Did you read my post yesterday How Much Student Debt Is Too Much? If you haven’t yet, give it a read. Then I’d love to get your opinion on that question. <br /> <a href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1709860/” mce_href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1709860/”>How much student loan debt do/would you feel comfortable taking out?</a><span style=”font-size:9px;” mce_style=”font-size:9px;”>(<a href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com” mce_href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com”>opinion</a>)</span><br /> Feel free to explain yourself in the comments section! I’d love to hear from you. ...

How much debt is too much debt? It’s a question that anyone taking out a student loan needs to grapple with. According to a series in the New York Times today, the average debt load for a graduate of the class of 2007 was $20,000; students attending private colleges took out an average of $25,000. But how much the average student carries in debt isn’t necessarily the answer to how much you should borrow. Financial planners typically recommend borrowing no more than 10-15% of your expected annual salary post-graduation. Of course, there are numerous variables that go into how much you will actually earn after graduation — and, given the current economic climate, whether or not you will be able to find a job right away in your field. In general, however, your anticipated ...

Are you drowning in your student loan debt? Come July 1st, you may be able to get a little relief. That’s when a new income-based student loan repayment option will go into effect for those of you with federal student loans. Under the plan, monthly payments will be capped at 15% of the amount by which your income exceed the federal poverty line — regardless of how much you own. Currently, the poverty level is $16,245 for an individual. To figure out how much you would pay, take a look at Line 37 on your 1040 Form — that’s your adjusted gross income (AGI). Let’s say your AGI is $30,000. That means your income exceeds the poverty level by $13,755. Under the new repayment program, you would owe 15% of $13,755 — or $171.94/month. The even better news is th...

Last week, I shared my eight essential financial tips for recent college grads. If you want to learn more about that topic, then you will love this recent article from the Your Money section at the New York Times. Columnist Ron Lieber interviewed Madison Nipp, the highest grade point earning graduate of Texas Tech University’s #1-ranked financial planning program. Ms. Nipp had lots of great advice for you soon to be graduates, but here are my two favorites: BEWARE OF DADDY’S WALLET … “All of the people who were spending ridiculous amounts of money were on their daddy’s wallets,” she said. Ms. Nipp has no problem with the finer things in life. She just worries about the habits that form when you come to expect them. … For those who were on the dole in college, this...

Hey all you soon-to-be college grads: Congratulations! Whether you have a great job lined up already or not, there’s no doubt that the real world is eagerly awaiting you! Even if you majored in finance, however, there is at least one big challenge waiting for you, too: handling your personal finances. The truth is that being a wise steward of your resources is rarely taught in college, let alone high school. And sadly, most of our parents don’t have the best skills in this arena, either. Rather than learning through costly trial and error, you can put these 8 tips in action to ensure that your transition to the “real world” goes as smoothly as possible. 1. Keep living like a starving college student. For the past four+ years, you’ve probably had to get by on...

This story about creative financing for college ran over the weekend in my local paper. The article does a great job of outlining some of the financial challenges families are facing in the midst of this country’s economic crisis. It was good to see that staying in school is still a priority for the two families featured in the piece, but rather heart-wrenching to read the real life stats. For example, did you know that, across the board, the value of savings in 529 Plans has dropped 21% over the past year? And the market drop isn’t just hitting parents who were saving for their kids’ future. It is also hitting universities and their endowment plans, which are a major source of funding for university-based aid like scholarships and tuition reductions. The article cites ...

Yesterday, we talked about whether or not paying for college should be the parents’ responsibility. At the end of the post, I asked what you thought about cosigning a student loan. Is cosigning a great way for parents to help out their kids with the rising cost of college? Or is co-signing a slippery slope that does nothing but hinder both parties? Lots of financial experts out there have an opinion on this matter, and most of them say: Don’t do it! For example, here’s: MSN Money on why you should never cosign a loan Finance author Francine Huff on thinking long and hard before cosigning on a personal loan Talk show host Dave Ramsey on how cosigning can hurt your family Financial expert Suze Orman on why love means never having to say you’ll cosign Why do the expe...

Remember back in February, when the Finder reported on President Obama’s student loan plan – a complete revamp proposal? He plans to save billions a year by making the federal government the student lender, rather than the current system in which the fed subsidizes private lenders like Sallie Mae. He would then use some of those savings to up the amount of the Pell Grant — and the number of students eligible for this low-income grant. Well, the President’s reform plan got a major nudge on Tuesday, when Congress released its 2010 budget resolution. Both the House and Senate gave tacit approval to the president’s bump in Pell Grant funding, by creating reserve funds that would cover turning the Pell program into an entitlement — like social security. The...

The credit crisis has everyone on edge. If you are planning to take out student loans to help pay for your college education, you, too, may be worrying about how this financial crisis is going to affect you. If your credit rating isn’t all that good, your worry is probably pretty intense. But before you hit the panic button, take a deep breath and read this post… it’s got everything you wanted to know about getting a student loan in spite of your credit score! Apply for federal student loans first Remember that there are two kinds of student loans: those that are guaranteed by the federal government and those that come directly from private lenders without government guarantees. Government guaranteed loans take the form of one of three types: the Stafford Loan, the Perkin...

Remember the President’s plan for student loans that I told you about a few weeks ago? Obama wants the federal government to directly disperse student loans via the Department of Education, rather than the current system of guaranteeing the loans made by private lenders like Sallie Mae. Well, according to this recent story in Politico, some Congressional Democrats aren’t all that thrilled with the idea. Apparently their issue isn’t so much with who disperses the loans, as it is with Obama’s plan to use the savings ($94 billion over 10 years) to increase funding for the Pell Grant. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) and House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI) seem concerned about creating a new entitlement program out of the Pell Grant. (...