By Gary Herman

Two prominent UK figures urged students to develop good financial habits Thursday.

President Lee Todd and head basketball coach John Calipari spoke at the Are You Credit Wise? program in the Grand Ballroom of the Student Center.

ISC senior Kayla Klein, an Are You Credit Wise? ambassador, and Student Government President Ryan Smith joined Calipari and Todd to speak at the event.

“For a lot of us, this is the first time we are on our own financially,” Smith said.

The program, run by MasterCard, has existed for 12 years and reached over 520,000 students on almost 80 campuses.

“I’m here today, not only to educate you, but to influence and motivate you to take action now,” Klein said. “So ultimately you can afford the things you want, when you want them.”

Calipari shared his own experiences with the students, including a story about being the parent of a college student.

“My own child went away to college, and I got a credit card bill.” Calipari said, “I had to fly to that university and I had to say ‘this bill is bigger than my credit card bill, and I’m traveling.”

Calipari had high praise for the students in attendance.

“To be concerned about your future is a really special thing,” Calipari said.

Todd also shared stories from his professional experiences and gave advice to the students.

“Don’t wait until you’re 60 years old and start looking at what you’ve accumulated in a retirement account,” Todd said. “Think about it when you get that first job, because it will come up.”

Todd acknowledged Calipari’s commitment to financial literacy and embracing all the responsibilities of a UK basketball coach.

“We wanted somebody who wanted the whole job of being in charge of the Big Blue Nation,” Todd said. “He has redefined what that whole job is.”

After a short break, Klein gave her presentation on financial literacy.

Eighty-four percent of college students have a credit card and 38 percent pay their tuition with a credit card, Klein said.

“The average college student graduates with $4,000 in debt,” Klein said. “That’s not even including student loans.”

She spoke to the audience about the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) act.

“You can no longer purchase a credit card on your own,” Klein said. “Now you have to have a consignor.”

She also spoke about creating a budget, setting goals, understanding credit history, establishing good credit, managing a credit card, student loans, and new ways to pay beyond a credit card including prepaid cards and debit cards.

“Any missed payments and other oops that you make they can stay on your credit report for 7 to 11 years,” Klein said. “So trust me, anything you’re doing now is going to affect you later on.”

There was a lot of information and advice given to the students during this program.

“You don’t want to work for money,” Calipari said. “You want money to work for you.”