What's Your Recipe for Financial Success?

Some people can throw together a delicious meal without a plan, but many take a step back and think it through, recipes in hand. The same strategy applies for planning for financial success.

That's why Peg Helminski attended a retirement planning seminar during last year's Financial Fitness Week at Duke.

"Life goes by so fast, and I don't often step back and think about personal financial stuff," said Helminski, a staff specialist for the Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Life. "The seminar gave me good ideas of how to reinvest the money we still have after most of our savings evaporated during the market crash."

From May 23-27, Duke will once again bring financial experts to Duke University and Duke University Health System locations during a week of workshops and information booths offered at no charge to faculty, staff and their family members.

Workshop topics include fundamentals of investing, retirement planning, achieving long-term financial goals, building a strong credit history and more. Among information booths on May 25 at the Searle Center will be the U.S. Department of Treasury. A representative will assist employees in researching whether there are uncashed savings bonds or other unclaimed funds held by the government in their name. 

New this year is a benefits workshop in Spanish: "Entendiendo Mi Plan de Retiro de Duke" (Understanding My Retirement Plan at Duke). The workshop will help a growing number of Spanish speakers employed at Duke understand how they can use Duke's retirement plans to help prepare for a comfortable retirement.

"We want to remove as many barriers as possible in dialoguing with employees about this important benefit," said Sylvester Hackney, assistant director of Benefits at Duke.