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2017 UNR student guide

hanks for grabbing a copy of our annual Join the Pack Guide. Every year, we put together this primer for new and returning students of the University of Nevada, Reno. The photo on the cover was taken during an alumni picnic, a weekly event held on the quad during the summer months. This year, we’ve got stories with useful information for more than just arriving freshmen. On page 4, you’ll find a story from Shaun Hunter about the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute—a program that partners with UNR and specializes in offering learning opportunities for people 50 and older. I sat down with local financial adviser Mike Angier to get answers

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to some of the common questions parents may have when considering helping their kids pay for school. You’ll find that on page 8. And over on page 10, regular RN&R contributor and UNR alum Matt Bieker shares cost saving tips he wished someone would have told him before he joined the Pack. As usual, we’ve printed a map of campus in the center of the guide. And you may also want to check out this week’s regular issue for our feature, which takes a look at some obscure UNR history. Happy reading! Jeri Chadwell-Singley RN&R Special Projects Editor

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UNR’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute offers classes for the 50-plus set

ages oNe foR the

by ShaUN hUNTeR

n most Thursdays throughout the year, you can find Floyd Whiting out hiking with a group of around two to three dozen other people around his age, covering trails anywhere from the Donner Lake and Reno areas to as far south as Carson Pass. Whiting, a 76-year-old retired crime lab technician, is a member of OLLI, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. He first enrolled in a class—members prefer to call them interest groups— following his retirement. It offered instruction on writing his personal memoirs. Now, 10 years later, he is one of the facilitators of another group—the OLLI Hikers Group. The University of Nevada, Reno sees a fair number of older students enrolling in degree-seeking programs. This past spring’s graduation ceremony included nearly four dozen graduates in the 50-plus age range, the oldest being 69 years old. It’s the university’s Extended Studies program, a branch of the school that coordinates curriculum outside of the traditional classroom and online formats, that oversees the OLLI program. Created by the Bernard Osher Foundation in the late 1970s, OLLI is geared specifically toward individuals ages 50 and up. Nationally there are 120 OLLI programs, each one affiliated with a university. UNR’s OLLI program currently has about 1,900 members. It’s one of the larger programs in the country. Schools with OLLI programs pay an annual membership fee and are granted access to a catalog of interest groups. These groups include, among others, Spanish or French conversation, acupuncture, square dancing, Depression-era popular culture, and book or political discussion groups. “What distinguishes our learning program from other learning programs at the university is we are absolutely noncredit,” said Carol Parkhurst, executive director for UNR’s OLLI program. “There are no tests involved. It’s all learning because people want to learn.” Individual members pay $55 per year and can participate in as many classes as they like. Most are available at no additional cost. “This coming semester we’re offering 110 class sessions from September until January,” Parkhurst explained. “We operate on an academic year. Our membership starts in September and goes through the following August.” Whiting explained that retirement left him with plenty of free time to pursue new endeavors, and how the OLLI program format made it a nice fit for him.

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“I was interested in writing my memoirs and having an activity to participate in,” he said. “The class was called Lifescapes. It provided an opportunity for people to go to a regular program which met twice a month to help people write articles. Since then, both my wife and I have become active in many other parts of the program. It was nine years ago the hiking group got together. When the facilitator passed away, another person in the group and I thought we could keep this opportunity going. Maybe we’d take it over for a year, and then someone else could take it. Well, it’s been nine years!”

“There are no tests involved. It’s all learning because people want to learn.” caRol PaRkhuRst executive director, olli program

Today, Whiting is one of four facilitators for the hiking group. He also participates in the weekly kayak and cycling interest groups. And, he said, some groups may offer participants more than their names would suggest. He cites the hiking group as an example. “Initially, a lot of people are interested in getting some physical activity,” he said. “But when we go out to our local hiking trails, we have historians who happen to be with us who can give us the history of the areas we are at. We bring it into the realm of being a factor of learning things, but it’s also an opportunity for people to get some exercise. In the winter, we’ll have hikes of five or six miles. In the summer, we’ll get up to 12 miles.” Interest in the hiking group has become so great that facilitators have added a second weekly hike for those wanting to take A speciAl supplement to Reno news & Review

on longer distances. Parkhurst explained that facilitators and members are often responsible for creating the curriculum their groups explore. “Much of OLLI is member-run,” Parkhurst said. “Members produce most of the publications and develop the curriculum. The majority of it is volunteer-driven. All of the presenters are volunteers. That’s why it’s so inexpensive.” Because programs are geared toward the older age brackets, participants often come from social backgrounds not typically associated with more traditional students. Many OLLI participants are retired. For some, the program provides a social outlet as well as an educational opportunity. “If you’re in more social interest groups, you’re chatting with people, you’re getting to know people,” Whiting said. “Many good friends develop through it. If one of the people in our group has an event happening, you’ll notice quite a few other people show up. We’ve had members who have died, and some of our people will show up at the funeral. It’s really significant that this interest group provides a nice community outlet for the individuals.” As OLLI prepares to begin its 11th year at UNR in the fall, the program continues to grow. The most recent catalog offered practical programming with topics like “surviving cancer” and “introduction to social media,” as well as more interest-oriented groups like “meditation” and “remembering Reno’s Chinatown.” Whiting smiles when he speaks of the significance OLLI has in the lives of some of its participants: “One of the nicest things I personally feel is when I read things that say that the people who feel most happy with their lives are ones who belong to a church or religious group. Part of that is that they have that social connection that they need, that other people are looking out for them. And I’ve often felt that OLLI provides that same opportunity for those people that really get involved with it.” Ω Learn more at www.oLLi.unr.edu

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a financial adviser talks about funding college

cents commoN

by Jeri Chadwell-Singley

RN&R JoiN the Pack Guide

07.27.17

ike angier is a partner with bickford angier & associates, a franchise of ameriprise Financial. he has 19 years experience advising people in reno. he sat down recently to answer some of the questions parents ask themselves when it comes to helping pay for their kids’ college.

i’ve seen several articles in recent years warning parents against using retirement funds to pay for their kids’ higher education. is that solid advice to give, across the board? Everything in financial advising stems from what the situation is. That’s basically good general advice, but dipping into your retirement savings if you can afford it, to pay for kids, is not a bad way to go. One of the savings vehicles we use for education is Roth IRAs, because there are specific rules with education plans that are stringent. A College 529 plan is a standard education savings plan that people use. … Basically it works like a Roth IRA, you put money into it. It grows money, tax-deferred. When you pull money for school, it’s tax-free on distribution. But if you don’t use it for school— let’s say little Johnny … joins the military, wants to backpack Europe or whatever—and you’re stuck with this education account. You can transfer it to other people, and they can use it for education. You can even use it yourself for education. But if it’s pulled out for non-education uses, it’s penalized and taxed on any growth. So that, to me, is a restriction. And the 529s also have restrictions on what you can invest in. It’s like a 401k. A 401k has specific things you can invest in—same thing with a 529 plan. You can’t go and buy a bunch of Apple stock or Disney stock or whatever you want. There are restrictions to it. It has to be used for education. It can pay for housing, tuition fees, computers, things like that—as long as it’s used for school. That part is cool. But Roth IRAs are a great tool for education, if you’re saving enough for yourself as well. It’s

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really situation-dependent. I see a lot of people in the news and online give this general advice. … And that’s great for the masses, but everybody’s got a unique situation. There’s no cookie cutter you can hand out to different clients, if that makes any sense. And that’s where we come into play. … My passion is that—I grew up pretty humble and, you know, my dad was a serial entrepreneur. Basically, I learned great lessons from him. But he didn’t make very good money decisions, and so my passion is bringing education to people, as far as making sure they have the information to make the decisions that we make every day. I’m in the process of signing a contract with NV Energy to do financial planning education for all of their employees. is that something people should look into whether or not their companies do—bringing in financial advisers? Yeah. We do workplace wellness for anybody with over 100 employees. It’s a free service—we come and do education for their employees. … We have a cool video that people can watch on how that program works— because people are stressed out every day. There was a study done, and it’s something like—I can’t remember the number off the top of my head—15 percent of time wasted on financial stress during the work day. I’m sure we can all feel that, right? … If you can bring education to your employees, they’ll hopefully be less stressed—because they’ll be armed with more information on how to accomplish their goals and handle different financial situations. I mean, the common person who walks in my door doesn’t know how a mutual fund works. … They have no idea how to create a retirement paycheck once they have all that money in their 401ks. There are a lot of strategies you can use to turn that into a paycheck, but a lot of people do it the wrong way—because they’re trying to do it themselves. And they end up, maybe in their later years, running out of money.

That gets me thinking. Surely, when it comes to funding education, it wouldn’t just stress parents—but kids, too. They may want financial assistance, but not at the risk of jeopardizing their parents’ retirement. Are there common pitfalls people can watch out for? I think the biggest place people go wrong is that they don’t look at other options, other than what their kids want. I had a client who wanted to provide everything for their kid for college, and they let their kid drive that. Well, how about approaching it another way. “Little Johnny, this is how much we have to provide for your college. You need to pick your college according to that, because after that, we’re not doing any more.” My own personal savings plan is I’m saving a lump sum for my kids, and that’s what they get. … They can pick any school they want, but that’s what they’re getting. … No one gave me anything when I went through school. I got out of college with nothing but credit card debt and school debt, probably like a lot of people. … I’m from the old school. You’ve got to work for what you get. I feel like any help I give my kids for college, I think is awesome. Now, my level of income will hurt them. They’re not going to get any financial aid. I’ve heard a lot of parents say their kids won’t qualify for financial aid because they make too much. But I wonder, do people qualify for more than they think they will? Like when you fill out a FAFSA, you have to consider things like included versus excluded assets. Your income is going to be the number one killer. The best way to put your kid through school is to pick the school they want to go to, find out the associated junior college, go to that junior college for two years, and then transfer. I mean, you’re going to shave off literally tens of thousands of dollars in cost, long term, to do something like that. Now, not a lot of kids want to do that. They want the college experience right away. They want to join a fraternity. … So it’s hard to steer them in that direction, but when you’re footing the bill, you know. My

most successful clients who put their kids through school … they did exactly that, and they thank me for it every time I meet with them, because I saved them a boatload of money. What should parents know before they decide to cosign on a student’s loan? Can kids get a better rate on loans if a parent co-signs? Not really. The federal government now controls all of the school loans. I’m not a huge fan of that. There are lots of ways to fund college other than loans. People borrow against their 401ks sometimes, which isn’t a bad thing. A lot of advisers will pooh-pooh that. They’ll say that’s not a good thing. My stance is—you’re going to get the money from somewhere. Why not borrow it against something where the interest is cheap. A 401k will typically run around 4 percent interest, so that’s pretty low for school loans. School loans can run 6 percent in excess of that. I’ve seen school loans over 12. So you’ve talked about Roth IRAs as a good alternative to 529s, which have to be used for school funding. Do you have any insight into things like the prepaid tuition program where parents can pay today’s rates for future education? I’m fine with the prepaid tuition. It’s a cheap way to get a base level of coverage for your kid to go to college. I think it’s right around twenty-two thousand dollars for four years now. That’s a pretty good deal. Now, again, like 529 plans, there are restrictions to that. Even if they go to a school out of state, they still get whatever the Nevada rate is—but here’s the thing about the prepaid tuition. If little Johnny or little Suzy doesn’t go to college, they get their money back, with no interest. I think that’s still the rule. On prepaid tuition, if they decide not to go to school, they can get a refund? They can get the money back, but they get no interest. I mean, I like the prepaid. I think for conservative clients, clients who are risk-averse, prepaid is a great way to go.

And if you’re not so riskaverse, go Roth IRA?

Because here’s the deal—a lot of people when they’re starting out and they have kids, they don’t have enough money to save for retirement and to save for education. … So why not accomplish both with a Roth IRA? Put as much as you can into Roth IRAs, OK? But the first step is, if your employer has a 401k and they’re matching, you have to do at least that match. And then you can put the rest into Roth IRAs, would be my kind of general recommendation. I mean, it’s hard for me to sit here and say, “This is what you should do.” There are so many different ways you could go, depending on the situation. I’ve developed some pretty unique education slash retirement plans for people to accomplish both. I have clients that put education for the kids before retirement, and I have the opposite of that.

Five-two-nines and IRAs are good. Now the Roth IRA—let me put kind of a caveat to that. The Roth IRA would be used if—let’s say they’ve got a couple of 401ks, and they’re saving in those 401ks. And we calculate, and “OK, you’re on track for retirement with your 401ks. You want to save for your kids college. You’re not funding Roth IRAs, so how about doing that [instead of] a 529 plan. That way, if you don’t go to school, you can use it for your own retirement—and there are no restrictions. And it comes out tax-free. Roth IRA is one of the greatest tools in investment management that a lot of people don’t even utilize. I’m confused. My understanding of the 529 plans is that they’re taxfree. Is the same true of a Roth IRA? Roth IRA works the exact opposite of a 401k. With a 401k, pre-tax money goes in, so you get the tax advantage now. It accumulates tax first, so you don’t pay tax on it until you distribute it. And when you’re 59-and-a-half, you’re eligible to take distributions that are not penalized. But it’s taxed at 100 percent, so it’s like getting a paycheck, right? The Roth IRA, you put money in after tax. So you’ve already paid tax on the money. It accumulates tax-deferred. And when you distribute it, it’s tax-free. I mean, how powerful is it to take away the cost of taxes in retirement? There are a lot of things we can’t control. We can’t control what tax rates are. We can’t control what inflation is going to be. We can’t control what the market is going to do. We can only control how much we save. We can only control what’s taxable. So if we have a bunch of money in Roth IRA versus a bunch of money in a 401k—there are Roth 401ks— money [in a 401k] is taxable, versus a Roth IRA; that money is tax free. There’s a lot to know. What basic advice to have for people who are starting out and planning to save? For people starting out, I would look at your picture. If you’re not saving into a Roth IRA, that would be my first go-to.

What if you are the young person? You’re young and poor. A financial adviser probably doesn’t make much sense. Am I right? The advice that I would give to kids starting out, if they were my own kids, is that you first have to learn to manage your own money. And managing your money is pretty simple. You’ve got to live within what you’re bringing in. Credit cards are used for necessities, not for wanted items. You know, when I first got a hold of a credit card, I bought a big stereo. I put a nice sound system in my van. So, not a financial adviser. How about something else? Well, a financial adviser is typically going to charge you a fee. … I wouldn’t say that you go see a financial adviser when you’re starting school. I would say that there’s plenty of stuff on the internet to learn about money. The number one thing that I read about when I was in the Marine Corps was money. … I immersed myself into how money works, how investments work, how credit cards work—which I think is very important. It’s scary that they just give credit cards like candy to college kids. … There are lots of books on personal finance for younger people. There’s lots of articles on it as well. Ω

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RN&R JoiN the Pack Guide

Money-saving tips from a UNR alum

Save the

day by Matt biekeR

s a former UNR student, I learned some practical money saving techniques during my time as an undergrad that have served me well into my career as a print media journalist/ part-time waiter, and I would be remiss not to share them with the incoming freshman class. I’ve included here some advice I wish I had received before joining the Pack. I’ve broken it down into four main categories for convenience: tuition and living costs, groceries and shopping, health care, and recreation.

tuitioN aNd LiviNG costs UNR’s own Cost Calc web app allows incoming freshmen to estimate the basic costs of attending school, alongside a detailed cost breakdown of extra fees and services in addition to tuition. A semester’s tuition for an in-state student with no bells and whistles—here meaning: food, shelter, etc.—comes out to around $3,829.50 which, when compared to College Board’s national average, means UNR students are saving money already. Congratulations. Out-of-state residents have it a little rougher, as tuition for them is more than

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double. But savvy students can find big savings with UNR’s tuition discount programs. Rinna Bottom, who graduated this spring with her B.A. in psychology, found a way to cut her transfer costs with the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE). “Basically it’s for all West Coast states,” said Bottom. “Not every school does it, but a lot do it, and if you get accepted—you just have to meet the GPA requirements—then you just about get in-state tuition, which is really nice.” WUE and Nevada Advantage both require minimum GPA and core curriculum standards, but are non-major specific. Students should also take advantage of national programs like the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), as savings can be found in unexpected ways. “I actually beat the system a little bit when it comes to FAFSA,” said Bottom. “According to FAFSA, if you have divorced parents, it’s whoever you live with the majority of the time out of the year. The year before I came up here, I was actually living with my mom for some bad circumstance, because she lost her job. But because of that I was able to use her income, which is pennies compared to my dad’s income, so I was able to get a lot of money through FAFSA and grants. My last year of college was paid for by grants. It was very helpful.”

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Bottom also said she found dorm living, which varies with different buildings and room layouts, to be reasonably priced. The average price for most options equals about $2,500 per semester. Quickly, however, new students will notice that the biggest secondary cost next to just being in the classroom is the books required once you’re there. The ASUN Wolf Shop is the school’s purveyor of textbooks, although for the price I personally made use of Textbook Brokers at the south end of campus. (Older students will note it’s located beneath a bar.) While both places—and digital services like Amazon—offer the option to buy books or rent them for the semester, Bottom has a clear opinion on which is smarter. “Just rent them,” she said. “You’re never going to use them again.”

GRoceRies aNd shoPPiNG The meal plans offered through the Downunder Café found in Argenta Hall are a reliable dining mainstay with lots of options but can add huge costs to a semester’s tuition. Those new to the university will find their student IDs useful at local restaurants and grocery stores. Students willing to do

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some research on local prices will find everything they need, for a lot less. “For groceries and living supplies—I get most of that at WinCo because I’ve found that to be the cheapest thing,” said Bottom. “My friends took me there, and I was like, ‘Whoa, everything’s so much cheaper here!’” Making use of membership discounts at your local grocery store can also help a cash-strapped student save, but they require diligence and a certain amount of routine to use effectively. When it comes to the little stuff, though, nothing beats a dollar. “Getting sponges or even a dish rack at the dollar store saves a lot of money, said Bottom. “Because you think about these daily things like, ‘Oh I need a spatula, let me go pick that up at the grocery store.’ And when you get there, it’s five bucks.” And while you may not want to get your groceries second-hand, local thrift stores and antique malls around town provide a ready supply of hidden gems at huge discounts. Students lacking space in their wardrobes may be able to earn as well as save by selling used clothes. “Just about everything in my closet is thrifted from either The Nest, Bad Apple Vntg. or Savers,” Bottom said. “Those are my top three places to go.”

health caRe Sorry about this one, but saving money on health care is pretty hard to do in this country. And if you do get sick or injured, it hardly seems like the time to start skimping on treatment. UNR students do have a first course of action, however: The Student Health Center. Equipped with lab facilities, a radiology department and pharmacy, the SHC is capable of meeting most primary care needs, and the cost of many services is covered by a student health fee tacked on to tuition. An ambulance will probably refuse to take you there, however. Emergencies should always warrant a trip to the hospital. The best thing a student can do to cut the cost of illness is not get sick in the first place. That’s easier said than done, unfortunately, but maintaining a balanced lifestyle with the help of university resources may help boost immunity. Alixandra Thompson is a third-year Nursing student at UNR (and coincidentally, this writer’s roommate). She believes students can do more than they think to avoid sickness by staying conscious of their “Social Determinants of Health.” “[These] are various factors that make up our overall well-being,” said

Thompson. “Most people, when they think about health as a state of being, they don’t consider a person’s spiritual, social, financial [health]—all of these things that actually play a huge role.” The theory, basically, is that by taking steps to ensure a state of environmental, emotional, spiritual, intellectual and financial well-being, students can minimize effects on their physical health. It’s a common sense health protection tactic, like washing your hands. Students looking for more aggressive prevention should also be on the lookout for free flu shots offered by the SHC and the Orvis Students Nursing Association in the fall. Oh, and speaking of prevention, the SHC also provides condoms and other contraception.

RecReatioN It’s tempting to consider this category first in our hierarchy of savings, but as many freshmen will discover after the first weekend of the fall semester, too much fun will only lead to a headache (and possibly vomiting). At the same time, students should consider taking the time to explore Reno’s vibrant community events and local businesses. UNR’s student government

maintains on its website a list of dozens of “Pack-friendly businesses” that offer discounts to students who show their IDs. Students can receive discounted memberships at local yoga and fitness studios, indoor rock climbing facilities like Basecamp, the EZ-Air trampoline park, and cultural centers like the Discovery Museum and Nevada Museum of Art. Even companies like AT&T and Spotify offer saving on their services, so getting in the habit of asking about a student discount is bound to pay off. Fitness-minded freshmen should also take advantage of the school’s new state of the art E.L. Wiegand Fitness Center next to the Lawlor Events center, a membership to which is covered by the cost of tuition for undergraduates (a deal that gets less generous for alumni, I assure you). And finally, for those students who do intend to spend money on alcohol or a means of procuring it upon starting school, budgeting for a night out should also include the cost of an Uber ride home. For cheapskates who are also lightweights, driving drunk may cost a bundle in legal fees or funeral expenses. During the semester, Campus Escort services will pick students up for free from most places within a two-mile radius of campus. The service shuts down nightly at 1 a.m. Ω

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useful links • Cost Calc Web App: http://bit.ly/1C81wpE • College Board: http://bit.ly/1aeaRZX • UNR Tuition Discounts: http://bit.ly/2uQGLAS • Textbook Brokers: unr.textbookbrokers.com • UNR Meal Plans: http://bit.ly/2vJe0mc • Student Health Center: med.unr.edu/shc • UNR Counseling Services: www.unr.edu/counseling • Pack-Friendly Businesses: http://bit.ly/2twUvjY • Spotify Student Discounts: http://spoti.fi/2vJnaiC • UNR Campus Escort: www.unr.edu/campus-escort

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