Hi! I’m Dr. Emily Roberts of Personal Finance for PhDs. I’m looking forward to seeing you at the upcoming Seven Steps to Start Investing as a Grad Student or Postdoc workshop. There are a few quick things I’d like you to do to prepare for the workshop. There’s no need to spend a lot of time on these preparatory steps or get super into the weeds.
- Bring your balance sheet. A balance sheet is a record of all of your current financial assets and liabilities. If you don’t have a balance sheet, please take some time to create one. You can download a template spreadsheet as well as some instructions from this page. Feel free to use a different template if you prefer. If you use budgeting or net worth tracking software and have all your accounts linked, the software probably has all the information, so no need to replicate it elsewhere. You will work briefly and privately with your balance sheet during the workshop.
- Review your budget or cash flow with these questions in mind: Am I currently saving money for my long-term future? If yes, what percentage of my gross income am I saving? If no, would it be possible in my current circumstances for me to save a certain dollar amount or percentage on a regular basis?
- If you currently have any money invested, such as in an IRA, a current or former employer’s retirement plan, or a taxable brokerage account, quickly review its status. At which brokerage firm or firms are the accounts housed? How is the money invested, the asset allocation and/or the specific funds or assets? And how do you feel about that? You can make notes about this on your balance sheet if you like or use the worksheet provided on this page (one per account). If you have no idea what these terms mean, that’s totally fine; we’ll talk about it all during the workshop and you can look it up then.
During the workshop, we’ll be working with spreadsheets and worksheets and various websites. If the workshop is in person, please bring your laptop or tablet. If the workshop is remote, please set your workspace up so that you can best juggle Zoom alongside the other programs.
I look forward to speaking with you during the workshop!
Downloadables:
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