It seems that parents go to great lengths to ensure that their students are ready to go away to college – you help to research schools, help with applications, buy books and even make sure they have a suitable place to live. The one area that often seems to be overlooked, however, is managing their personal finances and their spending. Statistics show that 83% of college students graduate with an average of $2,300.00 in credit card debt*. For graduate students that number more than doubles, reaching $7,800. And that doesn’t […]

It does not take a genius to figure out that costs are rising across the board. Food, housing, energy, are all gooing up in price. The funny thing is that the government does not consider these things to be inflationary. Whoever makes up the government sponsored index is a bit out of touch. What can we do as consumers? Here are some things you can do to limit the costs of energy use in your home: (Sources curtesy of Mary Staton of Staton Institute) 1.) Install Energy Star-qualified products. 2.) Seal air […]

Saving for college has some new changes. There are new changes to pre-paid tuition plans and 529 plans, two popular vehicles Americans use to save for and pay for college.The biggest changes are those that pertain to the “kiddie tax.” Effective in 2006, the new law calls for the “kiddie tax” to remain in effect until a child turns 18. Previously, unearned income attributable to children age 14 and older was usually taxed at the child’s tax rate. The new tax law, however, raises the age to 18 effective January […]

Americans are spending with plastic at a staggering rate. Consumer credit-card debt has almost tripled over the last two decades—from $238 billion in 1989 to $800 billion in 2005, according to an analysis of Federal Reserve Board data by Demos, a national research and consumer advocacy group. The average American family now owes more than $9,000 in credit debt.  In addition, credit companies are mailing out a record 6 billion credit-card offers last year (according to Mail Monitor, a market research group.)            The increase of consumer debt has been the […]