Personal Finance Advice

There are some financial documents you should really hold on to for some time.  With so many financial institutions leaning toward electronic communications it may be a little more difficult to remember to print up a copy of your records, but with certain documents it’s important that you take the time to do so.  Why? Sometimes the only way to prove that something has been paid off, or a certain deal has been made, is to present a copy of a document directly from the financial institution you’re dealing with.

Where should you stash your documents? A fireproof lockbox is a good option for the documents you want to keep at home while a safe deposit box is a great option for documents that are irreplaceable.  With both options, make sure that you aren’t the only person with a key for accessing the documents.  Give a copy of the key to someone you can trust with this responsibility, so if something happens to you the other person will be able to get the documents.

You can also scan documents and store them electronically.  Don’t just scan them and save them onto your home computer; instead, you should additionally save them to an external source so if there is a problem with your home computer you will still have access to copies.

What documents do you need to make sure you keep copies of? With regards to your personal finances, here is a short list of some of the documents you need to safeguard:

Paid-in-full statements:  It doesn’t matter if you settled a small debt with a credit card company or paid off your home mortgage after many years.  You should hold on to the documentation sent by the lender that states the debt is paid in full.

Negotiations:  If you renegotiate the payment terms on a debt, you need to keep a copy of the new payment terms until the debt is paid in full.

Contracts:  Keep copies of contracts so you can refer back to them in the event of a dispute.  For example, a copy of your gym membership will come in handy if a representative insists you signed up for a certain number of months when in fact you signed up for a different number.

Taxes:  You’ll refer back to the previous year’s income taxes when you do next year’s taxes.  You may also need this documentation to prove your income to a prospective lender.  You’ll also want to have the documentation handy in the event of an audit or other issue.

Keep any documents pertaining to finance that you figure may be able to help you prove something in order to avoid a problem.  While you certainly don’t want to get overrun with a huge pile of paperwork, you also don’t want to find yourself without the documentation you need to prove that a debt has already been paid in full or to prove to a lender how much money you make in a year.

Your boss hands you a credit card.  It has your name on it as well as the name of the company you work for.  You’re briefed about the proper usage for the card and urged to only use it when making purchases for products and services needed for your job.  You place the card in your wallet and feel pretty good about the fact that your boss trusts you enough to give you a corporate credit card.

If you do what you’re supposed to do, you’ll only use the card when making purchases required by your job.  Maybe it’s your job to purchase supplies for your office, or maybe it’s your job to wine and dine prospective clients.  Either way, a corporate credit card gives you the flexibility you need to  do your job while also skipping the step of filing expense reports to await reimbursement. 

Then again, it also has the potential to get you into a lot of trouble if you misuse the card.

Imagine you’re at a restaurant with a date and the bill comes out to be much more than you anticipated.  You’re not entirely sure that you have enough available credit on your own credit card to pay the bill, but you know for sure that if you whip out your corporate credit card you’ll have no problem getting the purchase authorized.  Do you use the corporate card and then turn around and pay the bill yourself online, hoping that nobody from Human Resources catches the purchase? Or worse yet, do you use the card and just assume that your purchase can pass as a business expense?

It’s a slippery slope when you use your corporate credit card for personal expenses.  If you get away with it once you might assume that you can do it over and over again, and then when all your purchases are suddenly discovered you’ll have a great deal of explaining to do.  Make no mistake about it; you can lose your job if you use your corporate credit card for your own purchases, even if you pay the money back.  At the very least, you’ll lose a great deal of credibility and trust from your employer.  At the worst, you can find yourself fired with a potential lawsuit on your hands.

Unless your boss tells you otherwise, a corporate credit card shouldn’t be used for anything that isn’t related to work.  Before you use the card, find out exactly what you’re allowed to charge.  You don’t want to wind up getting into big trouble as a result of not knowing when you’re allowed to use your card and when you aren’t. 

You’re approaching graduation and you’re probably elated and scared at the same time.  You’re really excited to accomplish your goal of graduating but at the same time you’re probably a little worried that you’re entering a new stage in your life.  What will it be like to not have to worry about final exams? What will it be like to have to impress a prospective employer enough to where they will want to hire you? It’s an exciting time in your life, but graduating from college can be a hectic and scary time for some people.

It doesn’t matter what degree you’re graduating with - whether it’s an undergraduate degree or an advanced degree - you have to be extremely careful with your personal finances during this pivotal time in your life.  This isn’t the time to celebrate your graduation with a brand new sports car or an exotic vacation, especially if you used credit with reckless abandon while still in school.  The financial decisions you make within the next few months are going to have a huge influence on the status of your personal finances for years to come.

If you are preparing to graduate from college within the next few months, keep these things in mind:

Understand your student loans.  If you received student loans while enrolled in college you may find that the deferred payments you had are going to quickly become monthly obligations.  This can be extremely daunting for people who had to borrow a large amount in order to make it through college, but try not to panic.  The important thing is to know the terms of your loans and understand what your monthly obligation will be so you don’t wind up delinquent.

Examine your credit situation.  Many students obtain credit cards while in college, and a few students fall very deeply into debt.  If you don’t have a firm grasp on how much you owe then now is the time to sit down and take a hard look at your debt situation.  You should also keep in mind that graduating is not justification for running out and obtaining a bunch of new debt.

Get ready to apply for jobs.  Unless you have enough financial support to be able to take some time off to explore the world, preparing to find a post-graduation job should be a top priority.  Start networking, create an impressive resume and start researching jobs in the area you want to work in.  Your finances will suffer if you can’t find a job upon graduating.

Have an alternative plan.  What if you can’t find an acceptable job within your field? You may have to be willing to get a job that isn’t necessarily in the field you studied in college.  After all, many employers simply want to see a degree and don’t really care about what the degree is in; after all, many employers just want to see that an applicant has the fortitude to obtain a degree.

Be realistic.  Most graduates don’t go straight from college to their dream jobs.  While this certainly does happen for some graduates, it’s not the norm.  Be prepared to deal with whatever comes your way, whether that’s accepting a job that pays less than you expected or suddenly realizing that you want to go back to school for an advanced degree.