Good Financial Reads: Improving Your Job Search, Getting Through College, and More

Following along with the blogs of financial advisors is a great way to access valuable, educational information about finance — and it doesn’t cost you a thing! Our financial planners love to share their knowledge and help everyone regardless of age or assets.

Catch up on some of the latest posts with this week's roundup:

A Message to My Readers

by Matt Becker, Mom and Dad Money

I started Mom and Dad Money back in January of 2013 with a single mission. I knew how hard and stressful it was for me to manage all the new financial responsibilities that came with starting my family and I wanted to make it as easy as possible for other new parents to handle that transition themselves and build a strong financial foundation for their growing families.

But I feel like sometimes the desire to grow the business clouds the real message of what Mom and Dad Money is all about. Sometimes that primary mission, the one that’s dedicated to helping YOU build a better financial future, can get just a little bit lost in the pursuit of a bigger, better business.

I was thinking about this the other day as I was driving home from a couple of conferences. I was in my car for 9 hours, all by myself, excited by all of the positive energy I had absorbed over the previous few days. I felt deeply connected to my primary mission. I couldn’t wait to get back home and get back to work helping you improve your financial situation. And I recorded a little note for you restating EXACTLY what it is I’m trying to do here and how I want to help you out. It’s just a few minutes long and I think you’ll like it.

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Tips to Improve Your Job Search

by Sophia Bera, Gen Y Planning

Let’s face it: hunting for a new job can be tough. With so many qualified candidates applying to a limited pool of job openings, it’s common to be rejected in favor of a more qualified applicant. And that’s assuming a company even replies to your application in the first place — which they don’t always do.

While you can’t control who else applies for the same job opening or how qualified they are compared to you, there are lots of things that are in your control. With a little fine-tuning about how you approach the application and interview process, you can see a difference in how much attention you get from recruiters.

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6 Ways To Get Your Child Through College Debt Free

by Sam Farrington, Sound Mind Financial Planning

We’ve all heard the horror stories about students leaving college with mounds of student loan debt and unable to get the high paying job needed to repay the loans.

It doesn’t have to be that way! With a little bit of planning, I believe your child can get through college debt free!

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A New Age of Opportunity

by Michael Rivas, Hinman Financial Planning

Change may be a given, but even when we know it’s for the better, shifting our own thinking can be quite a challenge. Charlie Chaplin’s film Modern Times is a classic—not only because it’s Chaplin at his most brilliant, but because it does such an amazing job at contrasting the positive and negative impact of the last century’s industrial revolution.

Imagine it: machinery was replacing “traditional” jobs at breakneck speed, and in a span of just 40 years people saw the invention of the telephone, the lightbulb, the airplane, and the Model T Ford. The changes were a shock to nearly everyone’s way of life.

I’d love to see Chaplin’s take on the rapid change we’ve seen over the past 40 years. Computers and other advancements have altered how we earn our dollars, how we spend our dollars, and how we shape our own futures. And just as it was in the early part of the last century, there are pros and cons to every change.

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