If you have just graduated from college, there is a good chance that you feel a little like you’ve been trying to navigate your life with out a compass. It’s okay to be in this position – a lot of recent college grads are in the same boat. This is especially the case when it comes to finances. After college, you may be trying to figure out how you will make money, save money and pay off your student loans. This is why you want to make a few key moves that will help put you in a position where you are not too far in debt and hopefully saving any money you do rake in. Here are five good money moves for recent college grads.
- Create a Savings Account
One of the first things you should do when you graduate is create a savings account. Your savings account will basically be your saving grace if anything goes south or if you are in a position where you need an injection of cash. More than anything, your savings account will be a rainy day fund. When setting up a savings account, make sure that you find a high interest account that nets you the most return.
- Start Coming Up with a Plan to Pay Off Your Loans
Of course, when you graduate from college – whether you graduated from Marylhurst University or Burlington University – one of your smartest moves will be to pay off your student loans. Your loans will be the biggest thing eating your finances and your credit, so you want to come up with a realistic plan. Either you want to consolidate your loans or you want to come up with a payment plan that makes it feasible to pay off your loans in a realistic amount of time. The last thing you want is to be paying off your loans for the rest of your life.
- Budget Out Your Finances
On top of figuring out your loans, you also want to budget. Budgeting is critical if you want to not only save money, but also stretch out your liquid capital. Your liquid capital is basically your spending capital, which will go to your rent, food and miscellaneous bills. Depending on where you live, your living expenses may be higher or lower.
- Get a Health Insurance Policy
Getting your health insurance figured out will be another smart move. The last thing you want is to get injured or need to go to the hospital and have to deal with expensive medical bills. Right now, getting affordable healthcare is easy – it’s a matter of just signing up. Depending on your co-pay, your insurance could be extremely inexpensive.
- Start Thinking About Retirement
Of course, you probably aren’t thinking about retirement – it is decades away – but you should be keeping it in mind. The reason for this is simple: you want to stash money away so that you have something to live on when you reach retirement age. In the end, not a lot of people think about retirement until it’s too late.