All About the Benjamins

Credit cards, student loans, insurance, benefits…some of these you may be familiar with already, and some you might be managing on your own for the first time.  This section provides resources to help you learn how to manage your own finances to help you make smart decisions and maintain good credit.

General Financial Resources

Wall Street Journal:  http://online.wsj.com/home-page, check out the link for personal finance

Suze Orman Resource Center:  http://www.suzeorman.com/igsbase/igstemplate.cfm?SRC=SP&SRCN=layout_resourcecenter&GnavID=84, check out Suze’s favorite financial planning websites and resources

http://www.lifeaftergraduation.com/content/Articles-and-Press/articles/Financial-Management-Tips.pdf

Blog about personal finances: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/

Retirement  

Depending on where you work, you may have a variety of retirement options available to you.  You can ask about retirement plans when you are offered a job to learn more about what your company provides as a benefit.

Retirement Planning Resources:

http://beginnersinvest.about.com/od/retirementcenter/u/retirement_planning.htm#s2

Benefits

Most  companies will also offer additional benefits, such as health/dental insurance, vacation/sick days, paid holidays, funds for professional development, and many other options that are above and beyond your salary.  Be sure to ask about the benefits package when you receive a job offer.

Credit Card Debt

If you have accumulated some credit card debt over your college years, develop a plan to start shrinking that debt.  Here are some resources to help you:

Managing Credit Card Debt: http://beginnersinvest.about.com/od/creditcarddebt/Credit_Card_Debt.htm

Becoming Credit Wise: http://www.nasfaa.org/redesign/CreditWise.pdf

Rent/Lease/Mortgage

Now that you are done with college, do you want to continue to rent an apartment?  Do you want to buy a house?  What do you need to know about mortgages? 

Buy vs. Rent calculator: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/business/2007_BUYRENT_GRAPHIC.html

Is it better to rent or buy: http://biz.yahoo.com/pfg/e10buyrent/