Hi everyone, Rob is on holidays and will be back later this week. In the meantime, here is a collection of Globe’s back-to-school stories compiled by personal finance editor Roma Luciw.
For those of you with elementary-school aged kids, here is a story on how to spend next to nothing on back-to-school this year. If you are like me and behind on your shopping this year, one of the tips for parents who need to buy things is to wait a week or two. “Store deals and retailer discounts are available year-round, so don’t feel pressured to spend today when your kid will need stuff tomorrow too.”
Here’s a recent story about a Toronto teenager who feels money management should be a formal part of every high-school student’s education. As of this month in Ontario, a mandatory Grade 10 class contains an explicit focus on financial literacy. It’s about time.
For young adults heading to college or university this fall and their parents, here is our Globe and Mail smart student money guide. These stories are dated, but they still contain good evergreen tips on everything from managing debt to housing to starting off as an investor.
An important personal finance lesson for young people is how to deal with banks. The message in this Carrick column is simple: Banks are not your friends and they are not your enemies. They are companies you do business with and that means you have to have to go in prepared to defend your own interests.
One financial topic post-secondary students seem interested in discussing is credit scores. A good credit score is important, especially since most students use credit cards. You will need a good score to get loans, mortgages and lines of credit at good rates. But stressing about it does no good either. Read more about that here.
In this GenYmoney Q&A, adviser Shannon Lee Simmons walks a 20-year-old university student through a straightforward budgeting exercise, explaining how students can set themselves up with little more than a high-interest rate savings account and a personal chequing account (preferably with no fees).
At this time of year, registered education savings plans are top of mind. Here are a few RESP-related stories for Globe Subscribers by Globe Investor columnist John Heinzl, including this back-to-school lesson on RESP withdrawals, this one on what kind of RESPs to avoid, and this one on potential tax consequences.
Lastly, parents of students attending university or college away from home should consider insurance, says Rob Carrick in this story. In his mind, $200 or so for tenant insurance could be a wise move.
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Carrick Talks Money: Student budgeting for Globe Subscribers
Are you a Globe and Mail subscriber? If so, please join Rob Carrick and personal finance editor Roma Luciw for a live call-in on September 16th @ 12 p.m. EST as they discuss successful debt management, essential bank products for students, credit scores and how they work, budgeting 101, the lowdown on credit cards, and the best time to start investing. Click on this link to register today.
In case you missed these Globe and Mail personal finance-related stories
- As young couples move back home, what are the potential pitfalls?
- Can this couple start new jobs at only a sixth of their current salary and retire in 10 years
- Should we give up on financial literacy?
Do you have a question for Rob? Send it this way. Sorry we can’t answer every one personally. Questions and answers are edited for length and clarity.
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Rob Carrick