Five financial planning workshops will be offered at Coastal Carolina University in March and April. The Financial Empowerment Workshops, led by faculty members of CCU's E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration, will offer advice on personal financial planning and how to achieve financial independence. The seminars, which are free, will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in room 210 of the Wall Building. The following workshops will be offered:

* Thursday, March 27 - "Managing Personal Finances," presented by accounting professor John Mortimer, will focus on how to manage individual finances and credit.

* Thursday, April 3 - "Tax Planning," presented by Wall College of Business executive-in-residence Howard Smith, will deal with income and property taxes and how to minimize tax liability.

* Thursday, April 10 - "Managing Personal Debt," presented by economics professor Yoav Wachsman, will focus on solutions to financial problems and ways to manage personal debt.

* Thursday, April 17 - "Creating a Winning Portfolio," presented by finance professor Marvin Keene, will delve into what stocks and bonds are and how to design an ideal investment portfolio.

* Thursday, April 24 - "Investing in Mutual Funds," presented by finance professor Ken Small, will examine how to make a knowledgeable investment in mutual funds.

For more information, call Yoav Wachsman at 349-2683 or e-mail at yoav@coastal.edu.