The month of June signals the end of the term for many college students, and the beginning of the all-to-brief summer vacation before returning to school in the fall. Most students say good riddance to their textbooks and hello to lucrative summer jobs, days at the beach, and avoidance of anything remotely similar to studying.

While this is a normal phase in most students’ semester cycle, an increasingly higher number of wise students are deciding to sacrifice a little freedom (and a little extra spending money) to get ahead on their degree programs while taking advantage of available scholarships, grants, or federal loans.

Summer semesters aren’t offered at every university or community college, but are becoming more common. Not only is this a means of finishing college sooner and getting a head start in the competitive job market, it’s a step that can potentially save thousands of dollars.

[ continue reading… ]

You expect your financial adviser to know things you don’t, since you don’t speak NASDAQ and never quite figured out what a subprime mortgage backed security was. After all, that’s why you’re consulting an expert.

But there are some things about financial management that everyone should know — and it bothers the reputable financial advisers when their clients don’t know them.

Here are four facts you need to know about finances before hiring a financial adviser.

[ continue reading… ]

When you purchase life insurance, you do so with the hope that your loved ones will be taken care of if you pass away prematurely. However, before you congratulate yourself on making sure your family is provided for, take a step back and closely review the situation. There are things that can still go wrong, leaving your loved ones in a financial bind.

“Filing a life insurance claim does not guarantee you will receive what you are entitled to,” says Tatiana Kadetskaya, Managing Partner at Kadetskaya Law Firm. “A life insurance claim can be paid, delayed, or denied.”

Before you fill out the paperwork, make sure you know some of the reasons that a life insurance claim can be denied. You don’t want to pay your premiums, and then leave your family in an even worse position later.

Here are 5 reasons Kadetskaya says a company might deny your claim.

[ continue reading… ]

A brand new Sporting Goods store recently opened up in a nearby shopping mall. The store, located in the location previously occupied by a Sears, has been the a topic of conversation in the city for over a year (while the building was stripped down to the studs, expanded, and rebuilt to accommodate the space needed).

When it finally opened, people flocked to check out the largest sporting goods store in the area. As consumers, we’ve been conditioned to believe that bigger stores are better. If the store is bigger, it has a bigger and better selection of products.

Also, if a store is really big it must be able to buy things in bulk, and therefore offer better prices. Is that belief really true?

[ continue reading… ]

When you first walk into a Kohl’s, you may wonder why they are so overpriced. It’s true that most items are marked up so the store can show a significant discount when combined with sales, coupons, and other specials.

While this may be a sneaky way to trick consumers into buying more, Kohl’s is still a great place to shop for great deals. Try these tricks to save up to 75 percent off your next purchase at Kohl’s.

[ continue reading… ]

You’ve likely heard about recent debit reader security breaches at major retailers like Target and Home Depot. This has left many consumers nervous about using their debit cards while shopping, and rightly so.

Plenty of attention has gone into improving the security of these systems so, in the near future, card and reader technology will be much less susceptible to hackers.

What is troublesome is the lack of attention that has been given to a just as heavily used and highly vulnerable form of financial transactions — the ATM.

[ continue reading… ]