Individuals between the ages 16 and 35 make up almost 26% of the United States consumer demographics, and nearly 50% of those under this age group are in college. However, like any other age, income, race, or social status bracket, college students are also consumers.

But, apart from the basic necessities such as food, clothing and shelter, they have other equally important needs to spend on.

Among these needs are education (comprised of tuition, required and other miscellaneous fees), transportation, and everyday living allowance. And being students, they have no choice but to live within their means. Others even take on part-time jobs in order to suffice their needs.

But one phenomenon that heavily affects the budget of an average college student is economic inflation. When the dollar falls, prices of consumer goods increase. The problem is, higher prices affect everyone, regardless of them being employed or not. This poses a dilemma for college students since despite carrying the burden of tuition expenses, they still have to make adjustments with their ATM (Automated Teller Machine) fund in order to meet their needs.
(more…)

A chance to have a college education is perhaps the best gift that parents can give to their children. Cliché as it sounds, it remains true that education provides security for one’s future for it leads to obtaining better jobs and earnings compared to those who only have high school diplomas.

Studies show that college graduates tend to earn $500,000 more on average than those who are not able to finish secondary schooling.

However, costs of college education today are steadily increasing. As almost everyone wants to go to college, it is still a huge financial consideration, especially for middle-class families. Indeed, college expenses are reported to be one of the most difficult financial problems that most families in the United States have to contend with. To avoid future stress and difficulty of going into debt and bankruptcy, it is essential to start saving for college as early as possible.

Why Save For College?

Saving for your children’s college education is tantamount to protect their future. Many make the mistake of relying on bank and student loans, and even scholarship grants, instead of securing their children’s education from the onset. Clearly, this type of procrastination and ill-planning for the future has resulted in huge debts and has forced many students to drop out of their courses.

(more…)

College life is totally different from the days that you spend with your parents going to the nearby school. It is the first step towards more freedom and more responsibility at the same time. The things that you do during you college days shall probably have an unending impact on your future life. This includes the people you hang around with, the things you do and the effort that you put in your academics.

Most children tend to make the big mistake of feeling too secure during the college days about money. The splurge and spend money on whatever they feel like without giving the future a thought. They treat girlfriends, spend money on clothes and accessories and create a large debt by the time they are ready to leave college and get into the real world.

They start with a disadvantage of a negative bank balance when they start. The mistake that these juvenile people make is that they assume that when they get out of their colleges they shall land a good job and be able pay back all the debt. They do not realize that along with paying off the debt, they shall also have rent and bills to pay.
(more…)

Loans taken for education are no longer as bad as they once used to be. Now with the student loan interest deduction, it is possible for the student to show up to $2,500 as deductible. If the student loan is nullified, then that entire amount can be excluded from the income.

Naturally, this deductible is available only if the loan was used for the purpose of education and no other. The loan could be for anyone in your close family, but that person should be dependent on you for his/her further studies.

The loan can be used to finance the tuition fees, supplies, study materials, room and board and the transportation connected with the education. Also the student for whom the loan is being taken must be pursuing at least a halftime course in a degree, certificate or other such qualified program. The person taking the loan must be legally responsible to fund the student’s education. (more…)

As anyone who has stepped foot on a college campus knows, money is definitely a cherished yet limited resource. Depending on the generosity of your sponsors, also known as parents, you are constantly under the hammer, struggling to pay tuition, eat, live, sleep, and pay for the gas that gets you to and from work.

All of these holes poked into your money bowl can deplete the contents of the bowl rather quickly. So needless to say, after feeding the hungry mouths of these financial termites, we barely have enough left over to buy toilet paper.

Although difficult, we still manage to make all the ends meet, but considering the recent trend of rising textbook prices, it appears that making these ends meet in the future will become an impossible feat. Should there not be a system to help out the ambitious “little guy?”

The price of college textbooks is outrageous. The cost of books has risen more than the rate of inflation or the cost of tuition over the last decade. UWG students say they pay an average of $500.00 on textbooks in a single semester. (more…)

There may come a time when you will elect to stop working or you decide to retire based on other factors. The time to plan and prepare for the event cannot be started early enough. In study after study the majority of Americans retire with little more than Social Security and a small pension.

This is a sad fact considering the variety of retirement, investing and saving vehicles that are available.

There are before-tax and after-tax retirement saving and investment programs. In both the government becomes your partner in adding available resources to whatever programs are most advantageous for you and your family. The money can be added in a before-tax plan like a 401k (you pay less current federal income taxes) or after-tax like in a Roth IRA. (Your investments grow over the life of the plan and when withdrawn all the money is free of federal income taxes.)

Retirement and financial planning can never start too early. The best plans also happen to be those that are simple to follow and set up and easy to manage and keep score. If your financial situation gets beyond your ability to handle by all means search out professional help. (more…)

As we approach the end of another year, now is a good time to take a close look at household expenses to see if there are places you can cut back and save. If you’re like most people, one of your biggest areas of concern is what you’re paying for health insurance.

As health and medical costs continue to rise, many companies are either passing increased expenses along to their employees, cutting back on benefits or eliminating coverage altogether. According to the U.S. Census, in 2005, 46 million Americans were uninsured. A recent survey found that 64 percent of Americans decided to go without coverage because health insurance is just too expensive.

Realizing there’s been a significant shift in the industry due to added cost, many insurance companies are now offering affordable policies with great coverage that individuals and families can buy on their own. Among the most popular self-insured products available: (more…)

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the tuition component of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 8% per year, on average, from 1979 to 2001. This means that children born today will face college costs that are 3 to 4 times current prices by the time they matriculate.

Parents should expect to pay at least half to two-thirds of their children’s college costs through a combination of savings, current income, and loans. Gift aid from the government, the colleges and universities, and private scholarships accounts for only about a third of total college costs.

Accordingly, it is very important that parents start saving for their children’s education as soon as possible, even as early as the day the child is born. Time is one of your most valuable assets. The sooner you start saving for college, the more time your money will have to grow. (more…)