Day: July 4, 2025

Financial Literacy Is Key for Young Professionals

By Contributor
Banking and Financial Services

Stick to the Plan

By Amanda Goewey

 

As many recent college, trade school, and high school graduates settle into new jobs, their pockets may be feeling a bit heavier with money from the first few paychecks. It can be tempting (and exciting) to spend this newfound money on summer fun, but young professionals should have a plan for these paychecks. Understanding the options for what you can and should do when the money starts flowing is a great place to start.

 

Make a Budget and Stick to It

Setting a budget is critical for young professionals who are often balancing myriad expenses, like school and car loans, rent and utility payments, entertainment, and more for the first time. A budget is a plan that helps track and manage expenses to keep spending within your limits and help build your savings.

Budgets are built on a simple equation: your income minus your expenses equals your monthly net. To be financially stable, your expenses must be less than your income — that’s how you know you’re living within your means. If your expenses are equal to your income, you will be living within your means, but you will have nothing left over for savings.

 

Amanda Goewey“Setting a budget is critical for young professionals who are often balancing myriad expenses, like school and car loans, rent and utility payments, entertainment, and more for the first time.”

 

Create an Emergency Fund

One account everyone should have, regardless of age or career stage, is an emergency fund for unexpected costs like vehicle and home repairs, medical bills, or vet bills, if you have a pet. It’s critical to consider this fund as a part of your overall monthly budget.

Setting a specific goal for an emergency fund will help determine a reasonable timeline for reaching it. For example, if your goal is to build a $2,000 emergency fund in one year, you’ll need to allocate about $167 per month to that fund. Being consistent in saving that amount every month is critical to achieving the goal. Consider setting up a direct deposit for the amount needed from your paycheck.

 

Pay Off High-interest Debt

High-interest debt is ever-changing alongside loan interest rates; it’s generally accepted that high-interest debt is anything above the student loan or mortgage rates. Those interest rates are assigned when you borrow or receive money in advance, also known as credit.

So, what should you do if you’re carrying this type of debt? While simply paying it off is the best answer, actually doing it isn’t quite that straightforward, but should be a top priority before setting savings goals. Having debt, especially high-interest debt, will lead to poor credit, which can create obstacles to achieving your financial goals.

One of the most straightforward ways to pay down high-interest debt is to carefully budget and track your expenses and limit non-essential spending. There are several budgeting apps that can help track all expenses from monthly bills to groceries, eating out, and even monthly streaming subscriptions. Review where you can cut spending and make a plan for paying down the debt.

 

Start Saving for Retirement

Believe it or not, it is never too early to start planning for retirement, and taking advantage of employer-sponsored retirement benefits is a great way to start. Many employers offer programs such as 401(k) plans and 403(b) plans. These accounts help reduce your current taxable income, are easy to contribute to through direct deposit, provide interest rates that support significant growth over time, and can be transferred from employer to employer, if and when you move on.

When it’s time to determine your contribution, a good rule of thumb is to contribute enough to ensure you receive your employer’s full matching contribution, if offered. If your employer does not offer a retirement benefit, consider starting an individual retirement account (IRA).

 

Bottom Line

Your banking institution can be a helpful resource in determining what option is best for you and your financial goals. For example, the NBT Bank Wealth Management team can help you determine contribution limits, how employer contributions work, what terms like ‘vesting’ mean, and who is actually directing investments within your plan.

Getting a new job and having a new source of income is exciting, but figuring out how to manage your money can be stressful. Spending money is easy, but doing it responsibly and within a budget takes a bit more effort. The good news is, there are many helpful resources, like your banking partner, that can help you assess your current financial situation and future goals and provide you with money skills and tools for long-term success.

And remember, if you suddenly find yourself with extra money, from a bonus, birthday gift, or tax return, use it as an opportunity to get ahead of your timeline and put a portion of it toward your debt or your savings — but be sure to set aside a little bit to celebrate your new gig!

 

Amanda Goewey is the Massachusetts market manager for NBT Bank. With more than 15 years of experience in banking, she is responsible for overseeing retail banking at NBT’s eight branches in Berkshire County.

Strategic Asset Allocation Is Key to Protecting a Portfolio

By Contributor
Business & Innovation Expo of Western Mass.

Navigating Market Volatility

By David Modzelewski

 

In April 2025, a significant policy shift left investors unsettled as the S&P 500 tumbled about 12% in a single week. With the new administration in office, we have seen heightened volatility, and more may follow. In times like these, many investors ask themselves, how do I protect my portfolio?

The answer lies in strategic asset allocation. By working with a trusted financial advisor who acts in your best interest, you can build a portfolio designed to guide you through uncertain times like these.

Asset allocation is a fundamental component in building an investment portfolio. By constructing a diversified portfolio that encompasses various asset classes such as stocks, bonds, and cash, you can inherently reduce risk and volatility, while still acquiring desirable returns.

During periods of volatility, human nature often responds impulsively to market flux; however, maintaining discipline is key. For most investors, modifying your allocation during a declining market can have a negative impact on your assets. If a market downturn prompts you to alter your allocation, it may indicate that your portfolio was not properly allocated to begin with.

David Modzelewski

David Modzelewski

“Asset allocation is a fundamental component in building an investment portfolio. By constructing a diversified portfolio that encompasses various asset classes such as stocks, bonds, and cash, you can inherently reduce risk and volatility, while still acquiring desirable returns.”

Successful investing begins with building a portfolio tailored to your risk tolerance and short-term needs. This allows for investors to weather downturns in the market while enabling them to take advantage of the subsequent market growth.

Many variables go into deciding the proper asset allocation for your portfolio. To determine these variables, a financial advisor will ask in-depth personal questions to gain a better understanding of your financial situation and goals.

Asset allocation must be tailored to meet your needs — there is no one-size-fits-all answer. The better your advisor understands you, the more effectively they can personalize your asset allocation. Below are three factors used to influence the decision behind allocating assets.

 

What Are Your Goals?

Your goals anchor your asset allocation strategy. Advisors use tools like the Monte Carlo simulations to project outcomes and determine the growth rate required to achieve such goals. This analysis balances the risk required with your comfort level to get you there.

Example: An investor wants to buy a second home, pay for their kids’ college, or retire early. They may need a specific dollar goal to reach within 10 years. Based on projections of returns expected for an asset allocation over that time period, you can see the probability of success.

 

When Will the Funds Be Needed?

Your age and life stage have a significant impact on the time horizon of your investments. How long your investments will remain untouched shapes your allocation. Typically, a longer time horizon allows for an investor to take on greater risk, as there is time to recover from declines. Shorter horizons call for a more conservative approach to protect capital.

Example: Consider an investor nearing retirement who will soon take withdrawals from their investments for living expenses. This is a massive life transition for the investor. Investors may now think they are retiring and that they should shift all of their funds into a fully conservative investment, but that is not always the case. Remember, if you retire at 65 and live into your 90s, your assets still need to grow to combat inflation and longevity.

 

Can You Handle a Volatile Market?

Your risk tolerance determines the asset allocation’s composition. Fear of loss can drive investors to sell during a downturn, which is often the wrong decision. A trusted advisor can help you remove emotions from investing to ensure that you do not lose sight of your long-term plan. Many investors consider moving to cash during volatility, but this can lock in losses and miss rebounds, as seen in April when markets recovered swiftly after a sharp decline.

Example: The month of April 2025 is a great illustration of this. Following President Trump’s declaration of ‘Liberation Day,’ the S&P 500 saw a 12.14% decline from April 2 to April 8. The uncertainty surrounding tariffs left investor sentiment low. By the end of April, the market had largely recovered, finishing just 1.80% below its April 2 level. The momentum and recovery of the market carried into the month of May, which finished up 5.49%, the best May performance for the S&P 500 since 1990. Investors who exited the market on the 12.14% drop likely missed the ensuing recovery and growth.

 

Key Points

• Individual investors need to have a comprehensive approach to allocate their assets specifically for their goals.

• Working with a fiduciary advisor ensures your portfolio is built to direct you through all market cycles, rather than being driven by them.

• Over time, asset allocation can drift as certain asset classes grow faster than others. It is important to rebalance your portfolio on a periodic basis.

• Don’t wait for the next market downturn — schedule a portfolio review with a trusted advisor today to ensure your investments are positioned for success.

 

David Modzelewski is a financial advisor with St. Germain Investment Management.

UMass Amherst Team Honored for Inventing Safer IV Pole

By
Karen Giuliano with an IV pole
Environment and Engineering

Combining Expertise

Karen Giuliano with an IV pole

Karen Giuliano with an IV pole

A nurse-engineer team at UMass Amherst has been honored with an ANA Innovation Award for inventing a new intravenous (IV) pole designed to improve the safety and ease of administering IV medications at the hospital bedside.

The American Nurses Assoc. Foundation and the American Nurses Enterprise announced the 2025 award winners earlier this year. The team — Karen Giuliano, nursing co-director of the Elaine Marieb Center for Nursing and Engineering Innovation; Jeannine Blake, assistant professor of Nursing; and Juan Jiménez, associate professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and a Manning/IALS innovation fellow — won honorable mention in the 2025 Team Innovation Award category.

Preventable medication errors harm approximately 500,000 hospitalized patients in the U.S. each year. Many of these errors occur with the use of IV smart pumps, which require a very specific system setup to ensure the right amount of medication is delivered as ordered. When the setup is not followed, the IV smart pump can deliver too much or too little of the medication prescribed, even as the pump signals it is delivering the correct amount.

“By bringing together expertise from both nursing and engineering, we are breaking barriers and reimagining how technology can support nurses and improve patient care.”

By combining the engineering and fluid dynamics expertise of Jiménez with the clinical knowledge of critical care nurses Giuliano and Blake, this interdisciplinary team set out to develop an IV pole that simplifies and accelerates the setup and delivery of IV medications in hospitals when using an IV pump, ultimately reducing the occurrence of dangerous yet largely preventable medication errors. The idea stemmed from real-world clinical observations, which revealed that standard IV poles often make it more challenging and time-consuming for frontline nurses to achieve optimal IV infusion setups.

A patent is under review for this novel IV pole, which features an adjustable crossbar for hanging infusions. This innovative crossbar automatically maintains the required height differential between the IV pump and the medication container. Established by IV smart pump manufacturers, this differential helps ensure optimal fluid flow accuracy. The pole improves IV medication delivery efficiency while minimizing the need for manual adjustments.

“The work of Drs. Giuliano, Blake, and Jiménez, along with the Elaine Marieb Center, represents the future of healthcare innovation,” said Frank Sup, engineering co-director of the Elaine Marieb Center.

Giuliano, Jiménez, and Blake also received a 2022 Manning/IALS Innovation Award to support work on their new IV pole project. “By bringing together expertise from both nursing and engineering, we are breaking barriers and reimagining how technology can support nurses and improve patient care,” Giuliano said.

According to Jiménez, “this project is a perfect example of why engineering and nursing must work together to solve real-world healthcare challenges. Nurses bring first-hand clinical experience and deep knowledge of patient care, while engineers contribute technical expertise to design practical, effective solutions.”

The ANA Foundation’s Team Innovation Award celebrates interdisciplinary collaboration and ingenuity in addressing critical healthcare challenges. The winning teams exemplify these values by integrating engineering principles into nursing practice to develop cutting-edge healthcare solutions that enhance clinical outcomes and streamline nursing workflows. Their efforts have contributed to novel medical devices and improved patient safety protocols, according to the ANA Foundation.

The invention of the new IV pole is part of the Elaine Marieb Center for Nursing and Engineering Innovation’s active program of research on the safety and usability of IV smart pumps. Their research has focused on reducing infusion errors, optimizing alarm management, and enhancing usability to better support clinicians in high-pressure environments, such as the intensive care unit, where patients are typically receiving multiple IV drips at the same time.