Comments on: What Do You Want to Read About? (Regarding Money)

By: Kara

Kara — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:52:42 +0000

I think it would very interesting and helpful to hear about the best way to combat students loans after graduation and how to pay them off in the quickest manner but still in an affordable fashion.

Also, it would very useful to hear about combining monies after marriage. Especially when one partner is in debt and the other is a saver. What are the best methods at tackling this debt quickly and moving forward into life.

Lastly, when CDs would be the best option for someone who doesn’t want any risk and only has a limited amount that may need to be accessed. What alternatives are there. I heard that a bank has this option for a CD that you can withdraw early – I assume there are huge penalties, though. Would love your input on this type of investment!

Just some ideas as well, but would love to see your input!

By: Amy

Amy — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 03:21:52 +0000

I think it would be interesting to read something about starting a business and which type of business would be best for a young entrepreneur. For instance, would it be better do to “Sole Proprieter”, “Coporation”, or “Limited Liability Corporation” from a financial standpoint. Just an idea!

By: T

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:59:20 +0000

How to deal with family issues about money – eg, how to deal with very different economic situations between spouses’ parents (one sides wants to and is in a position to help, the other side needs help, but noone feels good about money effectively flowing from one family to the other…), or how to get a sense for how much money one will need to help parents at different points in retirement….

By: Money Under 30

Money Under 30 — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:38:32 +0000

A great start, thanks! Jason, I totally agree I with your points about real estate and it is an area that has been seriously lacking here on the site. I’ll get on that!

And that’s a great question regarding the student loans April – I will post about that soon!

Everybody else, please keep the suggestions coming! Thanks!

By: April

April — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:49:00 +0000

I keep hearing about repaying student loans versus investing and would like to know what you think, especially if you got some very generous graduation gifts and could easily repay 1/3 of your student loan debt right now. I feel like I should start investing (Just finished grad school, in my upper 20’s), but my husband feels we should pay off the loans. Most of the loans have an interest rate of 5% or lower, one maybe two are at almost 7%. Thanks!

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:37:46 +0000

I can sort of answer all of the above with one answer: home-buying.

Given the way the real estate market has turned, we may be starting to reach a place where–for the first time in at least 5 years, possibly ten–first-time home buyers can reasonably jump into the housing market in expensive metropolitan areas.

I bought my first condo at 22, and the financial and emotional stability that came from that purchase is something I have valued ever since. Moreso than any of my other investments–including my retirement accounts and everything else I contribute to dilligently–it helped build my financial security down the road.

However, most people that I know seem to feel that buying a home–even a modest condo or small starter home–is well out of their reach. It’s not the truth, and even with all of the doom and gloom stories in the media, it may make a whole lot of sense to consider home ownership. Remember that the market is only bad for you if you ALREADY own real estate–if you’ve been a renter, then you avoided the major pitfalls of the downturn.

There’s a lot of pieces of the process, especially including financing but going well beyond that, that are never really plainly laid out for 20-somethings who have never owned a home before. Explaining all of these, along with the pros/cons of home ownership, could help encourage more young people to make a move that can be very rewarding, both financially and emotionally.