A Lesson in Money Management

On Saturday, March 24, the SAG-AFTRA New York Young Performers committee hosted a daylong workshop at the New York office for young performers titled Wealth: The Funds and Financial Future of the Young Performer. Sponsored by the SAG-Producers Industry Advancement and Cooperative Fund, the workshop taught the young members about how money is earned, spent and invested as part of the day-to-day business of being a professional performer. 

Young performer members were given play money from a hypothetical union job. Union dues and Coogan account money were set aside, and the remainder was left for them to cover the imagined costs of headshots, acting class, self-taping and investment counseling. The day ended with members earning returns on their investments, gaining access to their trust account money and earning residuals, all resulting in a payback of play money along with some chocolate coins for interest. 

Parents took part in a morning panel about young performer financial management that included speakers from SAG-AFTRA, the Actors Federal Credit Union and the Actors Fund. In the afternoon, Sandra Karas, director of the New York VITA office and a New York Local Board member, gave a seminar about filing tax returns for young performers. VITA is a tax assistance program for performers.

Photo: Young performer members with audio engineer Keegan Monti-Kewley, New York Young Performers Committee Co-Chair Holter Graham and acting coach Kimberly Vaughn.