Students Investing Money Investing money while in college many seem like an impossible venture. Most students are faced with formidable tuition costs and hefty student loans. The notion of actually saving money during your college years may be overwhelming but it is quite possible if you follow a few simple steps. First and foremost, college students have more resources than they think. Even if you can just put away a few dollars each week, you are still working towards creating a sound investment portfolio even during your university years. Ten or twenty dollar a week doesn’t seem like much but it adds up quickly. Remember to pay yourself first. So many students fail to see that they should pay themselves for the work that they do. Most suggest that ten percent of a person’s income should go into retirement or into savings. When investing money while in college, you can opt to go for this lofty goal or you can opt for a smaller amount. List your sources of income. Work Study programs are designed to help students pay tuition. However, some of this money may go above and beyond the basic tuition payments. Anything above your basic tuition costs can be rolled into a savings account, an IRA or into mutual funds. Since most college students are young, they have the unique opportunity to go aggressive with their stocks and mutual funds. This is a daring approach and many may prefer to take a slow and steady approach to their college investments. The choice depends on your philosophy and your future outlook on your investments down the road. Keep in mind that stocks will generally be more risky than mutual funds. You can still opt to go aggressive in the mutual fund investments but they are still a little safer than playing the stock market. Also, don’t fret about not putting enough money away in your savings venture. As long as you are contributing something you are ahead of the game. Consider your years attending a university as a series of investments. You will be putting in time to achieve goals. Once you have earned your degree you can move on to your professional career, an IRA and many more investment opportunities. Students are already investing their time and effort into earning a degree. Why not continue in the spirit of preparing for a bright future by investing money while in college?
January 10, 2009
Students Investing Money
December 5, 2008
student loan debt consolidation?
The way that my debts have built up since college, it seems like I have been paying for the fun that I had. I remember how carefree life was. I had a student loan to cover most of my expenses, and a little bit of help from my parents on the side. Life was good until I was through with school. Like many members of my generation, I was unlucky. I graduated just as the dotcom bubble burst. I was highly skilled and constantly underemployed. My student debt grew and grew. consolidation rates were too high for me to afford with my current income. There was just nothing that I could do. Finally, something came through for me. I had a friend in the high-tech industry who hooked me up with a job. It was luck, and nothing else. I had the right connections. Suddenly, I could pay for my student loan debt consolidation. I can't tell you what a relief that was. I came out of college idealistic and eager to tackle the world, but the world was not ready for me. As soon as I entered the workforce, I was completely broke. My education did nothing for me except to make it hard for me to get low end jobs. The high end jobs were not hiring. My student loan debt consolidation had spiraled out of control. I had no money. It's tough to be hopeless at the age of 25. Getting the new job, along with the student loan debt consolidation, saved my optimism. It's strange to think how often it just simply comes down to money. Now that I have enough of it, I am fairly happy.
I signed up for a student loan debt consolidation, but it did knew very little good. Student loan
If you are facing high student loan payments, I don't have to tell you that things can be pretty bleak. A lot of the time, the student loan debt consolidation just doesn't go far enough. If you went to community college or a state school, things might be fine. If, however, you used your student loans to go to an expensive private school, you might be out of luck. Even with student loan debt consolidation, sometimes the payments are too high. If you cannot get a good job, you might be faced with thousands of dollars of debt perpetually hanging over your head. It can get pretty grim.
