Keeping track of one’s student loans, credit report and savings is important as explained by Courtney Elliott at the “Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems” seminar hosted by Alpha Kappa Alpha last Monday.

Elliot is an alumnus who graduated in 2002. After training with H&R Block, he started his own tax business. Elliot Tax and Loans has been running for 12 years.

Elliott began the seminar by discussing student loans and how the loans are basically “waiting on y’all to get out of school.”

National Student Loan Data System is a website he recommends using to see numerous options to obtain student loans.

He also introduced the Income Based Repayment Plan program that President Obama brought in that is based off of income.

According to Sharmaine Bumcon, a sophomore criminal justice major, student loans are something that almost every college student needs. She was excited to hear about the income-based plan.

“I have never heard of it before and it’s very well needed. You never know how long it will take to find a job when you graduate, and to know I have this option kind of takes some stress away. Like some weight of my shoulders,” Bumcon said.

Elliot also explained the importance of having good credit. Keeping up with your credit score and making sure you pay bills in a timely matter is part of maintaining good credit. One’s credit rate determines if one can buy a car, purchase a home and starting a business.

“How many of you guys have ever pulled your own credit?” Elliot asked.

Not a single hand was raised.

“Wow…One of the leading things that’s on the top of that list is identity theft. That is on the rise! People come in and file their taxes with us and find out someone has already used their social security number,” Elliot said.

It was also explained how jobs are starting to pull potential employees’ credit report to help determine if they will get hired or not. A person can pull their credit report for free up to 3 times a year and doing so would help one keep an eye on their credit score and keep an eye on any suspicious activity.

Tips on saving more were also given. Elliott advised not to “live beyond your means.” One can never know if anything may come up. Saving as often as you can will help in desperate times of need.

Kenya Green, a sophomore pre-nursing major, said that she knew keeping up with your credit score was important, but that she didn’t realize how important it was to start checking it early.

“I liked the fact that even though we may not have credit, it’s a good idea to start working on it and that if it’s already bad it can be fixed,” Green said.