Financial Wisdom From the Top Dog
Q&A With Robert Shelton
By Sara McCluskey
Photo by Jason Sims
Shelton shares financial wisdom Shelton shares early job experiences
Presiding over the UA from the Administration building's seventh floor, President Robert Shelton might seem far from students' everyday concerns, but he is more relatable to than one might think: Shelton understands what it's like to be a poor student.
RedBlue: Before you became president of the UA and started making the big bucks, were you ever strapped for money? Shelton: Oh my, yes! When I was growing up money was always tight. My parents divorced -- you know what that does to someone's economic situation. So I remember there were moments when I was pleased that the church brought food to the house. And then I managed to get a scholarship to go to college, and I met my wife, who was also on scholarship.
RB: What did you do to make it as a poor college student? Shelton: Well, I didn't eat out. We had a meal plan. I lived in the residence halls all three years before I was married. … And then our senior year we were married, and so we just occasionally, about once every two or three months, we would go out to a little cafe in the Stanford (University) Shopping Center. We used to joke about how the rolls could bounce off the floor, they were so rubbery, but it was still a treat to go out.
RB: What was the dumbest large purchase you have ever made? Shelton: Our senior year, when we were married, we had a 1959 Pontiac, a very old car. That I had purchased from my dad, and on my way to a chemistry final the engine quit in a puff of blue smoke. And so I got out of the car, ran to my final, and came back. It was clearly dead. We couldn't get any money for it, so a fellow came and towed it away. He gave us $50 for the car because we had new tires. And so we went car hunting on foot and probably the craziest purchase we made, although we had to at the time, was a 1963 (Chevy) Corvair, maybe it was a '64. And we bought it off of a lot that had just taken it in on trade.
RB: What kind of purchases have you discovered are a waste of money? Shelton: Things that don't last are a waste of money. After we graduated, we rented a one-bedroom unfurnished, so we had to get some furniture. I made a dining room table, and we used the standard bookshelves, but most of the furniture we bought has really lasted. In fact, from 1970 we still have a sofa, a big chair, and an ottoman. So the stupid things were the items we purchased that just didn't last. It was better to buy one good quality thing than three cheap things.
RB: What budgeting advice do you have for students? Shelton: I am very fiscally careful, and I think you need to watch closely your expenditures -- not buy things you can't afford; it is very tempting in this day and age. It is remarkable to me how many credit card offers you get every day in the mail. I would urge great caution on the use of credit.
