Wrapping Up for Now

I have some news to share: some good, and some bad.

Let me begin with the bad. After a whole bunch of thought and racking my brain about what my passions are, I've decided to stop posting new content to Young Adult Financial, at least for the time being. I've had a great time writing articles and (hopefully) helping people make better financial decisions, and I've especially enjoyed interacting with the different readers who have reached out to me for help, but it's time for me to take a break from this and try to apply my financial skills in other domains. I apologize for not posting more often this past month while I worked out my decision--I've been exploring all sorts of related paths, and I wanted to make sure that I really nailed down my plan before posting anything final.

Which brings me into the first bit of good news: I will be joining the Intercollegiate Finance Journal as their Head of Content, helping to make financial issues more relevant to college students. It's definitely a work-in-progress as of now, but I'm excited about the journal's leadership and its potential scope in helping students think about how financial issues affect them. If you have any ideas about how financial publications could be better suited for students, or if you'd like to get involved, please don't hesitate to contact me!

I also have a second bit of good news: I will continue checking the Young Adult Financial email address, and I am more than happy to continue talking with readers who have financial questions. As per the usual, I'm not a lawyer or certified financial adviser, so I can't promise that my thoughts are anywhere near comprehensive, but if you're just looking to talk to another young person about a financial issue that you're dealing with, I've still got your back. I plan to keep that portion running for as long as people continue to reach out, so feel more than free to send me your questions.

That's it for now. I've had a blast running the site, and I'll be leaving it up as a resource in case you ever need to refer back to it. For now, I wish you the best of luck in handling whatever financial situations may come your way!

Steven Adler

Building Your Resume the Right Way

Spring is coming up quickly, and lots of young people are gearing up for applications, interviews, and—hopefully—the coveted spring internship. Some of these internships will provide genuinely great learning experiences: you’ll get to see the inner-workings of an organization, and you’ll be more prepared for similar work later in your life. Of course, some of these internships aren’t valued just for the learning opportunities they provide. Instead, many young people will pursue these internships and achievements simply to pad their resumes—perhaps en route to their next internship, or even toward an eventual job.

I’m not going to completely denounce resume-padding or pretend that I’ve never been drawn by its allure (taking on a lot of commitments—not lying, which is different). In a competitive economy, young people need any edge they can get, and having a noteworthy name on your resume can count for quite some bit. Still, there is a right way and a wrong way to go about building your resume, and going about it the right way will serve you much better in the future.

Making the Most of Discount Opportunities

As we approach April, there are going to be more articles related to pressing time-sensitive issues—things like completing your taxes, saving for coming months, and getting ready for summer. For now, however, we’re going to continue with the theme of one of the financial resolutions for the New Year: saving more money.

Saving money can be tough when it means cutting down on your purchases, so thankfully there are other ways to save your money as well. Perhaps the easiest is using different discount opportunities available online, either to students or the general public, to buy things that you were going to buy anyway.

Of course, following through on this recommendation is not always simple; that’s where this article comes in handy.

Following Through on Your Finances

It’s been a few weeks since the post about financial resolutions for the New Year. Have you been keeping up on yours? Or has something come up that’s caused you to “take a break,” “focus on something more important,” or just generally leave the pledge behind?

Setting New Year’s resolutions often seems appealing at the time, but by the end of January many people have left theirs behind. Some of the time this abandonment makes sense—you genuinely might not have time or interest in following through on your pledge—but other times this abandonment is an unfortunate loss of willpower that bumps up against our self-image. People don’t like to think of themselves as weak or lacking determination, so we rationalize our behavior with excuses and move on—even if it isn’t what’s best for us in the long-run.

With that said, how can you get back on track after leaving your resolution in the past? And in the future, what tactics can you use to help yourself stick to pledges that you want to uphold?

Textbooks: Buy or Rent?

As the school year approaches, students are faced with a complicated (and costly) question: Should they buy their textbooks, or should they rent them? The College Board estimates that the average student will spend well over $1,000 on textbooks this year, and that number is on the rise since the year 2000.

Of course, students now have much better textbook shopping options than they did in the past. Before the rise of the Internet, students were essentially forced to use their school’s university bookstore. They had little power to turn elsewhere, and they could be gouged for higher prices because they needed the store’s books. The Internet, along with its third-party textbook vendors, sites for resale, and other technologies, changed that.