Recently, I had a friend ask for advice from me about her man asking her to cosign on a car loan. I immediately turned into the bootleg version of finical guru Suze Orman. I asked the following questions:

What is his credit score?

What is his income?

What is the car payment?

Are you able to make the payment if he does not?

Is he willing to sign a written contract, like a promissory note?

Is he willing to show proof of monthly payments?

She had NONE of this information. Then got upset at me for telling her she should know this information before cosigning for ANYONE.

Come to find out, his credit was horrible. His income was pretty good, but the car payment was way too high for his monthly salary. So, this meant that he wanted some high-priced fancy car but did not have the income to be that flashy.

I’ve been in the same situation but over a motorcycle. Dude and I were dating to close to 9 months. We were on a trip in Florida, and there was a fancy motorcycle center that he just had to go check out. The next thing I know, we were in a finance office. He thought I was dumb enough to co-sign for him. He got hella embarrassed in front of the finance guy. That was a very quiet drive back to the hotel and back to Alabama. We never went out again.

In my opinion, this is some complete foolishness of some men asking women to be their bank. Now, if you both are married or in a committed relationship, that MIGHT BE a different story but just dating. It’s a hard NO.

There are too many people that don’t understand how to be financially fit. This is why I believe there should be financial literacy classes in middle school, high school, and college. They teach how us how to count as early as possible. We learn the concept of money around age 3 or 4, but then it stops. Why?

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How many horror stories have you heard about college-age adults ruining their credit score because they ran up a credit card that they didn’t even request. Remember when those credit cards would just magically appear in your mail. Many recommend starting early with money talks. PBS lets us know that by “age 7, many of their money habits are already set.” This is why I believe that education should come at every level of education.

Young adults should know about checking accounts, savings, money markets, self-supported retirement accounts, 401Ks, loans, credit cards, credit scores, emergency funds, and more. Also, I think it is important to understand how to cover you and your loved ones legally. Like estate, life insurance, and will planning. But no one ever wants to talk about it, and that is alarming. It’s like they want us all to fail in finances.

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These money-saving tips—from finding discounts to simple changes to your daily habits—can come in handy whether you have a specific savings goal, want to stash away cash for retirement, or just want to pinch pennies. It’s never too late to be more financially savvy. Read on to learn more about how you can start saving now. [From: 25 ways you could be saving money today]

 

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