I was speaking with a co-worker who used to be a telemarketer, and she told me that if I’m ever again harassed by any strangers on the phone trying to sell me things I don’t need, I should just say, “Mark me down as deceased.” You don’t even have to pretend to be a different person.

Apparently, they have a check box on their form for “Deceased” that will prevent them from calling you ever again. What’s more, this misinformation gets passed downstream to the other telemarketers that they sell their lists of “customers” to, so those people won’t be calling you, either.

This is just a quick and dirty alternative to the more official process that Flexo has previously talked about.

College graduation like when you beat Ganon, the resilient bad guy at the end of the classic video game, The Legend of Zelda, for the first time. You’ve been through many levels of challenges, perhaps even used a few “cheats” along the way, and did anything necessary to grow your knowledge and skills, many of which were necessary for the final test of strength.

You’ve saved Princess Zelda and were rewarded by watching one final scene and reading the names of computer programmers as they parade up the screen. You were relieved that your journey was finally complete, but before long, you realized there was more to the game.

Suddenly, you were presented with the option to begin your next journey. Your character, Link, displayed a new sword to indicate the completion of the first journey. This newly brandished sword is like your degree. With your degree in hand, it’s time to face a new world, one that is uncharted. (The map to this “second” Zelda adventure did not come with the video game.)

After graduation, it may take a moment for some to realize that you are now in control of your life and the decisions you make can have a profound effect on your future. Here are some ideas to help you, the graduate, make solid financial decisions.

1. Actively manage your expectations. You may have friends who have already graduated. They’ve provided you with endless entertainment as they talk about the “real world.” By now, you will have heard about new cars, new houses, new weddings, new kids, new relocations, new implants, and new gardeners, and you’re looking forward to sharing similar experiences.

With jobs, they have been receiving a steady income, probably sizable, and have been spending their money almost as quickly as they have been earning it.

Actually, they have probably been spending their money faster than they have been earning it, but that piece of information will be curiously missing from their stories. What your friends didn’t tell you about is debt. Ask them about their retirement plan and IRA. Ask them about their budget. You’ll likely receive blank stares, and not just because you’re being a stick in the mud.

It’s best to ignore these types of stories because the danger comes when you expect that this is how one must live life as an adult. This is actually quite expensive and detrimental to your future. By managing your expectations, you won’t be disappointed when you can’t find a management position earning $100,000 with no experience right out of college, even if your friends tell you that’s what you should look for. You won’t be disappointed when you have to settle for sharing an apartment with several strangers or moving back in with your parents until you are able to afford your own bills and establish an emergency fund.

Simply, don’t try to keep up with the “Joneses.” This hypothetical family’s perceived wealth is mostly an illusion and it’s best to focus on yourself rather than others.

2. Choose your first job carefully. Your first job sets the tone for your future earning power, particularly if you expect to stay in the same career until retirement. Earning more in your first job out of college not only allows you to save more and be flexible with your budget, but it also makes it easier to negotiate better salaries when future opportunities arise.

That being said, don’t select your first job with money as the solitary driver. It’s quite possible that the path you’ve chosen starts out without much opportunity. If the job that interests you is not in high demand, then you will have to settle for what is available. Like a professor told me as I was pursuing music education in college, “If there’s any other career that could possibly make you happy, consider changing majors.” If you are pursuing your calling, be prepared for a bumpy ride as you progress, mentally, physically, emotionally, and financially.

3. Pay off debt. Many college graduates leave school with credit card debt. While in school, education is your first priority, so depending on your course load’s aggressiveness, you may not have had a job. However, you still had expenses, and your parents may not have provided for you. This is perfectly normal, but it must be attended to immediately.

Unless you are starting in an industry where image is important, it’s time to pay down your debt. With newfound income due to your first job, put any available funds into paying off your credit card balances, and do not add new credit card debt under any circumstances. The debt avalanche is the most mathematically pleasing solution to paying off credit card debt.

Chances are you have student loans to pay off as well. Consolidate these when possible to take advantage of lower rates, but don’t slow down your repayment. You may decide to get your master’s degree, and it’s best to do so without compounding more student loan debt.

4. Automate your savings. Automation is the key to creating habits without having to change your behavior much. If you have a new job and your employer is somewhat familiar with twenty-first century technology, they will have direct deposit available. This will allow you to deposit your paycheck directly into a checking or savings account (and a high-yield savings account is preferable).

From the savings account, you can decide how much you need for spending money each week and how much you need to pay your bills each month. Transfer only what you need and leave the rest in the account earning interest. Work with your bank to create instructions for these transfers so they take place automatically.

This is probably the biggest component of building an emergency fund.

5. Investing basics: Open an IRA and 401(k). Once you’ve automated your savings and are in control of your bills, you may have noticed you have money left over. Rather than buying a new car for $4,000 down and monthly payments of $300, you started with a used car for $8,000. With your saved payments, you can open a Roth IRA to take advantage of what will probably the lowest interest bracket you’ll ever be in.

If your employer offers a 401(k) or its cousin the 403(b), take advantage of this option as soon as possible. In many cases, companies offer “employer matching” contributions; for example, for every $1.00 you contribute, your company may thrown in an extra $0.50, you to one-eighth of your salary. This is free money, and you should accept it without question. Invest in your 401(k) at least to the limit of your employer match.

Your 401(k) may have some confusing options. If an index fund is available, that should be your first choice. Otherwise, your company may offer an automatic rebalancing plan based on your age or years until retirement, or a mutual fund that does the same. That may be a good choice for the novice investor.

6. Develop a plan, but be flexible. Your friends’ stories were missing something. While they spoke of all the exciting things they are buying and doing, they didn’t mention to you where they’d like to be in 5, 10, 25, or 40 years. Perhaps they have some vision of what their future might hold, but they don’t have a plan, something that will explain how they will get to that point.

If you haven’t already, decide where you want to be with your life in the short-term and the long-term. Think about not just the size of your bank account, but about all aspects of your life. For each goal, determine what you will need for its achievement. This doesn’t have to be exact, and without much experience in the workplace, you shouldn’t expect it to be.

Now that you have your plan, expect obstacles preventing you from reaching your goals, but also expect things that will require you to change your expectations, much like the first point above. It is said that people fall in love when they least expect it. Suddenly your own plans must incorporate someone else’s. It’s important to be flexible, because life has a habit of finding its own course.

7. You only live once. It’s important to think about the future and make the wisest financial decisions. But this is your life, and it’s the only one you get. Balance your future plans with making the most out of today’s experiences. Remember that money isn’t the most important thing in the world, but it does let you do some amazing things.

This article is part of the Money Blog Network group writing project for June, focusing on graduation. Here are some participating articles: Welcome to the Real World, Pay Yourself First, My Money Advice, A Fully-Funded Roth IRA, Graduates Might Be Shocked and Four Tips for Recent Graduates.

It was only back in April that Flexo wrote about MissingMoney.com. I had heard about it once before through a friend on Twitter who said he’d had some success and so I figured, “What have I got to lose?” They don’t charge anything, it’s just a convenient way to get at some abandoned money that should be yours in the first place.

I searched for myself in the three different states in which I’ve lived and found an entry tied to an old street address of mine for “More than $100”. I had to continue the process on a different site for that State, but since all they really needed was my name, it wasn’t that much of a hassle, and I never felt I was being scammed.

In my case the funds I was missing out on were submitted by Daimler Chrysler, which means it had something to do with the aftermath of totaling my car back in 2001. Ultimately, in order to claim the missing money, I needed to mail (or submit via a form on a Web page) some proof that I used to live at that address. Something like a utility bill or a bank statement. I don’t keep those sorts of things any longer than I have to, which to me means, “throw away as soon as you’re not using them anymore.”

However, crashing your car isn’t just an event, it’s a process that can go on, at a minimum, for weeks. A lot of paperwork is generated. I started keeping everything in a folder so I could prove the facts of the case at a moment’s notice. I figured seven years is a good amount of time to hang on to something that important, so in 2008, while pruning the filing cabinet, I very nearly got rid of the folder. Luckily, something stopped me, and a few months later, I was able to scan and e-mail the actual police report that described the accident, and included my address.

A couple of weeks later I got a check for $155. Naturally, I deposited it and made a $155 payment to one of my two remaining credit cards. If I’d received that money when I was supposed to in 2001… well, I can’t say exactly what I would’ve done with it, but some of it probably would’ve gone toward beer.

(Photo by C.P. Storm)

College classes have already begun around the country, and it’s not too late to start listening to Ben Stein. He has some great advice for those matriculating. His son is just starting college, so I would imagine Ben has been giving this topic a lot of thought lately.

Make friends with your teachers. While seeing your teachers socially was unacceptable in high school, as adults, the teacher-student relationship takes another form. I had no problem with attending barbecues hosted by my professors, going out for meals, or just relating on a more personal level. We discussed sports and books, music and logic.

Ben goes on to address ways to become friends, but they all pertain to situations in class. While I was in college, a lot of the real relating took place outside of the classroom, but that may be more a result of the type of degree I was pursuing.

Do your assignments neatly, correctly, and timely. Ben Stein mentions that college is about learning to budget your time. Looking back, I wish I had done this better. My time commitments pushed me in a number of different directions and I was always finding it difficult to fir everything I wanted to do inside of the day. I still have this problem now.

I find it hard to believe that people have to be reminded to spell correctly. I’ve encountered horrible spelling from my classmates as a graduate student, and I just don’t understand what the excuse is. Grammar is one thing; there are times when the correct grammatical rules to apply are confusing. Poor spelling is inexcusable. I am sure I’ve made spelling errors in the past, but I would be embarrassed if I spelled as poorly as some of my classmates.

Be well-rounded. I applaud Ben for writing this. Many times, people are encouraged to pick one topic and become an expert without much thought to the larger world around them. Ben Stein wants people to study history, geography, Shakespeare, poetry, literature, biology, physics, and mathematics. Of course, I would add visual and performing arts to his list. All of this teaches more about human understanding than would any business psychology or human resources class.

You probably won’t call upon these subjects in your daily life when you enter the workforce, but they’re vitally important in teaching you how to think. And learning how to think is, above all, the main challenge you face in school. It’s true that you have to know certain basic facts, but you should also know how to approach a problem, break it down, solve it, and write about it. That’s why it’s important to take English composition, and take it seriously.

Join a fraternity or a sorority. Social groups can be positive or negative, so be choosy about which groups you hang out with. My fraternity, which was new on campus when I joined as a freshman, was more of an honor society or service group during the first few years. We didn’t have a house so there are no movies that quite exemplify our dynamic, but we became decent friends as we did as much as we could to follow the fraternity’s national “purpose.”

As Ben notes, the good thing about a group of friends is the support they can provide when it is most needed. Chances are there will be some time during your time in college when you need that support.

Neatness counts. Image is always important.

If you wear sloppy clothes, be clean inside them and have your thoughts especially well-ordered to offset your appearance. You’ll need to work twice as hard so your teachers know you’re smarter on the inside than on the outside.

Don’t smoke or drink to excess. Anything in excess is bad. Aim for moderation and limit any unhealthful habits.

Play a sport. Is marching band a sport? I guess it depends on the marching band.

Have a roommate you like. Personally, I preferred having no roommate and spending most of my time in the dorms with my girlfriend. I never had to worry about disturbing anyone. I did live in a special interest dorm, where everyone on the floor was interested in the same thing. For my floor, that was music. In return for living in the nicest dorms on campus, for which we had to apply separately from the standard housing application, we had service responsibilities to the community. I enjoyed this type of environment.

Try to have a significant other. I am a strong supporter of this idea, but I would suggest not staying with the same significant other for your entire college experience unless you are sure you are going to get married. College is a great time to learn about yourself and determine you compatibilities.

Develop good work habits.

College is where you learn to allocate your time, get your assignments done, and develop a good rapport with your fellow workers (students) and your bosses (teachers), and make them all your friends.

Ben notes that in all likelihood, you’ll spend the rest of your life working. This is the reality, so it is best to make the most of it. I didn’t work as hard as I should have while I was running around leading various organizations. I put my priorities elsewhere when I should have worked for more balance between classwork, practicing (I majored in music education), activities, and socialization.

As a leader among my peers in high school in college, this hasn’t translated as well to the working world as I would like. While I’m happy with my experiences, and changing anything about my personal history would change my identity, there was possibly a little room for improvement when it came to getting the right things done at the right time.

Chances are you won’t get everything exactly right. Ben Stein’s tips will get you started in the right direction.

Perhaps she calls you “her sweeitie” and you call her “lover.” Maybe you don’t have cutesy names for each other, but if you’re planning to get married, hopefully you know each other very well.

This encompasses a little more than favorite restaurants, medical allergies, and middle names. There should be some serious discussions about life goals, passions, and philosophies. And then there’s money. Here are ten questions, thanks to Erin Burt of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, to initiate more than a five-minute conversation. She provided the questions and I’m providing my interpretation.

Each one of these questions deserves a blog post for itself.

1. Where would you like to be in five or ten years? This is more than just physical location, but where you want to live is important, too. As far as location goes, there should probably be some agreement if there are specific places to live—or flexibility. Aside from this, what are your goals? If one wants to go back to school or to take a risk and open a business, is the other willing to support that?

2. What are our assets and liabilities? You may not know about your friends’ financial positions unless they happen to post their details online. In most cases, you’ll probably need to sit down and talk about what you owe. The article suggests prenuptial agreements, but that’s a personal decision. It could be a good idea in cases where there is a wide disparity between incomes, net worth, or future earning possibilities.

3. Should we keep our finances separate or combine them? I think there is more power when two financial forces join as one—the whole is greater than the sum of its parts—but that’s just my opinion. There are valid reasons for keeping finances separate.

If you’re struggling to come up with a solution in this area, you may consider what I would do: combine almost everything, in proportion to each person’s means to contribute, for all living expenses but keep some “mad money” so you can surprise the other with gifts.

You can do this without hiding money from your partner.

4. What about our investments? Once again, the power of combined accounts works in the favor of the couple as a whole in terms of growth. Fewer separate accounts and higher balances mean fewer fees. It also forces you to discuss risk tolerance and investment goals.

5. How will we handle daily spending decisions? To budget or not to budget, that is the question. The author is strongly pro-budget. Budgets can be helpful, especially for those for whom spending may be an issue. Personally, I don’t keep a line-by-line budget for myself. This type of organization is stifling to me, but I’d be willing to give it a try in a relationship as long as it is flexible and not strict.

6. Who will be responsible for paying the bills and preparing the taxes? I think it’s best to have just one person in charge, just to keep things simple. This will help to avoid paying a bill twice. But who should do it? Perhaps the person who is more efficient with keeping track of statements and records. You could also “outsource” bill organization to a company like Paytrust and avoid all the paperwork.

7. What is your tolerance for financial risk? The article provides a link to a risk tolerance questionnaire and suggests that if the two in the couple fall on the opposite end of the spectrum, compromising may be the only option.

8. What are our insurance options? For a marriage in which both spouses work, chances are one has health benefits costing less or offering better options than the other. So it is worth it to compare plans and decide whether one should be added to the other’s plan or to continue on separate plans. This is also a good time to change beneficiary options.

9. How does your credit report look? It’s time for each part of the couple to familiarize with the other’s credit history. Use this as a chance to make sure there are no errors on the reports, retrievable from annualcreditreport.com. If you plan on buying a house as a couple, this step will make sure there are no surprises.

10. How will we tackle existing debt? This probably should have been included in question number 2 above. I believe debts incurred before joining together in marriage should almost always be handled by the individuals and should not be included in the merging of finances above, but there are bound to be exceptions.

Proper communication is one of the most important ways to keep a relationship healthy, and it doesn’t stop with talking about money-related issues. Monsy is simply another topic about which people in love should not be afraid to be open and honest.

Discussing these issues also doesn’t guarantee a smooth—or successful—marriage, but it couldn’t hurt.

Here is Kiplinger’s predictable 12-step program for becoming a millionaire, which inevitable contains ”... and wait” somewhere. This guide is geared towards corporate workers who live and die by the paycheck.

1. Keep your eyes peeled for better ways to do your job. While Milton Wadams was slowly finding himself out of a job, thinking of something creative will help you stand out and make executives want to keep you around.

2. Don’t be afraid to negotiate. Here are 8 tips for negotiating a salary. I’m not quite up to expert negotiator status, and I’ve had this book on my wish list for a while.

3. Get your ducks in a row and your numbers on paper. There’s another vote for checking your market range on Salary.com, but I still believe their surveys are inaccurate.

4. Plot your strategy when it’s time to move on. The article suggests creating a professional-looking MySpace page. Do recruiters and hiring managers look at MySpace when making their decisions? I find that very hard to believe, even when we’re living in the future like we are. I do think it’s important to have a professional internet presence, but I think most corporate workers are better off ignoring MySpace.

5. Contribute as much as you can to your 401(k) and other tax-deferred retirement plans… and wait.

6. Flex your tax-saving muscle. Use a flexible spending account to pay for medical expenses to reduce your tax liability.

7. Review your tax withholding. The article points to this tax withholding calculator so W2 workers can ensure they’re not giving the government an interest-free loan. That money can go to work throughout the year, if you’re disciplined.

8. Stash savings in a Roth IRA if you’re eligible. The law says you’ll be able to withdraw your earnings after retirement without any taxes due. Let’s hope they don’t decide to change that law in the next thirty years or so.

9. Don’t delay. The best time to start thinking about increasing your net worth all ready passed. Since no one has yet perfected time travel, the next best time to start is now, and you’ll regret it if you don’t.

10. Invest automatically. When your money automatically disappears before you can touch it, maybe you won’t even notice it’s not there. When I first started my corporate job, I signed up for Direct Deposit because it was a pain to get to the bank. Then I set up automatic transfers from that checking account to a savings account slightly out of reach for everyday expenses.

11. Watch for fund fees. Even index funds can have high fees, so don’t make any assumptions. Check your prospectus before you make any investment decisions, and learn how to understand it so you know what you’re reading.

12. Keep it simple. The article says it: “Be wary of get-rich-quick schemes or sales pitches for complex investments, such as oil-and-gas partnerships, that trade on the millionaire cachet to lure investors into buying high-fee products they don’t understand. Most millionaire households accumulate their wealth over the long term by sticking to a regular investing plan in a balanced portfolio.”

Each of these 12 steps makes a small difference in the immediate term, but if you hang on and build these thoughts into your personal philosophy, eventually the rewards will be in your bank account. [Kiplinger’s Personal Finance/MSN Money: 12 steps to become a millionaire]

As I mentioned earlier, I finally picked up the Martin D-15 acoustic guitar I’ve been planning to buy since August last year. Here are some tips if you’re thinking about buying a musical instrument. Read the rest of this article »

Penelope Trunk from Yahoo Finance published an article busting job-hunting myths. I looked at several of her un-tips yesterday and in Part 2, I’ll finish off my thoughts.

Bad Rule No. 5: Don’t have typos in your résumé

I’m not recommending that you misspell words on purpose, but I am recommending that you chill out about the typos. How can you possibly send out perfect résumés every time? Especially if you’re customizing each résumé for each job, which is what you should be doing… While 10 typos is a sign of incompetence, one typo might be a sign that you have a moderate and healthy standard of perfectionism.

I disagree. It is not difficult to proofread a one-page document. Having a perfectly spelled and error-free one-sheet is not a sign of unhealthy perfectionism, it’s a sign of having pride in everything you produce, particularly items relating to your personal brand. I’m not saying my documents are always perfect, but there is no good reason that any professional image-related document should have errors.

Bad Rule No. 6: Honesty is most important

My own résumé says, “Boston University, graduate program in English, wrote master’s thesis about hypertext.” I never graduated from my program (because I got an amazing job offer based on that thesis). But I did write my master’s thesis. It’s not a lie. Anyway, it would be insane to say, “English graduate program, cut out early.”

I don’t completely agree with this, either. In the author’s example, she is clearly implying she completed her master’s degree. She could deny it later if someone confronted her about the ambiguity, but it’s not worth the risk. The right thing to do would have been to find a way to finish the program. If she finished the thesis, there couldn’t have been much left to do. While I was completing my master’s degree and shopping around for jobs, my résumé clearly stated my master’s degree was still in progress.

Lying or creating false implications on a résumé probably won’t get you into major trouble unless you are hired for a high-profile position, but it’s much better to be clear… and safe. I’m sure there are some positions where your résumé will be passed over if it does not include a master’s degree, but the right solution is to finish the degree.

Bad Rule No. 7: Clean up your online identity

Build a more current online identity that will pop up highest when an employer or recruiter does an online background check (which about 70 percent do). One way to get your new identity to the top of the search engines is to use Naymz… Another way to control what people see about you is to blog.

I have mixed feelings about online identities. Obviously, a blog like this one could be detrimental to my hiring prospects due to all the personal content. On the other hand, if I wanted to find a position as a financial writer, it has the slight possibility of being an asset. A person in a creative field should definitely have an identity that is easily discoverable and controlled. Professionals should use services like Naymz if they don’t have time to create their own websites and optimize search engine results.

Bad Rule No. 8: Treat a job hunt like a project and be a project manager

That’s great advice if you look for a job four times in your whole life. But today, job hunting is so frequent that often there’s no downtime—not even while you start a new job… It’s mostly about networking, and you can’t build your network if you’re taking breaks, because being good at networking means being a good friend.

These days, the job hunt is a constant event. There are a few people I work with who have “settled” into positions and aren’t looking to move up or move out. That’s fine, but most people my age (I’m 30) have a very different set of priorities. They won’t stay too long if they’re not getting everything they want from a position, so their ears and eyes are always open for other opportunities. Rather than starting and stopping the job search, it’s a continuous event.

Searching for jobs is one of my least favorite activities. I agree with Penelope Trunk’s premise that the old, standard job hunting tips should be revisited and revised. I agree with most of the eight points she listed in her article, except for my comments above. I’m interested to hear more opinions, especially about online identities. Penelope thinks you shouldn’t worry too much about a squeaky-clean online persona and suggests just a few ways to control what people see. How would you prefer potential employees see your online identity?