Personal Finance for PhDs

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Demystifying Taxes for Graduate Students and Postdocs

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Title: Demystifying Taxes for Graduate Students and Postdocs

Format: Live lecture with Q&A (in person or remote)

Intended Audience: Graduate students receiving stipends, postdocs

Length: 90 minutes

Timing: January to July

Live Seminar Outline: Demystifying Taxes for Grad Students and Postdocs from Emily Roberts on Vimeo.

Summary: Preparing a tax return can be daunting for a trainee, especially when fellowships and scholarships are involved, and it’s difficult to find resources that address this special situation. This presentation introduces how ordinary income is taxed and addresses how to calculate and report trainee income specifically.

Outline:

  • Federal income tax basics (deductions, credits, progressive tax brackets)
  • Tax preparation methods
  • Finding and categorizing your income
  • Applying education tax benefits
  • Where to report your higher education income and expenses
  • Quarterly estimated tax for fellows
  • State tax
  • Tax repercussions of awarded income
Schedule a Call to Discuss This Seminar

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Money Management Basics

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Money Management Basics explores in depth the basic techniques of handing money, which are unique to each individual.

The major sections of the presentation are:

  • identifying values, setting goals, and choosing tactics
  • budgeting methods
  • banking and credit
  • emergency funds
  • savings and debt repayment

This talk is a great fit for grad student orientations because it puts grad students in the proper frame of mind for setting positive financial habits from the beginning of school.

(45 minutes plus time for questions)

 

 

Set Yourself Up for Financial Success in Your PhD Program, Postdoc, or Post-PhD Job

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Title: Set Yourself Up for Financial Success in Your PhD Program, Postdoc, or Post-PhD Job

Format: Live lecture with Q&A (in person or remote)

Intended Audience: Undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs graduating/moving on in the next year

Length: 60 minutes

Timing: Year-round

Summary: This seminar is designed for PhD trainees at the undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels who plan to graduate and/or take another job in the next year.

Outline:

  • Why and how to set up your budget before you move
  • Tax (income, FICA)
  • Payroll deductions, e.g., insurance
  • 8-step financial framework
  • Student loans (budgeting for repayment, income-driven repayment plans)
  • Investing (workplace-based retirement accounts, IRAs)
  • How to set your living expenses appropriately to your salary
  • Homebuying
  • Moving expenses
Schedule a Call to Discuss This Seminar

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Personal Finance for Postdocs

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This comprehensive presentation or workshop teaches postdocs the basics of personal finance and how they can set and reach financial goals during their training.

The major sections of the presentation are:

  • values, goals, and strategies
  • budgeting
  • saving
  • tax-advantaged retirement accounts
  • investing
  • debt evaluation and repayment

(60-90 minutes plus time for questions)

The Graduate Student and Postdoc’s Guide to Personal Finance

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Title: The Graduate Student and Postdoc’s Guide to Personal Finance

Format: Live lecture with Q&A (in person or remote)

Intended Audience: Graduate students receiving stipends, postdocs

Length: 120 minutes

Timing: Year-round

Live Seminar Outline: The Graduate Student’s Guide to Personal Finance from Emily Roberts on Vimeo.

Summary: This comprehensive presentation or workshop teaches stipend-receiving graduate students and postdocs the basics of personal finance and how they can set and reach financial goals during grad school. This talk is appropriate for grad students of all years and postdocs. It is well-suited as a stand-alone event or part of an orientation or personal/professional development series.

Outline:

  • Financial goals framework
  • Saving
    • Emergency funds
    • Targeted savings accounts
  • Investing
    • Tax-advantaged retirement accounts
    • Passive investing
  • Debt repayment
    • Student loan deferment
    • Whether to pursue income-driven repayment and forgiveness
  • Increasing income
  • Budgeting and frugality
  • Pay types and tax implications
Schedule a Call to Discuss This Seminar

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How Far Will My Stipend Go?

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When you first receive your offer letter from your graduate program, it may be difficult to determine what kind of lifestyle you’ll be able to afford, especially if you don’t have previous experience living on your own in that city. You may not be able to tell if you’ll need to take on debt or if you’ll be able to live on just your stipend. If you can live on your stipend, it won’t yet be clear how high or low on the hog you’ll be living or what kinds of savings goals you’ll be able to set, if any.

The best way to put your stipend in context is to talk with other students at your university who receive a similar stipend who are a few years ahead of you. Find a few students who are in your program or your lab or have your same fellowship and ask them if they find the stipend livable. Graduate students who receive stipends are more open about money than most others because we are all in the same boat, so to speak. They will be able to give you advice on where to live to keep your rent reasonable and let you know how tightly you’ll have to manage your income.

If you aren’t able to get in contact with any other students, you can compare your stipend to the living wage in your local area. The living wage should give you an idea of how much is needed for basic living expenses. If your stipend is above the living wage, you should be able to get by without taking out any student loans. If your stipend is well below the living wage, you might consider taking out loans or finding a very inexpensive living situation.

Also check out this database of grad student stipends. If you search for your university, you will be able to tell if your offered stipend is above, below, or in line with what other students are receiving, and the comments may let you know how livable the amount is.

Once you know that you have a livable stipend, you can start to create financial goals for your time in grad school, such as living within your means, saving a certain percentage of your pay, or paying down a lump sum of debt. Before you arrive on campus, you can even sketch out a budget.

Further Reading: How to Create Your First Budget as a Grad Student (a Grad Student Finances Guide)