Debt Management

Student credit cards can be a great way to start a student down the path of financial independence and becoming a responsible adult. Many parents of students decide to open up credit card accounts for their children or to add them to their own personal accounts. But, another great option is to help the young adult get his or her own personal student credit card.

Why Should I Get a Student Credit Card?

Since a student credit card is in the young adult’s name, it helps to start building credit. The longer a person’s credit history, the better his or her credit score. Therefore, the earlier a person can start building that credit history, the better. Conversely, college student with access to his or her parent’s account can adversely affect the parent’s credit rating if large debts are accumulated. So, not only do credit cards for college students help them build a credit history and learn financial responsibility, it also protects the parents.

Why do Credit Card Companies Offer Special Student Credit Cards?

Obtaining your first credit card can be difficult, particularly if you want to get a decent APR. Credit card companies realize the value of a college education and assume that a student with limited credit history is more likely to responsible with paying back credit card debt than a person who is not working toward a solid future. In addition, student credit cards are a great investment for credit card companies because many people tend to feel a sense of loyalty toward their first credit card. Therefore, credit card companies are hoping to establish a long term relationship with students by being their first card.

Do Student Credit Cards Have Benefits?

Besides the inherent benefits of teaching the student responsibility, many do have additional benefits. Some do have rewards programs and cash back programs. Yet others provide discounts in places that are meaningful to students, such as bookstores. Not all credit cards for college students have these benefits, however, so it is important to compare all of the cards closely before deciding which one you want.

What are the Different Kinds of Student Credit Cards?

When it comes to credit cards for college students, you have two main options: secured or unsecured. Secured credit cards for college students are ones that money is paid up front in order to use, which makes these cards more like debit cards. Many college students and their parents prefer this type of card because it is still in the student’s name, it is reported to the credit bureaus, and the parents can provide the young adult with a regular “allowance.” In addition, there is no chance of building up a terrible debt with a secured credit card because a line of credit is not extended.

Unsecured student credit cards are like traditional credit cards in that a line of credit is extended to the student. These cards offer more freedom because payments do not have to be made up front. They are also convenient for the college student if he or she requires loans to help get through school. On the other hand, these student credit cards need to be monitored closely to ensure the student does not get into a debt that is impossible to overcome.

Are There Any Differences Between Student Credit Cards and Traditional Cards?

Sometimes, a guardian needs to co-sign for a student credit card, which is not the case with traditional credit cards. In addition, student credit cards generally offer a lower credit limit than other cards. Often, these credit limits can be as low as just $500 or $1,00. Student credit cards also can have higher interest rates than traditional credit cards, though not necessarily higher than the APRs on other credit cards geared toward those with a limited credit history.

Over the past decade or so we have been constantly bombarded with news about private and public projects that have either delivered scope at well over the expected budget or had to reduce scope to even come near to the original budget. Current thinking within project management methodologies only discuss the financial aspects of a project at a high level, leaving the “student” without any real way of working to greater understand the impact of their decisions on the financial results of the programme. In turn, the business case development is usually given minimal time and is a rushed job in the end. Investing in the correct people and time up front to review feasibility and secondly the business case is a must to ensure the total on target delivery of a project.

In the financial climate we are in, where budgets and costs are being cut, the time is now to ensure that whatever funding a company has available, that they invest it wisely – to do that you need to ensure that the project in the end – budget, costs and benefits are comprehensively reviewed.

With this in mind – using the Pathfinder Project Management Methodology as a basis, below are the 10 key steps to successful project financial management

(1) On new projects – invest time creating accurate feasibility studies and business cases, if this is a rushed job – in the end the results will deliver overspends.

(2) Review your project portfolio – are you carrying out the correct projects, are they nice to haves, are they being done for internal political gain – ensure each business case is robust and adds value to the future of the firm – spend time using previous experienced individuals to review and re-review the business case.

(3) Concentrate reviews just as hard on the benefits as the cost. In 80% of projects, once they are in, nobody wants to go back and review if they delivered as promised. So ensure from the start of the project you continuously check that as well as costs being on budget, that changes to your project have not altered your benefits.

(4) Cost cutting is not always the answer – allocate resource to “added value” projects – in today’s world cutting heads is a an easy short term fix, do not throw out the baby with the bath water and leave the firm with projects in-flight with no experience to deliver them. Instead review your project spend and as in (2) concentrate on adding value.

(5) Workforce development – up-skill their financial management knowledge, develop staff in leadership, health and safety, motivation etc – so when you put a non-finance manager in charge of a large project, is it not about time they were given the financial know-how. Don’t leave financial management to chance – develop your workforce.

(6) Break down the project into financially manageable sections. Too many projects work on the basis of a “pot of cash” – spend it as per the budget and if luck is with them, great! Instead take the “pot” and break it down into manageable sections – mapped to your project structure, that way you can see where budgets are by “workstream” and what ones are over/underspending.

(7) “one point of contact accounting” – too many managers will lead to budget overspend – following on from (6) above – The overall programme manager is responsible for the budget in total, at the same time each head of the projects parts should then be responsible for managing their part of the budget. This leads to one finance manager dealing with one project manager, ensuring a consistent relationship.

(8) Deliver focused and meaningful financial reporting to enable accurate decision-making. More is less – agree on what reporting is required from the project at the start and continuously improve until it is what the project needs to manage the programme of work. Because an accountant can deliver 20 pages of analysis a month to each project manager it does not mean that it’s correct – save the trees – minimise the reporting and improve the decision making.

(9) Communication – have a strong relationship between your project and finance manager. Finance cannot be back office, they need to be part of the project team and be seen to be so, and therefore open and honest communication channels lead to no surprises.

(10) Finance should be made aware of all potential risks / issues and a probable cost – if a problem has or may arise warn finance early, finance will be limited to what they can do to assist “after the event”.

Forex Market Currency Trading:

What is Forex Marketing Currency Trading?

Forex stands for, Forex Foreign Currency Exchange.

There are things that it is, There are things that it isn’t.

Forex is the back bone of all of the Foreign Currency’s.

USD=US Dollar, GBP=Great British Pound, AUS=Australian Dollar, NZD=New Zealand Dollar and so forth.

Usually traded on what is called the PIP system.

1 PIP equals the equal amounts that play betwen the two currency’s that your trading in.

Of course it is like you were taking a trip and buying these currency’s.

You always spend more money when you are buying.

In Forex this isn’t always the case.

Your looking to gain that back on the selling and leverage between the two currency’s.

Looking at one of the most widely traded is the EUR/USD.

Your looking for a top leverage of these two between them selves.

Usually a daily forecast will predict the outcome of the Euro to Dollar ratio.

In a forecast Economic futures are usually looked at for an ultimate prediction on the days trade.

The predictor is, Most of the time right.

Other times you need to see whats going on in the ticker, Weighing out between those same economic conditions.

This is where a lot of Forex Traders make there first mistake.

From this point they either stay into long, Not sure.

Or they don’t wait it out for the final money making PIP call.

This is where Forex Signals can really help the trader out.

I usually choose to go between the Economic Forecast’s and the Ticker method.

Ultimately you will usually see the signs of which way to go between them.

My first piece of advice for the new trader is to try some of the Demo’s that are available.

I don’t suggest that you put real money in until you understand the basics.

You really should try some free hands on with this type of trading.

People can loose a lot of money not going by this advice.

Forex Trading can be a beast, But it cn be tamed if you try it.

Another peice of advice would be, If your new start small with a Mini-Account.

Build from there, You’ll be glad of this advice as you move up the Forex line.