USA Funds Can Help Your Students Budget for Life After College
Before your students graduate and head out into the working world, consider equipping them with budgeting tools they can use so they start their careers on solid ground.
Most likely they’ve been living on a budget while attending school and working hard to make every penny count. But as they leave school they’ll face a different set of challenges, and it will be time for a budget makeover.
They’ll need to include in their budgets their monthy student loan payments. If they are moving to a new city to begin a new job, they’ll have relocation and startup expenses involved with finding a place to live. And, depending on the climate, location and type of work they are doing, they’ll need a new wardrobe and possibly a car.
“USA Funds® Life Skills® can help you introduce your students to a variety of concepts and give them budgeting tools they can use as they transition from college to the working world,” says Chris Miller, a USA Funds debt management consultant.
USA Funds Life Skills is a financial literacy program designed to help you teach your students to manage their money and time wisely while in school and after graduation.
USA Funds Life Skills Module 5, “Now That You are About to Graduate — Taking Control of Your Life,” includes an interactive budget with a calculator, real-life examples of the financial decisions students must make, tips regarding expenses to watch for, explanations of how taxes affect the amount of take-home pay, and answers to many common questions students ask.
Students can learn:
- How federal and state income taxes and Social Security tax affect their monthly gross income.
- How different student loan repayment options can affect the amount of overall interest they pay on top of the principal loan amount, and how much more quickly they can repay a student loan by paying slightly more than required each month.
- How much they know — or don’t know — about credit cards and savings.
- How to incorporate relocation expenses such as rental and utility deposits into their budgeting process.
The Borrowers section of the USA Funds Web site has a loan repayment calculator, which can show students how different repayment options affect not only the monthly student loan payment they’ll make, but also the total amount they will pay.
“As always, it’s important that students understand the deferment and forbearance options available to them if their student loan payments are busting their budget, and USA Funds Life Skills includes this information as well,” says Miller.
In addition to the resources available through USA Funds Life Skills and USA Funds’ Web site, Miller says, students can use online tools such as a monthly budget calculator to establish an initial budget. They also can get an idea of what their salary will be by accessing Salary Wizard.
Contact Miller by e-mail or call (866) 497-8723, Ext. 1329, for additional information about how to help your students understand the importance of budgeting and how to prepare a budget as they enter the working world. He also can discuss way that you can use USA Funds Life Skills on your campus. You also may contact your region’s debt management consultant.