#0. Does the world really need another blog?

Six weeks ago, I became a Cal State professor. That would be bargaining Unit 3 in my communist motherland (not a criticism, just the reality).  For the last few months (or since December, when I accepted this position) I logged in many hours trying to understand the system’s retirement options, benefits, union situation, and other things that deal specifically with Cal State. Although there is a lot of information (trust me, it’s there, you just have to find it), much of it I had, and still have to look up by either making phone calls or doing extensive online research. In a moment of clarity, while exchanging some emails with the Fidelity rep, I realized that if you don’t know what to ask the rep, you probably won’t even initiate the contact. And this is where I come in; I will initiate that contact for you and find the answers to questions you didn’t even know you had.

You see, I really care about retirement options; making spreadsheets with 403(b) investment choices is what I do while watching Game of Thrones. There are 23 campuses and 47,000 employees in this system. Although not everything is the same, a lot of what I will be talking about applies to many full time employees throughout the system.

Who is this blog for? This brings me to the creation of this blog. Why not try to gather the information in one place, present it in an easy way, and offer some opinions (and there will be plenty of opinions) for the people who have to make the same choices I do? The idea is to make this blog as useful as I can for new and existing employees. Whether you have been around for 3 weeks or 13 years, I will strive to make the topics relevant to all of us.

Why am I writing this blog? Because I am a money person and it pains me to see how we don’t take full advantage of the benefits we have. 

Who are you, lady?  

• I currently teach finance and financial planning in the Cal State system. I am also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™.
• I obsess about retirement choices like you probably never will. You do not want to know the number of hours I spent on analyzing the investment options in the 403(b), 457/401(k) plans. And yes, I do have multiple spreadsheets I am sure you can’t wait to get your hands on.
• I wake up in the morning and before drinking coffee, I check my account aggregation app for a financial update (and no, I did not become rich overnight, not yet, at least). Even with all this, I recently realized that the information I was looking for is not always accessible and if you didn’t know where to look and who to call, you might just give up and roll with whatever was most convenient and easiest. And come on, we are better than that.
• As a side note, I also do research in the field of retirement planning and financial decision making.  Seems like this area could use some improvement in our lives so why not try to do my little part?  
• Oh yeah, and in another life, I spent 5 years in benefits administration.   

Disclaimer: Before we go on, I want to make it clear that everything, and I mean everything, I write on this blog is my personal opinion; these are only my opinions and they do not represent any official Cal State position. This is general information.  If you have any questions that refer to your specific situation, please call HR, just like I do.  

So what is the point of my blog anyway? Here is the sales pitch: I will be covering a specific topic that deals with money, benefits, union, retirement, and occasionally life as a Cal State professor. I promise to break it down so that everyone can understand it. Although once in a while you may see a “lifestyle blog”, the majority of the posts will deal with money related topics. For example, I plan to simplify topics such as:

• “What is that 403(b)/ 457/401(k) they mentioned in my benefits orientation?”
• “Why do I even care about those plans if I am getting a pension anyways?”
• “And what is the difference between 403(b), 457, and 401(k) after all?”
• “Fine, you convinced me that I need “one of those” but which of the 5 (five!) Providers for the 403 (b) should I choose and why?” Personally, I’d say none, but more on this another time.

I am sure by now you are oozing with excitement and I probably need to make a stronger case to compete with all the cat videos on YouTube. Here is a cat video, just for fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAgy9r331v0 But really, here are two reasons I hope will convince you to keep coming back:

1. This is my attempt to scare you: These topics affect your life. That choice between 403(b) providers could potentially cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars by the time you retire. We did a fast calculation last week in my MBA class that showed that you could end up with $200,000 less at retirement if you invest your optional retirement hard-earned-dollars in a particular way (probably not a good way). Do you really want to lose all that money because you don’t care about boring money stuff?

 2. This is my attempt to change the world, one university professor at a time: I want all of us to be more educated about our own money. Many of us are professors, most of us have Ph.Ds. and many of us know very little about money, retirement, and how to eliminate the stress of money. For some reason, we just don’t talk about money. Research shows that Americans are more willing to talk about their sex lives than about their finances. Why not get a little better at this “money thing” and in the process, make ourselves happier and less stressed?

I hope by now I convinced you that this is an important topic and it is worth 15 minutes of your time once every 3 weeks (or at least that’s how often I hope to address a new topic). Occasionally, I will also “assign” homework for people who want to make some changes. If you have any questions, I am always here (inga.chira@gmail.com). Please sign up for the blog updates on the right and if you like what you read, consider forwarding it to another employee who could benefit from the same information.  I hope you find this useful in some small way and let me know if you would like to see a specific topic.