Many seniors will graduate with an average student loans outstanding of $23,000, according to the Project on Student Debt an initiative of the Institute for College Access & Success. Therefore it is of critical importance to ensure your graduate understands how to manage payment so that the amount doesn’t grow to be overwhelming.
Michelle Singletary who writes the Color of Money column for The Washington Post recommends the CliffsNotes book “Graduation Debt: How to Manage Student Loans and Live Your Life” by Reyna Gobel. The book is comprised of twelve chapters that take a graduate from determining just how much is owed through how to manage it by discussing budgeting during different economic scenarios, paying off private debt, living a frugal lifestyle while having fun, managing debt in relationships, and how lenders view a graduate’s debt.
Graduation Debt is available as both a book and a PDF on the CliffsNotes website. The book is also available on Amazon.
If your graduate is light on financial literacy perhaps include this book as part of their graduation gift. Also steer them toward the Project on Student Debt where there are additional resources.
Great article. I am going to share it with my blog readers too!