US Finance World

Several years ago, I hired a summer student enrolled in university for some general office administration. Before the start of the next summer, she called and asked if I was hiring for that summer. For a variety of reasons, we did not need help that summer. However, I asked her if she could forward her resume to me in case someone I knew was looking for help. In such an event, I could quickly pass her resume along with a kind word.

She said no.

This to me was a head-scratching move. Summer jobs are hard enough to come by even if you know the employer. But to turn down a chance to have a resume passed along with a reference is tantamount to ensuring your summer spent unemployed or in summer school. Not surprisingly, I have not heard from this summer student since.

We often use the phrase it is not what you know but who you know to emphasize (both positively and negatively) that your network is sometimes more important than your credentials.  Yet, when confronted with an opportunity to expand ones network, some of us turn down these opportunities.

The notion of human capital, often called the most over-looked aspect of personal finance, is traditionally seen as an output of education and experience.

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Running a business can sometimes be a very lonely affair. Decisions are always on the to-do list, having someone as a sounding board can be an invaluable asset to every small business owner.

Business mentors are one group of people who can be your sounding boards. But what is a business mentor and what can you expect from a business mentor?

Maybe we should start by talking about what a business mentor is not. A business mentor is not a business adviser or business coach, they do not charge for their service, in fact they are often volunteers. This is an important fact about mentoring, no money changes hands. With money the whole relationship changes and it is no more considered mentoring.

Business mentors can be other business people you know or even former bank managers, who can help you to understand how to deal with banks. It is important to understand that business mentors should be trained for the job, volunteers or not.

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They say it takes a village to raise a child and Ill add it takes a campaign to make your marketing stick. Ill never forget a meeting with a small business owner who had just dipped her toes into the advertising world for the first time. We got together to discuss her marketing efforts for her small business and when she arrived at my office, she was just beaming.

First on my agenda was to find out exactly what she had done to market her business so we could figure out together what would be most effective going forward.

She grinned as she pulled out a section of the newspaper to show me her ad.  It looked like thousands of other small business ads Ive seen over the years business name and logo at the top, along with her company tag line, phone number and website address.

I asked her how many times the ad had run and what her response had been. Only once, was her reply. No calls yet, but Im sure well get some.

Sadly, she was quite wrong.

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We talk a lot about what you, as a well-informed personal finance enthusiast, can do RIGHT in order to reach your financial goals.

But

We dont often talk about what you can do WRONG, despite it being equally, if not more important.

So, I decided to compile a list of 10 of the most common (and harmful) young professional financial blunders.

I have seen a lot of friends and peers commit these financial sins and have even committed a few myself. Hopefully, I can save you the frustration and regret that comes days, months, or even years later.

1. Holding off on Saving for Retirement

It is common for many young professionals to hold off on saving for retirement in order to finance their present day lifestyle. With a tinge of arrogance, many of us believe that we can hold off because we have so many years ahead to focus on retirement. In reality:

1. The longer we delay in investing for retirement, the more we miss out on the power of compound interest.

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A new market-leading mortgage makes fixing for the long term even more attractive!

I have long argued the case for five-year fixed rate mortgage deals, despite the temptations of the extraordinary low interest rates on offer from many variable deals. And for me, the case for a five-year fixed rate deal just became even more compelling.

Last week saw a new market-leading five-year fixed rate mortgage launched by Chelsea Building Society. The deal allows borrowers with a deposit of 25% to fix their rate at an extraordinary 3.99%, albeit with a punishing product fee of £1,995.

So why are five-year fixed rate mortgages an attractive option for some borrowers?

When I bought my house two years ago, I knew from the outset what sort of mortgage I wanted. A five-year fixed rate.