Tomorrow I’ll be giving a short presentation about personal finance to a group of seniors at Western Oregon University. I’ll begin by providing a brief version of my own post-college financial failures, but I want to spend most of the talk providing two or three great take-aways that these young adults can put to use as they enter the “real world”.
I’ve considered discussing the dangers of lifestyle inflation and the value of goals, but maybe these are too abstract. Ramit suggested I provide a handful of actionable ways to maintain sound personal finances. (Opening a high-yield account, asking for fees to be waived, saving for a goal, etc.)
If you’re in college, what sort of personal finance information do you wish you had right now? What are you curious about? What are the things you want to know how to do (or how to avoid) once you’re out of school?
If, like me, you left school long ago, what do you wish you had known about money? What knowledge would have helped you when you were starting out in life? If you could give your younger self just two or three pieces of financial advice, what would they be?
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I have been out of college for only a year, but if there is one thing I can add to all the great comments, it’s this: Save as much money as you can, as soon as possible, for as long as possible.
Yes, $1 saved now will be worth over $2 in 20 years (I think), seems like we all know that part of the equation. But, furthermore, that $2 will most likely be needed by then to pay your mortgage, take care of your family, put your kids through college, start your own business, etc. What would you put “extra” money towards today – a new iPhone, a movie ticket, a night out? Which is truly more meaningful?
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Maybe things are different up here in Canadaland. I’ve only been out of school for 8 years but I have to say all these responses confuse me.
New car? Buying a house? You’ve graduated not won the lottery.
Get a job. Pay off your student loans. If you have any thing left over, invest.
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Please post some sort of transcript of what you say. I am at Eastern Oregon University and would love to hear what you are telling them at Western.
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First of all, I’m graduating this month. Obviously, since I’m here, I’m pretty financial savvy. I’ve had a job lined up since last fall, and have no worries about surviving until then. I have in fact paid off one student loan, and will probably put my excess savings towards another once I’ve got a positive cashflow again.
I would love to hear a discussion about balancing between short, mid, long term savings goals and just living your life. I’m having to juggle getting my emergency fund fully funded, paying off loans, saving for a wedding, buying more professional clothes, getting a ‘new’ car, saving for a house, and getting retirements savings going. That’s a lot of conflicting goals!
Most would say hold off on the car and the house, however my car is 16 years old, over 215,000 miles, the heat is going, it needs a new belt, the transmission is getting worse, and my whole steering system is slowly disintegrating. And that’s without going into issues like not being able to open my own hood. So, I need to save to get a new car before this one completely bites the dust or winter, whichever comes first (no heat in wisconsin = bad). And it needs to be a reliable car, not a junker.
Saving a down payment for a house as soon as possible, is important for my fiance and his dreams. He has always planned to open a blacksmithing shop, and obviously he needs somewhere to do it. We’ve discussed the options quite a bit, and the best one is to own a bit of farming zoned land just outside the city.
So I’ve got all these things that need doing, and all right now. I’ve kind of got it figured out, and I’m not sure there’s a better solution, but I’m not really happy with it either. I’d love to hear how other people juggle these things.
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“If, like me, you left school long ago, what do you wish you had known about money? What knowledge would have helped you when you were starting out in life? If you could give your younger self just two or three pieces of financial advice, what would they be?”
The main one would be ” 10 % of all I earn is mine to keep” ( from the Richest Man in Babalon). Once I heard that I started an RRSP, as a single Parent, it gave me permision to keep some of what I earned. Silly, I just thought I had to look after my family ( no help from the ex.). I retired at 56. And now enjoy my home and gardens, with my dh. I also from the age of 37 started following other good practices, but I had never been one to finance things so didn’t have to worry about that. But I think oh, if I had started saving from my first job, I would be wealthy now. Yes I took Economics in University! And still this didn’t sink in.
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@ Kelly
Read Get A Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties by Beth Kobliner.
Amazon has it. I have recommended it to dozens of people and purchased a few copies for the public library. I only wish the book had been written when I was in my twenties and thirties.
All the best to you!
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Hi,
I’m a college Junior and I currently go to a state school and have minimal debt (about $6,000). I was considering taking out a loan and studying abroad for a semester or just traveling for the summer. This will give me significantly more debt. I don’t really have much in the way of savings. Do you think the experience is worth it?
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