New grads and their first opportunities - Star-Press

I recently had a conversation with my youngest son, Luke, who is living in Florida where he is doing two years with Teach for America as a high school teacher.

The purpose of his call was to get my advice on his opportunity to participate in his employer's 403(b) retirement plan. He had a very vague understanding of how the plan works, its benefits to him, and what he should do, if anything. He asked many questions that I was able to answer. Before we ended our call he thanked me for helping him to understand all of the options he had, and for guiding him in this process.

As parents, grandparents, and family friends of those graduating from high school, college or technical schools, we have a unique opportunity and, I believe, a responsibility. Upon full-time employment, these young adults are often presented, for the first time, choices about health insurance coverage, group life insurance and retirement plan participation, among other possibilities. They have no experience as a frame of reference on these issues. As older adults, many of us do. In my practice, I frequently advise young adult clients or the children of my middle aged clients on these issues when asked to do so.

As an adviser or as a family member, it is very important to understand and, advise accordingly, how the best choices are a function of current age, family responsibilities, and employment timeline. Let me address an example of what I mean. The investment choices of a 23-year-old would probably not be the same of an individual of age 55 or 60 due to the number of years to retirement. But, if an individual such as my son knows they are only going to be working with a given employer for a short period of time, then the choices may not be what we would customarily recommend for such a young man because he will be leaving employment and needing and/or desiring to move his account balances to another personal or employer plan in less than two years.

Another example is the decision of what plan of health insurance to sign up for when multiple options are available. The young adult needs to weigh their ability to come up with a high deductible out-of-pocket amount in the event of a major health claim against the advantage of the lower premium associated with a high deductible option. What are their resources for paying this high deductible, and can the parents, if desired, serve as a backup if this need arises?

Each young adult's situation, and the decisions to be made, can be overwhelming. Too often they make no choices because they don't have the knowledge or skills to make them. Because of this reality, opportunities can be missed which can be detrimental to their current and future financial well-being. Children do not learn financial knowledge and understanding randomly or simply by living in the same household with a person who has this knowledge. We need to be talking with our children, and exchanging ideas with them, about making prudent financial decisions and the financial risks associated with not doing so. If you are not comfortable with this job, find an adviser to have these discussions with your children.

Beth Peckinpaugh Beasley, CLU, is in financial services with Peckinpaugh & Beasley Inc. She is a member of NAIFA-East Central Indiana and can be reached at 287-8310 or beth.beasley@comcast.net.

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Davyd Jones still chasing NFL opportunity - Star-Press

MUNCIE -- Among the many people put out by the National Football League's lockout last year were the undrafted college football players who sought opportunities at the professional level.

That group of street free agents was among the lowest priority for NFL executives as they scrambled to sign players during the brief window between the time the lockout was settled and training camps began.

Davyd Jones felt the pinch. The Central High School product completed his career as a linebacker at Ball State in the 2010 season. He hoped to get invited to an NFL team's training camp, but no offer was extended.

"A lot of teams were signing players who were already in the league," Jones said. "A lot of guys in my position got left out last year. It was a series of unfortunate events, but I'm still knocking on the door."

More than a year removed from being a college player, Jones hasn't relinquished hope of competing on the next level. He completed a combine-type workout in front of pro scouts in Atlanta last Sunday.

Two teams -- the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans -- called Jones' agent after the lockout ended, but neither team followed up with a camp offer.

"It was a heartbreaker," Jones said.

So he remained in school at Ball State last fall, continued to work out and watched NFL games on TV. Jones obtained seasonal work with UPS during the holidays.

He continues to attend classes and will graduate in May with a degree in business administration. Jones also has a job offer from First Investors, a financial services company in Indianapolis.

But his dream is to find his way to the NFL. To accomplish that, Jones has been working on improving his speed.

He beefed up from his playing weight of 216 pounds as a senior outside linebacker for the Cardinals to 235 last year. With the added weight and strength, he lost some speed.

Jones addressed that this winter when he went to Phoenix for 10 days to train with former Ball State football player and former Central High School boys track coach Cornelius Bowick. Bowick moved to Arizona in 2007 and formed High Octane Development, a training company that works with high school, middle school and club sport athletes. He also coaches football and track at Maryvale High School.

Through Bowick's program, Jones shaved a couple hundredths of a second off his 40-yard dash time, getting down to 4.65 seconds.

"The major correction we made was with his explosion, the first five steps," Bowick said. "His first three steps were short. His stance was off. We call it the drive phase."

Jones came home with a workout prescribed by Bowick to help him continue to improve his speed.

Jones, who is tied for second all-time in games played at Ball State with 50, played inside linebacker as a junior. He led the Cardinals in tackles with 100. He was moved outside as a senior, and different responsibilities within the defense caused his tackles to drop to 66.

He believes he can play linebacker or fullback in the NFL. Jones was a running back at Central.

"I want to make sure I give it my all, and hopefully an opportunity arises," Jones said. "It's my dream. If I give up on the dream, then I would always wonder, 'What if?'

"I'm approaching it (as my last shot), but I'll never give up on my dream until I just can't run anymore. I do believe I can play in the NFL. All I have to do is get a shot. Whenever I get that shot, I'm going to try vigorously, and I'm pretty sure I'll make the best of it."

Contact sports writer Doug Zaleski at 213-5813.

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