Understanding Your Finances: The Guide for College Students

Understanding Your Finances: The Guide for College Students

https://upgradedpoints.com/credit-cards/students-guide-to-credit/

Here’s what we cover:

1. How to pay and save for college

2. Getting college scholarships and grants

3. Managing your credit score as a student

4. Best financial advice for college students

And some of the insight we explore:

• Private student loan debt volume hit an estimated $12 billion in the 2020-2021 academic year.

• The average monthly student loan payment was $300 before the White House instituted the repayment moratorium (the suspension is in place through May 1, 2022).

• To help reduce discrimination in credit scores, the US Government passed the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which helps ensure the fairness, accuracy and privacy of your credit information.

 This comprehensive guide is geared to college students but covers a lot of personal finance information that is applicable for all adults. 

Help Ukraine but don't get scammed

 Michelle Singletary, Washington Post financial journalist, warns:

Fraudsters will use Russia’s invasion, declining stock values and spiking oil prices to come after your money

"You see images from Ukraine and feel compassion and the need to give what you can to help civilians fleeing to safety. Con artists see the Russian invasion as a way to use your generosity against you."

Stock market indexes are down, and you worry your investment account won’t return what you need to live a financially peaceful retirement."

"Not to worry. Criminal enterprises are ready to persuade you that they have a guaranteed way for you to invest and earn big money without any risk."

Rising inflation makes con artists jump for joy because they know frightened investors are more likely to fall for scams involving gold, cryptocurrencies, foreign currencies or fake investment opportunities."

If you want to help Ukrainians, take the time to check out a charitable appeal.

Here’s how Americans can donate to help people in Ukraine

To avoid a scam using the conflict in Ukraine or any other current event, start with the premise that every direct message, link, email or text is fake and work from there. This should be your default response to any contact you did not initiate.

Trust nothing. Verify everything.

Paranoia is your protection from losing your hard-earned money.

 

Paying for long-term care

 It’s estimated that 50% to 60% of 65-year-olds will require some form of long-term care at some point in their lives, often in 80s or later. Physician  John Lim recommends considering an alternative to self-funding (often followed by Medicaid), traditional long term care insurance (LTCI), or hybrid policies (afford payouts even if you don't need LTC). (Check out links to these options in this searchable blog.)

Lim recommends deferred income annuities (DIAs), also known as longevity insurance or—if purchased with retirement account money—as a qualified longevity annuity contract. DIAs provide protection against outliving your assets, regardless of whether you need to pay for long term care or not. DIAs are also known as Qualified Longevity Annuity Contracts.

A DIA is a basic income annuity with one quirk: The annuity doesn’t pay out immediately, but only after a delay. For example, you could buy a DIA at age 50 or 60. Similar to a traditional income annuity, you would pay an insurance company a onetime lump-sum payment in return for a lifetime income. The quirk is that the income stream wouldn’t begin until late in life, perhaps age 75 or 80. Age 80 is when mental and physical problems are likely to arise, requiring care. 

"Because the annuity’s payout is deferred until age 75, mortality credits—the secret sauce of annuities—are maximized. Put bluntly, those who die before 75 don’t receive a cent, which leaves far more generous payouts for those who live longer than 75. These “survivors” are precisely the ones who face the greatest financial risks from long-term care and longevity." IF you need care before the DIA kicks in you can pay out of your Social Security and assets, confident that the DIA is available. Of course, there is the option that one dies before the DIA payout begins but living past one's expiration date is much more of a financial hazard.

Unlike insurance policies, income annuities (DIAs) don't require a medical exam which might preclude one's eligibility for buying LTCI. 

Many mid-life adults are faced with caring for and paying for elderly parents. A DIA could be the answer.

Check this blog's posts on the basics of annuities to fully understand the concept.

https://humbledollar.com/2022/03/paying-for-aging/

Six Key Lifestyle Changes Can Help Avert the Climate Crisis

 Less Stuff, More Joy! “Take the Jump”

Six Key Lifestyle Changes Can Help Avert the Climate Crisis

In February the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued its “bleakest warning yet,” saying the climate crisis was accelerating rapidly with only a narrow chance left of avoiding its worst ravages. But don’t give up hope.

Governments and individuals making small changes can have a huge impact in reducing carbon emissions. These six steps could cut global emissions by between 25% and 27%:

1.      Eat a largely plant-based diet, with healthy portions and no waste

2.      Buy no more than three new items of clothing per year

3.      Keep electrical products for at least seven years

4.      Take no more than one short haul flight every three years and one long haul flight every eight years

5.      Get rid of personal motor vehicles if you can – and if not keep hold of your existing vehicle for longer (or go electric)

6.      Make at least one life shift to nudge the system, like moving to a green energy, insulating your home or changing pension supplier

‘Taking The JUMP’ is to try the shifts mentioned above for 1, 3 or 6 months. Even if you can’t keep to it 100%, you can still ‘take The JUMP’ and just do what you can.

We'll offer tips, encouragement and people you can speak to help along the way. Check out: https://takethejump.org/