Ellsworth Airmen cash-in on basic investing course

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Rebecca Imwalle
  • 28th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. --  Ellsworth's Airman & Family Readiness Center hosted a basic investing class for Airmen interested in learning more about managing their finances Dec. 18.

The class was the second of its type offered, and provided a baseline foundation to help Airmen understand different ways to invest their money.

"This class is designed to motivate more Airmen to consider saving and investing their money," said Laurie Adkins, 28th Force Support Squadron AFRC community readiness consultant. "We want Airmen to be well informed before they begin investing, so this gives them a brief understanding of [how to do that] and can give them an idea of where to start."

Adkins explained that the AFRC provides many financial classes that can help Airmen stay financially stable.

"My squadron commander spoke recently about living debt free and saving for retirement," said Airman 1st Class Seth Zarate, 28th Medical Operations Squadron mental health technician and class attendee, "It was a big eye opener for me about where my money was going. Once I saw this class was available, I jumped on it. I've been interested in investing for a little while, but I had no clue where to get started or what options were available to me."

Zarate said he learned it is important to establish and maintain a budget prior to investing, as well as eliminating and avoiding debt.

"After learning about the different options I'm going to start doing some research on mutual funds," Zarate said. "Mutual funds offer many advantages for an inexperienced investor like myself and seem like a good place to start."

Adkins added that there has been positive feedback about the class, and that the AFRC plans to host it monthly, in addition to several other finance classes that assist with vehicle buying and building credit, available to all Airmen interested.

For those interested in participating a class at the AFRC, call Laurie Adkins at (605) 385-4663.