One thing that most students don’t realize, is how important it is to have money saved for the tough times after college. While most health care careers don’t require you to wait long after finishing college in order to find a job, sometimes there is a waiting process. Will you live off of credit cards during this time?
One of the most unwise moves from school is to immediately put yourself into more serious debt. This is why a savings account for school can be so valuable. Imagine if during a 4 year nursing school or 4 years of some other health care career, you put away $100 dollars per month toward a fund which would help you get by after school loans and grants run out. After 4 years you would have $4800 dollars to live off of not counting interest.
If you wanted to add interest to the money, you could put your money into short term CD. While it can be tough to find high interest on 12 month CD rates, you can just put your money with a major bank and not think about it until the term is over. We found that some chase cd rates during parts of the year can yield upwards of 3-4% on interest during peak times of the economy and banking system. The interest compounds and its tied up for 12 months so you won’t be tempted to touch it.
So lets say your interest does compound, you would have about $5000 or a little over once your done with school. This for many people who are frugal can last 2 or even 3 months while looking for a job rather than just adding more to a credit card and racking up more debt. If you already owe money to a college lender, then why put yourself more in debt. Be smart, be frugal, and be money savvy.
We will have more articles on making use of your money while you go to school for your dream health care career in the future. After all, you are going to school to have more financial freedom, and instead of being counter productive, its wise to get in the right mindset for the future to make that happen. So stay tuned!