Saving and Investing for Life

Crippling student loan debt. Scary words, but a reality for many students.

For some debt is unavoidable. But in many cases the amount of financial burden college and university graduates carry could be reduced with better financial planning.

Recently a particularly egregious case was highlighted by the Wall Street Journal:

When Michelle Bisutti, a 41-year-old family practitioner in Columbus, Ohio, finished medical school in 2003, her student-loan debt amounted to roughly $250,000. Since then, it has ballooned to $555,000.

It is the result of her deferring loan payments while she completed her residency, default charges and relentlessly compounding interest rates. Among the charges: a single $53,870 fee for when her loan was turned over to a collection agency.

“Maybe half of it was my fault because I didn’t look at the fine print,” Dr. Bisutti says. “But this is just outrageous now.”

Student loan difficulties are just one example of how learning proper money management techniques as a young adult can pay off for a lifetime. In Euna Kwon’s article “Ten Ways to Talk With Your Teens About Money” she gives ten aspects of financial management that you and your teens should discuss, including budgeting, saving, investing, wise use of credit, and many more. It should help guide you in your conversations with your children about making wise use of their money.

Money, however, is not everything. Daniel J Arnold learned this after selling his $50million gas station and convenience store business at age 33. He had more money than he’d ever dreamed of. “And you know something?” says Dan, “I felt terrible.” Dan began a “quest for meaning” eventually led him on a journey he never expected. Read his story & see his video interview: Finding a Meaning Beyond Money

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Tags: better parenting, darren hewer, debt, family issues, finances, healthy marriage, Men, Money, responsibility, school, Students, teens, Women, World

One Response to “Saving and Investing for Life”

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• Mark Rhodes says:

  April 16, 2010 at 12:13 pm

  Great article!
  I am now 30, soon to be 31, but I went to college once not so long ago and when I graduated I knew I would have debt to pay for. I was told in college that I would need to re-pay my student loan debts. I was also told from a student loan adviser that some loan companies are not in the business to rip graduates off, that although they are in business to make money, the rule has always been to give graduates much lower interest rates so that they could afford their payments and be on time. Finally, I was told by the same adviser that if someone with debt was having trouble re-paying their loan debt, they should contact their loan company and honestly explain what the situation is at that point, instead of just procrastinating and defaulting, which is irresponsible. The adviser said that sometimes people cannot find a job or get laid off soon after graduating or something comes up that prevents them from being unable to pay their monthly bill. To be honest, I believe what my adviser said to me and their was once when I had trouble making a payment and I called her up and she worked with me. She asked me when could I pay this bill and I told her what I knew I could do and she thanked me for my honesty. In retrospect, I realize how smooth things went and am thankful to this day.

  None of this is to say that loan companies can be awful and just hand you the dead end slip that there is nothing they can do to help you. In that case you should talk things over with people in you family, a good friend, even a financial adviser that will sit down and help you get through it.

  Most of all, and I mean most of all you should always be praying about your situations financially or not with God and believe He will deliver. Stand firm and know that He is God and He is the Giver of ALL things. You may not get your answer when you want it or need it but He will give when the time is right. Just stand firm and do the right thing, exhausting all “avenues” so that you can say you did your part and wait on Him to deliver. He will deliver, just in His time. Hope this helps.