“Six personal-finance tips for college graduates - Biloxi Sun Herald” plus 1 more

Five Filters featured article: Into the Abyss. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Six personal-finance tips for college graduates - Biloxi Sun Herald

Posted: 05 Jun 2010 08:54 PM PDT

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That makes it challenging for grads to save money as they pay off debt — the two most important factors in building financial security — but it's not impossible.

"Carving out money to save is good and is a habit that once you start, you'll benefit from for as long as you keep it up," said Dan O'Malley, chief executive of PerkStreet, an online bank.

The numbers tell the story, O'Malley said. If you invested $10,000 on your 21st birthday and didn't add anything to it except a constant rate of return of 7 percent, you'd have $196,000 in the bank by the time you retired. Wait till your 35th birthday and that money pot is a measly $76,000 because of the 14 years of lost interest.

Here's your first financial tip: Put 10 percent or more of your income into long-term savings.

"Make sure you save," O'Malley said. "It just grows and grows and grows. And get into any kind of matching program with an employer."

Here are five other must-do tips:

n Make a budget. You can't save for a car, a house or the future if you don't know how much you're making and spending. There are plenty of online sites like Mint.com or Kiplinger.com that offer budgeting tools. LearnVest.com has a 2010 college grad financial survival guide.

n Don't spend money you don't have. That is, live within your means. If you can take public transportation, for example, don't buy a car. If you can comfortably and peacefully live at home with your parents for a while, do it.

n Consolidate school loans. Many students will be graduating with a handful of them that should be rolled together with one interest rate attached to it.

n Build your credit history carefully. It is tough to get on in this world without a credit card but it doesn't mean you have to use it wildly. Use it only when you have to, like to rent a car or pay a hotel bill, and pay it off every month. Your payment history is the most important element of your credit score, accounting for 35 percent of your score. See story about the secrets to keeping your credit score high.

n Have a health-care plan. Figure out when your coverage ends and be sure you have another one lined up. A new law that goes into effect in September will allow you to stay on or return to your parents' health insurance plan until you turn 26.

Five Filters featured article: Into the Abyss. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Personal finance predictions for 2010: ID theft - CreditCards.com

Posted: 04 Jun 2010 07:48 AM PDT

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Personal finance predictions for 2010: ID theft

ID theft is set to rise on the heels of the recession

By Jay MacDonald

Like wolves to injured prey, identity thieves are out to turn the recession struggles of average Americans to their own advantage.

"In my adult life, I've never seen more varations of old scams and the degree of sophistication in newer scams," says Robert Siciliano, CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com.

The Identity Theft Resource Center predicts an increase in the number of identity theft crimes and victims during the next two years.

Particularly vulnerable are jobseekers whose desperate search for employment makes them easy targets for fake job listings and work-from-home scams.

"If the job description is not one that you would see printed on a business card, or you are asked to front money, it's a scam," says Siciliano.

Also on the rise are the misuse of social media and phony ads on Craigslist and other Web sites for the purposes of obtaining credit card numbers or cash.

Most disturbing has been the growing problem of child identity theft, sometimes by the child's own family.

"The ITRC has noted that nearly 10 percent of its case load for the past six months involved child identity theft issues," says founder Linda Foley. "It's as if people have finally realized that a child's Social Security number can be used for more than just opening a line of credit."

Visit the ITRC Web site to learn how to protect your personal data from thieves and hackers.

Finally, in the countdown, 1: Your kids

Published: December 31, 2009


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