. A lot of the time though, it can come down to the compensation. You may miss out on an awesome opportunity by only comparing salary to salary, instead of taking the benefits offered into consideration. Benefits such as health insurance, vacation time, 401(k) plans, and disability insurance can all greatly increase the value of the job offer. You can find lots of great information on how to analyze a job offer by using your free account at www.saltmoney.org. You can also set up an appointment with a Powercat Financial Counselor (www.k-state.edu/powercatfinancial/services) and you and your counselor can work through it together!

Jillian Taylor – Peer Financial Counselor III

 

 

New Enhanced SALT Services Coming Soon

Posted on by ekoochel

You’re all familiar with SALT®, the free financial resource that gives you the educational tools you need to manage your finances associated with school, like student loans, scholarships, budgeting, and more. And we’ve just added a whole new way SALT can keep you financially healthy in school and afterward: proactive Education Debt Management Services. That means if you have any student debt, SALT will reach out to you now to make sure you’re always on track with your payments and help you navigate your repayment options.

Communications

When will you begin to hear from SALT? In the first three years of repayment, you’ll get direct SALT communication via email, snail mail, and phone, regardless of your loan status. The timing of these communications is based on over 50 years of the nonprofit American Student Assistance’s borrower services expertise—so they’ll get in touch with you before you ever run into any issues with repayment.

Also, SALT’s financial counselors are available by phone and chat seven days a week at any stage of your repayment process. And you can rest assured that they’re known for being neutral, unbiased, professional, and empathetic, with a consistently high satisfaction rating from students and alumni alike.

As one Kansas State alum stated after using SALT’s services, “I am so pleased with the service I received from SALT. I was really struggling with some repayment information and after my chat, I know exactly how to move forward. SALT gives me peace as I learn more about how to repay my student loans. Thank you very much!”

Join SALT for free at www.saltmoney.org/kstate to start using this valuable resource now and start finding scholarships, jobs & internship, and tips for becoming money savvy. Kansas State’s Powercat Financial Counseling wants all students and alumni to be financially successful and has brought you these free SALT resources to ensure your financial success now and in the future.

Jodi Kaus, Director

Powercat Financial Counseling

www.k-state.edu/pfc

powercatfinancial@k-state.edu

SALT- Become Financially Savvy

Posted on by roxanne

Powercat Financial Counseling is proud to introduce SALTmoney.org, a FREE financial literacy and budgeting tool, to all current students and alumni!!

Did you know that salt was one of the earliest forms of currency? In today’s times, we are noticing a trend of rising student debt. Unfortunately we can’t bust out the salt shaker to pay-off our student loans, but you can log-on to Salt Money at www.ksu.edu/salt and become more financially savvy.

Once you have register within Salt you will have access to a multitude of functions that will allow you to better your financial awareness. Some of the main features include:

– Crunch Your Numbers – Here you can import your student loans from the NSLDS (National Student Loan Data System) and learn information regarding your monthly payments and repayment plans. Also, see the bigger picture, which includes; a tool that helps students evaluate the cost of living in different regions of the country and plans out a tentative monthly budget based on estimated income. Student loans aren’t much fun to repay, but Salt will simplify the process for you and show you how to fit repayment into your life.

– Save and Make Money – Here you can access a search engine that will help you locate scholarships, internships, and jobs that fit your specific needs. Salt also provides deals that are solely for members of the program.

– Get Money Smart – Here you can complete interactive activities to become more educated on many topics regarding personal finances. How do you choose the right bank or credit union for you? How can your credit score keep you from getting a job? When is student loan deferment a good idea? Log-on to Salt to learn the answers to these questions and many more.

Managing finances is one of the largest stressors that college students face, and Powercat Financial Counseling is expanding their services by proving SALT to all members of Kansas State University. Look for SALT events occurring on campus in the coming semester. PFC will be putting on a launch event on February 7th from 4:30 to 6:30 in the Rec. Stop by after your workout to put some SALT in your financial diet. We will be giving away prizes such as t-shirts, fruit smoothies, and a Mr. Coffee’s Self Brewer. Log-on now at www.k-state.edu/salt.

Bret Eisenbarth
Graduate Assistant & Peer Financial Counselor
Powercat Financial Counseling
www.k-state.edu/pfc