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Grad Sense: A Financial Tool for Graduate Students

Posted on by kdarnell

Thinking about grad school but you just are not sure how much it will benefit you?
GradSense.org is a website that helps you calculate how much you will get paid with a bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate, or professional degree. This website also gives you valuable savings tips, loan repayment options, and job finding tips.

What is the average pay for people that graduate with your degree?
On the home screen it will prompt you with a question asking what your highest level of education will be at graduation. The next question asks what field of study you will attain with your degree. Grad Sense then takes this information and gives you a low median and high level of pay that you can expect after graduation.

How can you save money?
Under the Add It Up tab, Grad Sense gives you examples of ways that you could be saving money on everyday expenses. The compound interest calculator provides information on how much you can expect to save annually based on if you make your coffee at home rather than from a coffee shop, for example, while you’re in school. The calculator then shows you how much you can have saved by the time you retire if you invest these savings after graduation.

Do you want to know how long it will take you to repay your student loans?
Grad Sense shows you the different repayment options for federal student loans as well as some useful links under the Loan Repayment tab. It also gives you an example of how much a student with a $40,000 federal student loan would pay monthly under the standard, graduated, or extended repayment plans.

Need some job tips?
Grad Sense provides information about choosing a job based on the benefits it offers and even helps you develop good salary negotiating skills. Job salary is not everything. Sometimes job benefits can be very helpful, and you should make sure you know what benefits each company offers. After looking at the company’s benefits you need to negotiate your salary. Your job is to know what the salary range is for your position and negotiate your salary based on your experience and skills.

Tyler Larson
Peer Counselor I
Powercat Financial Counseling
www.k-state.edu/pfc

PAR – The New Kind of Résumé

Posted on by kdarnell

Preparing for life after college is very important for your financial situation. You also will need to find a company that you really fit well with. This will help you motivate yourself to work harder and possibly get promoted. If you want to prepare yourself to receive a good paying job you will need to have a good résumé.

Most résumés just give a brief description that tells the employer where you worked and any other activities in which you have been involved. This is a problem because your potential future employer will not know how well you did those things.

The best way to build a résumé is to us the PAR method. PAR stands for problem, action and result. This type of résumé will show what difficulties you faced in your previous job, what you did about them, and what the results were. This will go smoothly with an interview especially if it is a behavioral interview. In these interviews they will ask you about “a time when…” and want you to explain the situation, what action you took to handle that situation, and finally what the end result was. If your résumé is already set up like this you will be one step ahead of the competition. PAR formatting for résumés give employers a good high-level look at you before you even meet. Here is a breakdown of each stage.

Problem

You will need to write about an obstacle or challenge you have previously faced in your life. Have enough context to paint a picture of the situation and even having goals that were planned for the situation will help. Some potential problems could be facing a really tight deadline, being down to half a team for the project, or handling an angry customer.

Action

This section will show the details of the actions you took in that specific challenge. You will want to list what you did to solve the problem or complete the goal. The more you can bring out your talents the better it will look. Make sure to use action words to make yourself stand out.

Result

In the result stage you will want to tell the employer the results of the situation. Use quantitative measurements if possible and include positive outcomes. It is okay to share negative outcomes, but be sure to describe how you will improve or do something different the next time.

Armani Williams
Peer Counselor I
Powercat Financial Counseling
www.k-state.edu/pfc

Money and Relationships

Posted on by kdarnell

Research shows that money is the number one argued point in all relationships, and therefore we all need to spend more time talking about our finances with our partners. Sometime throughout life we have all probably experienced the profound effect money can have on our relationships. Money is a hard issue to talk about because it is usually a subject we are not necessarily overjoyed to sit down and figure out. Whatever relationship you may be in, when money is involved, you need to be taking time to talk with your partner and figure out your financial situation.

One major issue with money in relationships is where and how each person spends money. It is essential that a spending plan is made, with each person contributing to it, that each person will stick with. When there is a concrete spending plan in place that each person is willing to adhere to, the relationship can progress, and you can work towards accomplishing your financial goals. Listed below are some tips on what to keep in mind while you are making your spending plan.

1. Make money rules together
• Both you and the other person in the relationship need to agree on how you are going to spend your money. If one person comes up with a spending plan alone, the other person may not agree to it and therefore will not follow through with the plan. To be able to stay motivated to stick to a spending plan, each person needs to be involved in the planning process.

2. Be willing to compromise
• Both of you need to be willing to make compromises. For example, one person may not like the idea of spending money on eating out, but the other person may spend more money eating out than getting groceries. When sitting down together, you can figure out the perfect mix of eating out and buying groceries that works for both of you.

3. Express each of your perspectives about money
• Each person in the relationship needs to be honest in how they spend money and the reasoning behind their spending habits. Putting it out on the table for the other person to understand will make it easier to find a compromise in your spending plan and help the process.

4. Save for emergencies
• Each person should be putting money aside for emergencies. If you don’t save for emergencies, such as an unexpected car repair, it may cramp your other finances. By putting an emergency fund into your spending plan, you can be more prepared for unexpected expenses that may arise. The rule of thumb is to have 3-6 months of living expenses in your emergency fund.

5. Seek outside help
• If you are struggling on how you should make a spending plan and are unsure if it will work, seek outside help. At Powercat Financial Counseling, we offer free, confidential counseling sessions for K-State students. Go to our website at www.ksu.edu/pfc and make an appointment if you want help in making a spending plan.

**For a spending plan worksheet, go to www.ksu.edu/pfc/budgeting/. On that page, click on spending plan worksheet and begin the process of creating your spending plan. **

Brooklyn Hnizdil
Peer Counselor I
Powercat Financial Counseling
www.k-state.edu/pfc

Protect Yourself from Identity Theft

Posted on by kdarnell

According to the Federal Trade Commission, young adults 18 to 29 make up the largest proportion of identity theft victims. That’s a frightening statistic, and one that Kansas State students need to be aware of. Here are some tips to help protect you from identity theft.

Shred everything. One of the many ways that identity thieves can acquire information is through dumpster diving. If you are throwing out bills, credit card statements, ATM receipts, or even junk-mail solicitations for credit cards and mortgages, you may be leaving too much information lying around. Buy a personal shredder and shred all papers with personal information on them before disposing of them.

Destroy digital data. When you sell or dispose of a computer or a hard drive, you need to take extra steps to ensure the data is completely destroyed. Just deleting the data or reformatting the hard drive is not enough. Someone with a little tech skill can easily restore files or recover data from a formatted drive. Use a hard drive erasing software to make sure that any personal information stored on hard drives is completely destroyed.

Pay your bills at the post office. Never leave your paid bills in your mailbox to be sent out. A thief who raids your mailbox would be able to acquire much of your critical information in just one envelope- your name, address, credit account number, your bank information including the routing number and account number from the bottom of the check, and a copy of your signature from your check for forgery purposes. Drop your bills at the post office or at least in an official drop box to ensure that this doesn’t happen.

Protect your Social Security number. You should never use your Social Security Number as any part of a username or password that you create and you should never give it to telephone solicitors or in response to spam emails. Knowing your full name, address and full Social Security Number, or even just the last 4 digits in many cases, can let someone assume your identity.

Analyze your credit report annually. It is possible to get a free look at your credit report once per year. The big three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) joined forces to provide free credit reports to consumers. The web site is annualcreditreport.com. You should review it to make sure the information on it is accurate and also make sure that there aren’t any accounts on there that you aren’t aware of or any other suspicious activity.

Jamie Engelken
Peer Counselor II
Powercat Financial Counseling
www.k-state.edu/pfc

Credit-bility

Posted on by kdarnell

Credit is an important part of your financial history. Whether you are interested in purchasing a car, a home, or even applying for a job, credit can either work for you or against you. Many people know that it is important to have good credit, but they aren’t exactly sure how to start establishing it.
Here is some general information that will be helpful as you strive to build good credit.

There are two ways in which your credit is measured- a credit report and a credit score:

Credit Report: There are 3 credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) in existence, which track your information regarding your credit. Institutions such as banks, credit card companies, your student loan servicer, etc., will send information to credit bureaus (not necessarily all of them) regarding your payment history, how much you borrowed, the number of credit accounts you have, and more. All of this information (good and bad), including a lot of your personal information, is on this report. A free annual copy of each report can be obtained at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

Credit Score: The credit bureaus assign you a score ranging from 350-850, with 350 being terrible and 850 being excellent. A free estimation of your credit score can be obtained at https://www.creditkarma.com

Now for a misconception: Many people think that if they get the utilities in their name, having a cell phone contract or similar things helps build your credit. Unfortunately, those things do NOT help you establish credit. The only time that these items will make a difference (in building credit) is if your accounts go into collections; that will severely hurt your score and put a major blemish on your report.

I am not saying that having utilities in your name won’t be of any help to you, because it can. Businesses, property management groups, or banks will often ask for credit references. If you have been a trustworthy customer, you should have a strong list of credit references to offer.

Here are some easy ways to build credit while in college:

1) Getting a credit card and using it to make small regular purchases and paying it off entirely each month. Essentially treating it like a debit card. WARNING: If a credit card is used improperly or impulsively (exceeding your balance or missing payments) you will end up doing the opposite of what you set out to do.

2) Taking out a small loan at a bank. Loans of various sizes are available at banks and you could take out a loan, simply hold on to it, then repay it when it’s due (principle and interest).

Remember that a good credit history takes time to build and the sooner you get started the better.

Good luck!

Sam Honey
Peer Financial Counselor II
Powercat Financial Counseling
www.ksu.edu/pfc

Teaser Trouble

Posted on by roxanne

Have you recently received an offer for a credit card in your mail? Did the offer promise incredibly low interest rates, maybe even zero percent? That sounds like a great deal! However, remember that if something sounds too good to be true, it often is. The credit card companies are in the business of making money. So make sure to read the fine print before you make a decision.

Teaser rates, also known as introductory rates, are low interest rates that a lender charges you for a few months, or sometimes even up to a year, in the hopes of getting you to apply for and use their credit card. After the introductory-rate time period expires, the balance on your new card will be subject to a much higher interest rate.

Here are some credit card tips you should keep in mind:

  1. Typically the teaser rate will only last a few months, and occasionally up to a year. Before signing up for any card with a low rate, read the fine print to find out what the standard rate will be once the teaser rate period is up. These offers almost never clearly promote the standard rate, so you’ll probably have to look through the full terms to find out. Look for the APR rate, which is a standardized way of comparing yearly credit card interest rates.
  2. The credit card companies do not have to, and most likely will not notify you when the introductory rate expires. Be aware of this date if you intend to carry an outstanding balance on your card, because after this date your balance will be subject to the standard (higher) interest rate.
  3. Many individuals apply for cards with teaser rates so that they can transfer a balance from a higher interest rate credit card and, hopefully, reduce the amount of interest they are paying. However, when the intro period expires on the new card, they often find themselves right back where they started, paying a high interest rate because they couldn’t pay the balance in full.
  4. Consider the impact of repeatedly tapping promotional offers on your credit score. Too many open lines of credit, as well as too many recently opened accounts, can lower your credit score. The same can happen if you often close old accounts and open new ones to take advantage of promotional offers.
  5. If you would like to stop receiving unsolicited credit card offers in your mail, you are in luck! You can do so by following the link below to the Federal Trade Commission’s website, and follow the outlined steps: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0262-stopping-unsolicited-mail-phone-calls-and-email

Credit cards can be very helpful, especially for students that want to start building their credit score. However, make sure to carefully read the fine print of the credit card offers, and follow the above tips to make sure your credit score or your wallet don’t take a hit.

 

Tomaz Bogovic, Peer Counselor I
Powercat Financial Counseling
www.k-state.edu/pfc
powercatfinancial@k-state.edu
785-532-2889