Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be running a series of posts on Poorer Than You – personal finance advice for the many of you that are graduating from college right now. Go ahead and feel special – you’re in the spotlight!
I already have a list of topics I want to cover, but I would really love it if you would weigh in. If you…
- Are graduating and have questions
- Graduated recently and are struggling with something
- Will graduate in the next few years and want to get a head start
- Graduated in the past and remember things you wish you’d known
- Have advice that you’d like to contribute
Then please leave a comment on this post with your ideas or questions! If you’ve got a big, long, well-thought-out idea, I’ll also accept guest posts for this series. Let me know! (You can also use the contact form to send in questions or ideas, if you’d like.)
Posts in this series:
- Start the Job Hunt
- Evaluate Benefits for Job Offers
- Calculate Your Tax Withholding
- Plan Your Attack on Federal Student Loans
- Repay Your Private Student Loans
- 7 Survival Skills Every College Graduate Should Know
- Make a Budget Without Hurting Yourself
- Top Ten Free Money Tips for Grads
- Great (Free!) Financial Resources for College Grads
Photo: Mortarboard by J0nB0n
Related posts:
6 responses to “Graduating? Get It Together” 
Perhaps you’d do a little something on the best way to deal with student loans? I’ve got a few years until I graduate, but I wouldn’t mind having a better idea of how to deal with consolidations, repayment schedules, etc. before I get there. (Especially advice from those who dealt with a break in between undergraduate and graduate studies, since that’s probably what will happen to me.)
Just my idea, since you askd!
im graduating in a few weeks and would love to see a post regarding post-graduation jobs and whats important to look for in a package as far as 401K, benefits, and other long-term financial planning things go. Also I am having trouble deciding what is most cost effective post-grad… renting or taking out a mortgage and buying since its a buyers market right now.
If your graduating make sure that you get control of your finances. If you have any questions related to how to get your credit in gear post-graduation please visit – forum.studentplatinum.com
Get those student loans consolidated. I suppose it depends entirely on who your lender is. I had unsubsidized Direct Loans with variable rates that reset every July. I was able to consolidate and fix the interest rate at a good time. They even gave me a rate drop just for paying by EFT. Understanding your student loan is more important now that you have to start paying them.
There are just a couple things I’d like to mention – check on those consolidation loans to see if you will lose your grace period if you consolidate right after graduation. If you will lose it – I say wait 3-4 months before consolidating – unless you have a job already lined up and paying you.
The other thing is – my emergency fund has basically saved my life a few times since I graduated. (Just graduated in December 07). Make sure you have one of these!!! I didn’t have any income this year until the end of February, but I was still able to pay rent and buy groceries because of it. (After that I used half of it to pay off my car so I could make student loan payments when the grace period ends).
I’d love for you to post about pros/cons of storing an emergency fund in different places – online savings, money market, index, brick and mortar, etc. Also something about making sense of retirement accounts and beginning investments.