My University Money | Education Costs Money, but Ignorance Costs More

Why Your Education Shouldn’t Stop When You Graduate

It’s often thought that graduation is the end of your education, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, it might be better said that graduation is just the beginning. Your education shouldn’t stop when you graduate, even though it will look a lot different.

There are forces in the world that guarantee that you’ll need to keep learning throughout your life, and here are just a few.

Technology

If you are still in school you’re probably not fully aware of the extent to which technology has changed in a relatively short amount of time. For example, 30 years ago there was no Internet. And would not have mattered anyway because the average person couldn’t afford (or maintain) the typical computer that existed at that time. 40 years ago only the very wealthy owned cell phones – now everyone has at least one.

education shouldnt stop Investment in technology has brought about massive changes both in how we work and how we live. It will require ongoing education just to keep up.

The pace of the business world

Business has had to both create and absorb all that technology, and that has brought about incredible change in the process. In addition, greater competition from foreign sources has completely changed the way most business organizations operate. Continue Reading →

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By Kevin on May 23, 2013 · 2

Get More Out of Your University Experience Than Just A Career

While you are immersed in your studies, working away at that degree that you hope to earn, that will be your ticket to the job you one day hope to have, you should also focus on getting more out of your university experience than just a career.

It’s certainly not that a career is unimportant – it’s no doubt the primary reason to obtain a degree in the first place. But there’s so much more that you can get out of your university experience, that will not only help you land a job, but also to advance your career later on, and possibly even to move into self-employment.

While you are studying and living the university life, consider trying to get the most out of at least some of the soft benefits that are available to you.

Making valuable contacts

Get More Than Your Degree

You may not see this right now, but you are in the process of making important contacts that can benefit you later in life. You probably have friends at school who are involved in different majors than the one you have. They can become valuable career contacts later in life. This will be particularly true when you are looking for resources beyond your immediate career.

Related: Using LinkedIn For Networking

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By Kevin on May 21, 2013 · 1

Negotiating My Mortgage – Ordering My Credit Score Five Months Out

Several different studies have shown that Canadians sacrifice a huge amount of money throughout the course of their lives simply by not negotiating their mortgage. In fact, it always kind of amazes me that people are willing to spend hours comparison shopping in stores or clipping coupons to save 50 cents on toilet paper, but aren’t willing to take an hour or two to save thousands of dollars on their mortgage every few years.

I know that mortgages aren’t something that is in every student’s wheelhouse, but I do know a fair number of post-secondary goers who decided to take the plunge (often alongside their parents) and become homeowners. Another demographic that I figured might be interested in a quick and dirty mortgage conversation are students looking at graduating soon – specifically students graduating from trades programs because they might be the only ones that can afford to buy a house!

Negotiating My Mortgage When I graduated with my Bachelor of Education degree and decided to venture out to the cool rural community I now call home, I had no idea what a mortgage consisted of, other than it was some sort of loan used to buy a house. I did a lot of reading in a hurry in order to become familiar with terms such as “prepayment options” and I managed to complete the purchase of a modest house for a price that wouldn’t even get me a cubby hole in most Canadian urban centres these days. Three years later, I now know just how much leverage I have, and how much money a couple tenths of a percentage point on my interest rate can mean. Continue Reading →