On Thursday, Sept. 26, the Financial Mastery Club held its first meeting, marking the beginning of a new opportunity for City College students to gain financial wisdom. 

Club president Jasper Park opened the meeting by briefly introducing himself before passing the floor to guest speaker Ed St. George, who is the developer of Santa Barbara’s largest student housing complex, Beach City, along with a dozen other rental housing units. 

A self-made entrepreneur, St. George shared his uprising as a developer. He began his story, by empathizing with college students who struggle to make rent and balance their school work. He recalled struggles that came from having to work multiple jobs from a young age, offering a sense of connectivity with the audience.

As a Santa Barbara-born and raised local, he was constantly trying to find ways to stay busy while finding ways of increasing his income. As a high school student, he recalls missing classes due to the conflicted schedule of working two jobs concurrently. 

Students received the opportunity to ask St. George questions, and many took the chance to do so. When asked if he would have ever gone back to school, St. George admitted he would have liked to take more college-level business courses. 

“I have lost millions and millions and millions of dollars because of my lack of education,” St. George said. “If I had the opportunity to do it all over again, I would’ve gone to college and joined the Air Force.”

St. George explained that he plans to continue staying active in the real estate market, and encourages students to get involved in their own way. He briefly discussed his personal take on the tax advantages of owning real estate, including depreciation and expense write-offs along with the disadvantages that come along with managing properties.

“There’s very little risk in managing real estate, but it’s probably the ugliest aspect of real estate as well.” St. George said.

St. George advised attendees to study the market and find good deals, emphasizing the importance of education and experience. 

He shared insights on the importance of building equity and the impact of government policies on real estate investments, along with explaining the concept of partnering with others to secure investments and the benefits of owning a real estate business.

St. George encourages students to find value in self-discipline and implement it in all aspects of their lives, whether school, work, or relational. As a business owner, he emphasized the importance of grades, arguing that your grades are an important indicator of one’s self-discipline.

Park was thrilled with the turnout of the club’s attendance. “We hope to have many more guest speakers come and help our club strive for success,” Park said.  

The club concluded the first meeting by thanking St. George for stopping by and inviting students to come back for more meetings to follow. The next financial mastery club meeting will be hosted at 6 p.m. on October 10th in the Physical Science building, room l101.

Correction: Oct. 10, 2024
A previous version of this story misstated Jasper Parks name. The Channels regrets this error.