VSCPA EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION

FINANCIAL LITERACY 101 >>

Cannaday works to help others eliminate debt

Taylar Cannaday has gotten the money-saving thing down to a science. That’s why she’s made it her mission to spread the gospel of financial literacy to her fellow students.

Cannaday, a junior at Lynchburg College and a VSCPA student member, has spent her time in college cutting costs every way she can. Part of that comes from the H. Burton Bates Jr. Scholarship, which she received for the 2013–2014 academic year.

“I know students where that’s their main concern — getting out of school with a lot of debt and getting a job that might not pay that well and being able to manage the debt,” she said. “To be able to jump into a career and start my life debt-free is something that I can’t even put a value on. It’s something that a lot of students don’t have. I feel like it’s my duty to help students who aren’t in that situation manage it a lot easier.”

Cannaday got her first taste of the financial fitness movement as a high school student in Forest, when she began working at Central Virginia Federal Credit Union. She has continued to work at the credit union and has become a regular presenter at its student financial literacy seminars. Taylar is driven to finish school and sit for the CPA Exam as quickly as possible. “I was able to work it out to where some of my credits from high school transferred in, and I basically took at least 18 credits every semester,” she said. “I didn’t plan on graduating early — it just kind of worked out that way. I knew I wanted to get 150 within the four years.” Taylar has a summer internship lined up at Baker Tilly and then one semester left before she graduates with 150 credits, ready to take the CPA Exam.

“I like the challenge of tax,” she said. “I feel like any situation is different and one variable can completely change how you see the individual or his tax return. It kind of goes along with financial literacy — being able to reduce someone’s tax liability is a pretty big deal, so if I can help reduce the liability for a person or a company, in the long run, they’ll have more capital.”

She also works with students personally to solve their financial issues. She worked with one classmate for six weeks on managing debt.

“Her main concern was credit card debt and her student loans,” Cannaday said. “Before she graduated, she was able to pay off her credit card and start working on her student loans.” n