Two Bits of Financial Advice
From a non-financial elder:
When in college, don't use credit cards to pay for what you can't pay off by the end of the month. Credit card companies are predators, luring you into living on credit at up to 28% interest. It can become an addiction. Just say no.
Instead, put $100 per month into an untouchable account that pays decent interest, religiously, without compromise. Or start with $50 and raise it to $100 when you can. Never think of it as available. When you're my age, you'll be rich.
When in college, don't use credit cards to pay for what you can't pay off by the end of the month. Credit card companies are predators, luring you into living on credit at up to 28% interest. It can become an addiction. Just say no.
Instead, put $100 per month into an untouchable account that pays decent interest, religiously, without compromise. Or start with $50 and raise it to $100 when you can. Never think of it as available. When you're my age, you'll be rich.
posted by G.Rap | 7:11 PM
4 Comments:
Love it. Thank you for this simple practical advice. Many people don't realize that growing a savings investment can be extremely satisfying, not too to the point of being a miser, but enough to feel something of a financial cushion. A cushion which can allow one to make more sound decisions in life based not so much on financial necessity as true and proper desires.
and don't forget, drive a Neon to save on gas! :)
zach
Dr. Rap,
It must be nice to teach around students who have the ability to put away $100 per month and never see it. But what advice would you offer to a student who does not have the same access to funds? There are one or two students at Bishop's who fall into this category. Believe me, I know, because 10 years ago, I was one of them.
First of all, I was speaking to college students, not students at Bishop's. But Terrence is quite right, and the figure of $100 merely names an ideal. The point is, once you have an income of any kind, whether in college or not till you are working, put away what you can. Even $5.00 per month compounded over 30 years adds up to far more than zero!
My comments were meant precisely for people who are NOT already rich. Don't get into credit card debt, which only makes you poorer, and make it an automatic habit to put away what you can each month, however little that is, in an interest bearing account of some kind. When you start making more, you can put away more. The point is to start as soon as you can because the longer the time the funds have to accrue, the more you'll have when you come to retire.
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