kyle Winkfield - Media GoodCall-11.30.15

1. MOST COLLEGE GRADUATES WANT EMPLOYERS TO HELP PAY OFF STUDENT LOANS As a result, Winkfi eld says that young em ployees want to get out of debt as soon as possible so they can “get on” with their lives. However, he warns, “While elim i- nating debt as quickly as possible is an adm irable goal, no one should ever forego health insurance. While student loans can feel overwhelm ing, the weight of unpaid m edical bills is m uch m ore tragic.” STUDENT LOAN DEBT CRISIS Em ployer student loan repaym ent program s are obviously popular am ong Millenni- als, but are they really m aking a difference or just appealing to popular sentim ent? According to Steven Rothberg, President and Founder of College Recruiter, “Re- cent graduates – who are not all young – have a preference for student loan repay- m ent program s because their student loan debt is in a crisis and the other benefi ts address im portant issues, but issues which aren’t yet a crisis. Rothberg notes that som e corporate em ployers have already im plem ented these types of program s, but he says the benefi ts typically are $1,000 to $2,000 per year, and at that rate, the new hire would need to work for that em ployer for decades to pay off their loans. By: Terri Williams - November 30, 2015 Student loans are front and center in the m inds of m ost current college students and recent college graduates. The 40 m illion holders of student loan debt owe an average loan am ount in the range of $30,000 – $35,000. And in fact, a previous GoodCall article revealed that student debt is stopping Millennials from purchasing hom es. Even after four years of em ploym ent, Millennial workers are struggling to m ake tim ely student loan paym ents. EMPLOYER STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAMS Financial and consulting juggernaut PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) recently an- nounced a student loan repaym ent program . Effective July 2016, PwC will provide up to $1,200 a year to help associates and senior associates (entry-level em ploy- ees and those with up to six years of experience) pay back their student loans. How do Millennials hope to address these diffi cult realities? A new study by iontu- ition reveals that these young workers want em ployers to pitch in and help with stu- dent loan debt and would actually prefer this type of assistance to other em ployee benefi ts. Som e of the study’s key fi ndings are as follows: Michael Fenlon, PwC’s Global Talent Leader, tells GoodCall that over a period of tim e, this benefi t m ay help reduce student loan principal and interest obligations by as m uch as $10,000 per em ployee, and this can shorten loan payoff periods by up to three years. “Since PwC recruits over 11,000 new hires from cam puses each year, it is im portant to our people to provide a m eaningful way to help reduce their debt,” says Fenlon. • 75% of respondents would like to work for a com pany that provides assis- tance repaying student loans (this includes m atching contributions and loan m anagem ent tools) • 75% of respondents would prefer a loan m atch to healthcare • 49% of respondents would prefer a loan m atch to a 401(k) plan It’s a sm art m ove and will undoubtedly offer the com pany a com petitive recruiting edge. However, Winkfi eld says, “The program s help as they m ake a dent for the em ployees, but they’re far from a solution to the problem caused by what is, in effect, a m assive subsidy for the fi nancial services and higher education industries paid for by our youngest workers and their parents.” To help explain these fi ndings, GoodCall contacted three experts for their takes on the survey results. THE INVINCIBILITY FACTOR Kyle Winkfi eld, m anaging partner at O’Dell, Winkfi eld, Rosem an & Shipp, has m ore than 15 years of experience growing clients’ wealth through cutting edge fi nancial strategies. Kyle specifi cally focuses on reducing or elim inating future incom e tax liabilities and preservation of wealth while increasing lifestyle security. One explanation for the survey results is that young Millennials are focused on the present and not as concerned about the future. According to Kyle Winkfi eld, m anaging partner of O.W.R.S. in Rockville, MD, “Young people are generally quite healthy and because of this, are m ore willing to ‘gam ble’ with healthcare benefi ts.” He says that m any of them prefer to direct their incom e elsewhere because they believe that they’re invincible. “Based on the results of the survey, what seem s to be scarier than potential health- care bills is the current loom ing debt of student loans,” says Winkfi eld, who adds, “The ‘here and now’ is always m uch scarier than the ‘what ifs’ of the future because of the belief that worries for the future can be written off for another day.” To contact Kyle, please call 877-821-OWRS (6977) or visit www.owrsfi rm .com .