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University of Kansas School of Business Distinguished Lecturer William Lewis’ Personal Finance course has been helping students save thousands of dollars on vehicles, avoid unnecessary bank fees and even hold relationships together since he began teaching the class two years ago.

“There is no doubt about it, people who take care of their personal finances live more relaxed lives compared to those who spend to the razor’s edge and are not financially stable,” Lewis said.

Lewis’ course, FIN 101/301, which covers everything from bank reconciliations to filing taxes, has been producing personal success stories since he came out of retirement from the School of Business specifically to teach the course.

“I knew this course would truly benefit students,” Lewis said, “and I enjoy seeing the students understand the concepts, because I know the concepts will help them down the road.”

There’s no doubt that understanding personal financial situations like the 401K process will help students in the future, but some students have started to see benefits in their personal finances far earlier than that.

“Subjects we have discussed in class have shown up when I am doing things related to my finances,” James Bickley, a sophomore in finance from Overland Park, said. “It's nice to have already been exposed to those ideas.”

Multiple students have told Lewis his class has saved them from unnecessary bank charges, and one student even managed to save $1,500 on a car purchase thanks to his class. Aside from saving money, the personal finance class has even helped relationships to an extent.

“One student took the class this spring because his girlfriend took it in the fall. She told him he had to take the class,” Lewis said.

These examples and many others prove the School of Business’ FIN 101/301 course is having a large impact on how KU students handle their money.

“It’s an extremely useful class on all kinds of actual life things that people don’t tell you, and that you’d otherwise have to find out by making financial mistakes,” Kory Kirkegaard, a senior in Biology from Topeka, said.

Above all else, Lewis said he wants students to not be intimidated by handling their personal finances.

“Everybody can understand this topic,” Lewis said. “We’re not developing vaccines here; we’re talking about personal finance situations that we all have to deal with every day.”