You’ve shaken the college president’s hand and received your empty diploma case (the diploma will be mailed to you later). You’re trying to decide what to do next. Move back home with mom and dad to save money? Move on to graduate school? Start the new job you secured before finishing school? Begin networking to find a job? No matter what your next move is, here are 5 important financial tips to make now that you have successfully navigated your degree requirements:

1. Figure Out What’s Important to You

When I was in college, I didn’t really do much soul-searching. Only when I finished college (with more debt than I should have had) did I start thinking about what I wanted out of life. If you haven’t decided what’s important to you, now is the time to do so. Think about how your money can be used to help you accomplish the …

We are reaching the final stretch of Financial Literacy Month, and we still have a few more pop quiz questions to get you in the spirit of thinking about your saving and spending strategies. This next question is a bit more sobering. No one likes to think of losing their job or facing an illness or injury that sets you back financially, but these things can and do happen. Which is why it’s good to think about having an emergency fund.

But how much is enough for an emergency fund? Vote for your answer in the quiz box below (if you arrived here through the LendingTree blog main page you will need to click “read more” to see it):

Photo: Horia Varlan, Creative Commons 2.0

After you complete the pop quiz, stay tuned for our next blog post on emergency funds to learn the answer to the question – and read about …

The adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) got a bad rap in recent years as it came to be seen as a contributing factor to the housing boom and crash. Recent news reports, however, indicate that more borrowers are starting to turn to ARMs now that the economy is slowly recovering and traditional rates are moving away from last year’s historic lows. The difference is that today’s ARMs appear to be designed with a more “back to basics” approach that reflect a more conservative lending atmosphere. Here’s what’s new  – and what’s not – with ARMs:

The Basics: What is an Adjustable Rate Mortgage?

An adjustable rate mortgage, or ARM, is a home loan product with an interest rate that moves up or down with changes in the financial markets. This means that, at regular intervals, the interest rate – and the payment – on the mortgage will change. As interest rates rise, …