Financial Survival 101

It is the season for millions of students to make the first of many treks off to school. Making the move from home to college is a challenge on many levels, and for many college freshmen, this will be their first opportunity to really manage their own finances. That means choices -- where to open what kind of bank account, how to finance the high costs of education, whether to use a debit or credit card -- the list goes on.

To make informed choices, they will need information about their options. BankingQuestions.com's newest section, Off to School: Financial Survival 101, features articles and Q&As on choosing the right bank account, understanding credit reports, credit card accounts, budgeting, managing a checking account and other important information. There is also a large collection of articles about student loan options and features.

Financial Survival 101 should be on every student's course list this fall.

Small Business Loan Scams

We are all aware that consumers are fighting tough economic times. Income is not increasing at the same pace as the costs for many staples such as food and gas. But it isn't only consumers who are suffering. Many small businesses are also facing higher costs and lower demand for products as consumers cut back.

Recently the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the national Better Business Bureau (BBB) issued warnings that there is an increasing number of scams targeting small businesses. Emails and telephone calls promise financing outside of the banking channels. "For a fee" loan fundings are promised. The scammer often goes back to the small business owner and tells them they were denied by that first lender. But for another fee, often larger, they can go to another lender. And so it goes until the person making payments realizes they've lost that much more of their needed capital.

Small business owners, and consumers, need to take unsolicited offers of credit with a huge grain of salt. Find out who the lender is and investigate them, just as you are investigated when you want to borrow. Private investors do not provide you with many of the same protections that banks do.

Shop for credit wisely. Borrowing relationships are a two-way affair.

Caution - Olympic Spam

Symantec, a maker of security software, reports that in July 78 percent of all email sent was spam. That is up 12 percent from the same time last year. As the Olympics start on Friday, August 8, 2008, there is a prediction that spam and malicious messages will increase. Beware those messages offering special video clips or other enticements. These may be ways to draw users in and infect their computers.

Follow links only from trusted sources. Keep your anti-virus program updated and use your firewall.