Just Beware of the Dragons…
How Bad is Student Debt?
From the NYTimes – Once again, the headlines are filled with claims that student loans are bad. Several articles have highlighted results from a Gallup poll that shows that college graduates who borrow for college are less happy, healthy and wealthy than debt-free graduates. The Gallup report (which is cautious in its interpretation of the data) has been drawn into a rising chorus of news media reports on the negative consequences of borrowing: Student loans not only make you sick but also hamper homeownership and delay marriage.
Student loans need reform. But recent reports obscure the key benefit of borrowing for college: a college education.
The highlight of the Gallup report is a comparison of the well-being of college graduates who did not borrow and those who borrowed more than $50,000. As I discussed in this New York Times article in June, 43 percent of undergraduates borrow nothing, and 98 percent borrow less than $50,000. The report is therefore comparing the 43 percent of undergraduates who borrow nothing with those with the highest debt loads.
Social Security 101 – 10 Things You Need to Know
OK, your young, why do you need to think about Social Security?
Because it’s money deducted from your paycheck, o don’t you want to know what does for you? Contrary to news reports, Social Security is not going broke. Being knowledgable about what Social Security is just basic financial literacy!
From CNBC – Social Security Insurance was established in 1935 as a financial safety net for older Americans. Eight decades later, all Americans pay into the system, with Social Security the largest source of income for citizens age 65 and older.
The following 10 points are based on best practices recommended by the U.S. Social Security Administration of policy website.
Student Loan Calculator
From the Hamilton Project, here’s a great tool for calculating the costs of your student loan. It’s important to have an understanding on how much you are borrowing, what your monthly payments will be once you graduate, and how much of the money you owe is actually interest.
As yourself the question – How hard will it be to pay off my loan?
Your A Millionaire!
We’ve been telling you that you are all millionaires since we began this series.
Over your lifetimes, you should earn well over a million dollars, some of you will earn even more. Here’s a great article by Yahoo Finance on a 27 year old millionaire – 75-80% of his wealth is through inheritance. For millennials, inheritance might be a major financial component of your future.
Anton Ivanov isn’t your average millionaire.
For starters, he’s barely 27 years old, he doesn’t work in Silicon Valley and he isn’t heir to a family fortune. He doesn’t live in a tiny house or get his food from a compost garden in his backyard, either.
Ivanov, who shares wealth-building tips on his blog, Financessful.com, made his million the old-fashioned way: He read books. He saved early and often. And he started planning his rise to millionaire status before most kids his age had their driver’s license.
“I’m a testament that if you want something bad enough and you keep working towards it … you will get to where you want to go,” he says. “It was my habits and my principles that made me rich.”
Here’s how he did it.
John Oliver Discusses Student Debt
John Oliver discusses student debt, which is awful, as well as for-profit colleges, who are awfully good at inflicting debt upon us.
Picking Up An Elusive College Dream
From the NYTimes – At the corner of Seventh Avenue and 27th Street, Tenille Warren waited impatiently for the light to change. She swept under the purple welcome banner into the Fashion Institute of Technology’s industrial-looking building, raced upstairs to her class and slid into the front row beside a mannequin dressed in a Lululemon jacket. This was no time to be fashionably late.
Almost immediately, the professor gave a flash assignment: Sketch a garment for a sport of your choice. Ms. Warren quickly drew a plucky young black woman with Afro puffs in a racerback tennis dress with a flare skirt and white reflective trim.
“Make your garment look like it’s moving even though it’s standing still,” the professor, who had designed for Calvin Klein, instructed. Ms. Warren understood. In the rare moments she is standing still, she is still moving forward.
How to Simply Cut Student Loan Debt
From The Motley Fool – Think about this statement for a minute: Education can reduce student loan debt.
Though it might sound like a paradox – after all, isn’t it the pursuit of education that has ignited the college debt crisis? – the Hoosier state university system has proved that educating students about loan debt can alter their behavior in a positive way.
Last year, the seven colleges making up the Indiana University system sent letters to students giving them a sneak peek at their post-graduate monthly loan payments. The missives were a wake-up call for many, who decided against taking out additional loans, according to Bloomberg. Overall, the university system saw an 11% decline in the amount of federal Stafford loan disbursements, which fell by about $31 million over the course of the academic year.
Florida First To Adopt National Financial Literacy Standards
From the Tampa Bay Times – Florida finance and business leaders have long pushed for the state’s students to better understand the way money works in today’s society. Lawmakers mandated financial literacy instruction for high school students in 2013.
In June, the State Board of Education adopted a “financial literacy strand” into its social studies standards.
Did you know Florida was the first in the nation to put in place the national Council for Economic Education’s Standards for Financial Literacy, which include lessons on such subjects as saving and investment? This sets the stage for a full-blown course on the subject some time in the future, to go along with the growing list of other state mandated (and tested) topics that students face.
Starbucks to Provide Free College Education to Thousands of Workers
Aside from the fact we are addicted to their coffee – this is why we love Starbucks! From the NY Times:
Starbucks will provide a free online college education to thousands of its workers, without requiring that they remain with the company, through an unusual arrangement with Arizona State University, the company and the university will announce on Monday.
The program is open to any of the company’s 135,000 United States employees, provided they work at least 20 hours a week and have the grades and test scores to gain admission to Arizona State. For a barista with at least two years of college credit, the company will pay full tuition; for those with fewer credits it will pay part of the cost, but even for many of them, courses will be free, with government and university aid.
