By Marie Haaland
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
In order to prepare seniors for life after graduation, the Office
of Student Leadership and Engagement (OSLE) sponsored an event called “How to Adult: I Have No Idea What I’m Doing” on Wednesday, Feb. 24.
The focus of this event was to explain benefits, healthcare and retirement. When asked why she attended, senior public relations major Sarah McGough said,
“I’m very insecure about leaving college, if that makes sense. I thought a switch would go off, and I’d be professional, but that’s not going to happen. I came because I wanted to learn how to be an adult.”
Senior Associate Director of Human Resources Ira Kolko was the speaker of the seminar. Kolko started by explaining how each job offers different benefits.
There are basic benefits like medical and dental, and voluntary benefits, including home or
auto insurance and disability. Some jobs offer perks, such as travel or a gym memberships for employees.
He then went into detail about healthcare. Kolko covered common health insurance terms like deductible, coinsurance and copayment,
which many college kids have heard of, but often do not fully understand. He explained that there are many different health care plans, each made to fit a variety of people’s needs. Hofstra employees are on an Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO) plan, allowing them access to a network of providers where they only have to pay a copay to receive care.
Some employers offer the option of flexible spending plans, which allow employees to put pretaxed money aside for things like necessary medical or health reasons, dependent care for children or for transit to and from work. The money expires after a certain length of time, so you need to be smart about what you set aside, according to Kolko.
When asked what he most wanted students to take away from the seminar, Kolko said, “When you, after you get hired and you are presented with benefits, I want them to understand the terminology.
If they are presented with the opportunity to participate in a 401k plan, I want them to know what that is.” He made sure to stress the point that as soon as the option of joining a retirement plan is made available, you should take it.
Kolko highlighted that retirement, though it may seem far away, should be something everyone entering the workforce is preparing for and that the sooner you start saving money for retirement, the better financial position you will be in when you are ready to retire. He explained some of the different retirement plans, including a 403b, for nonprofits, and a 401k.
This is the second of several events in the “How to Adult” series. The next will be held Tuesday, March 8 and will focus on how to rent an apartment in New York City. Other seminar topics include salary negotiation – which will be a joint event between OSLE and the Career Center – and financial well-being.
“I think these are the topics you don’t always get in college.
I wanted them to have a base layer of knowledge,” Denise DeGennaro of OSLE said of why they chose these topics.
