Parents: 6 Things Your College Graduate Must Do But Probably Never Thought Of
Congrats Mom and Dad, you just got a raise! One of your largest liabilities-college tuition-has just disappeared forever (or at least until your kid enrolls in grad school.)While you're thinking of what changes to make in your own financial life, you may want to offer the following financial advice to your graduate:
- Suggest they write down their goals. This may be tough advice, since you probably haven't done it either, but before you do any financial planning, you need a plan. Be sure to write them down, otherwise they're not worth anything.
- Tell them to save their receipts for moving expenses. It's a tough job market, and they may have to travel far to get what they are worth. Tell your child to make the move easier by keeping all the receipts, as well as a mileage log of the move. These may be tax deductible.
- Send your child to www.myfico.com. My what? Your FICO! FICO is a score that measures credit risk. The higher it is, the easier it will be to borrow money, rent an apartment or even get a job. Think of FICO as the GPA for the rest of your life. For $13, your child can find out their FICO score as well as other credit information. If the score isn't as high as your child hoped (300 being the worst, 850 the best and 730 the median), then your child may want to spend some energy trying to up their score. There are countless books, Websites and agencies to help with that.
- Tell them not to buy a new car or to lease. This advice will probably prompt the "I'm a graduate you can't tell me what to do speech," but you'll at least have done your part. Paying high car loan or lease payments will push bigger dreams like buying a condo even further down the financial road.
- Advise them to visit their new company's human resource department and ask questions. Even in the post-dot com age, companies are offering a few perks. Your child many not know unless he or she asks. This also helps with financial planning-if your company offers life insurance as a perk, there's no need to buy another policy.
- Invite them into your financial life and take an active interest in theirs. As a parent, you probably had the sex talk. And the drugs talk. Now it's time for the money talk. Remember the IRS and state government have plans for your money if you don't. Talk with your graduate about their financial plans and what they're doing to accomplish them.
