Business & Economy Society & Culture

UGA Griffin campus to host financial planning awareness event

DiGiovanni
Mark DiGiovanni

Athens, Ga. – Noted financial strategist and author Mark DiGiovanni will be the guest speaker at the Certified Financial Planner Luncheon hosted April 18 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the University of Georgia Griffin campus.

The event is free and open to the public and is targeted at area financial planners, financial advisers, business leaders, prospective students and others interested in the financial planning profession and services.

“Financial planning services have always been important, but as people are emerging from the great recession, now is a great time to seek the services of a financial planner,” said Sophia Anong, an assistant professor in the department of financial planning, housing and consumer economics in the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences. “The UGA financial planning degree program is among the top 10 in the country.”

DiGiovanni, founder of Marathon Financial Services, has been a certified financial planner in the Atlanta area since 1997. He has served as president of the Georgia Chapter of the Financial Planning Association and has been a board-appointed CFP ambassador since 2010.

“There is a lack of formal education regarding money,” DiGiovanni said. “That oversight creates a very great need for someone like a certified financial planner. There’s also a great need for institutions like UGA that produce them.”

The event will begin with networking at 11:30 a.m. Lunch will be served from 12-1 p.m.

The College of Family and Consumer Sciences financial planning professors will give a brief overview of the degree programs accredited by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards that also meet the education requirement toward CFP certification.

The college’s recent launch of an online master’s program in financial planning, beginning in the fall, also will be highlighted.

The UGA Griffin campus offers an optional financial planning emphasis in its two-year bachelor’s degree completion program in consumer economics.

Pre-registration is required to attend the event. To pre-register and for more information, see www.ugagriffincfp.com.