Amanda Green is a guest blogger that has written extensively on the subject of education and business.

Many young professionals live in a fluid phase between the worlds of work and school. By definition they are employed and hold jobs, but they also are only years removed from college or grad school – and, for many of them, there’s a definite chance that they’ll go back. Some young professionals begin their careers with this mindset, planning to work a couple years after college and then returning for a masters or advanced degree. For others, this decision comes after they have experienced career dissatisfaction and a desire to seek out new opportunities.

The decision to go back to school is not one that should be taken lightly. After all, it often involves quitting your job, suspending your earning potential, and generally putting your career on hold for a degree that may or may not pass off. It also may involve packing up your apartment, filling up uHaul trucks and self storage facilities, and moving halfway across the country to attend school. For young professionals with spouses, significant others, or strong geographic ties, such a move carries with it considerable ramifications.

So what should you do? Return to school or stay in the workforce? How can a young professional decide? While the factors that inform this decision are often highly individualized, here are a few Dos and Donts of going back to school:

DO go back to school if:

-Your current employer is subsidizing the cost or has promised a job upon return
-The degree could either (a) help you concretely in your current career or (b) help you jump start another career
-You have the flexibility to pick up, move for a few years, and then move again
-Workers in your current or intended field are stronger applicants and better employees with a graduate degree
-You know you can commit the time and the effort to succeed
-You can afford making minimal money for a period of time

DON’T go back to school if:

-You are simply dissatisfied with your current job or career and see school as the best option
-You can’t expect improved job prospects upon receiving the degree
-Money is tight and you would have to take out loans (unless you can be highly confident of getting a quick salary boost after finishing your degree)
-You’d have to uproot a young family and potentially suspend two careers
-You aren’t fully committed to the specialty of the degree or the time commitment required to finish it successfully

Ultimately, going back to school will determine a new path that informs the next era of your employment career. If you are unhappy with your current path, see a graduate degree as offering a more promising one, and have the money and flexibility to make it happen, by all means go ahead and get that second degree. But make sure that you are doing so for the right reasons and with the right considerations in mind.

This post comes to us from Newly Corporate reader Mariana who wanted to share a few money saving tips with new college graduates starting their careers.

This is the moment you’ve been waiting for. You’ve finally obtained your college degree, landed your dream job (or a job), and you’re officially part of the real world. Your high school teachers may have told you college was the real world, but now you’ve realized that is definitely not the case. As a young professional, you have much more to do than you did in high school or college. You have to worry about balancing your budget and creating an ample savings account. After all, your parents won’t always be there to save you on a rainy day. Creating good saving habits now will be immensely beneficial for your future.  Here are some simple ways to save money on a daily basis.

Take Your Lunch to Work
This may seem like a daunting task. However, you will be surprised how much money you save by taking your lunch to work instead of eating out every day. Although it can be fun to go out with your co-workers for lunch, the weekly tab can be stressful on your wallet. For example, let’s say you eat a pretty modest lunch even at a chain like Chili’s. You will probably spend at least $10-$12 per meal. If you work 5 days a week, that adds up to $50-60! Instead, you could probably spend $15-$20 on a week’s supply of groceries. If you make yourself a sandwich every day, you will be saving close to $120 a month! Plus, you’ll be saving your waistline from extraneous calories. That extra $120 could be useful if your car needs repair on a random day!

Investing 101: Diversify your Polio
So, here is a way to increase your available cash flow: Investing a part of your salary. Of course, you need to decide how much you’d like to invest. Also, if you have any of those really successful friends in investment banking, now may be the time to invite them over for dinner or drinks. Here is a link that can help you get started, with basic tips on investing.

Be a Sensible Socialite
It can be really exciting to be a salaried employee. You always have a cash flow. Plus, every time you get a paycheck, you feel like you are being rewarded for your hard work! However, with great power comes great responsibility. It can be easy to spend your money on extravagant nights out on the town. It is important to spend your money wisely, and in moderation. Rather than spending $100 at a bar, invite your friends over to have drinks and hors d’oeuvres. Make it a potluck, where every person brings some sort of alcohol or appetizer. Even if you want to go out afterwards, you probably won’t spend even half the same amount as you would have without the pre-party! Plus, the pre-party will be fun, personal, and cheaper!

Get Rid of Your Credit Cards
Even rappers who make $50 million a year have become destitute after putting too many expenses on their credit cards. There’s no class in overspending. If you think you are likely to spend more than the available supply in your account, leave your credit cards at home! Or better yet, don’t have one. You may need one for emergencies, but if it is not necessary, just stick to using your debit card!

Think Before You Buy
So, practicing restraint may not be one of your strong suits. It is definitely not one of mine. However, exercising your critical thinking skills before making a purchase can help you save a lot of money. Every time you are considering a big purchase, write out a pros and cons list. How badly do you need the item? How often will you use it? Take a look at every store/outlet offering the item to find the best price. The more time you spend thinking about it, the less likely you are to buy unnecessary items!

Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031@gmail.com.

Yes, I was one of the recent iPad 2 purchasers waiting in line to get the latest technology out of Cupertino. I admit, I said I wouldn’t but, after experiencing the original and trying the new one out I decided I would make the investment and give it a try.  I couldn’t be happier with my purchase and I’ll share with you why.

Which iPad Model?

When most people start to consider an iPad the first question that comes to mind is which model do they need.  As it’s still a relatively new device and I don’t have enough specific designated uses in mind, I decided to go for one of the cheaper models (16GB, WiFi) to evaluate how I could use it. I decided against the 3G because I don’t need another recurring cost in my budget and if it came down to a situation where I needed it, I would just use the new, cheaper hotspot option on the iPhone. In the end, the base model just made sense.

When to Buy?

I waited for 2 weeks after launch and still had to wait in line.  There are still shortages out there so I would just say call your local Apple store when you’re ready and see what they have for stock.

Impact So Far

After about a month of usage, here are the areas I have found where the iPad has made a difference:

1. Inbox Zero
I am usually pretty good at staying on top of my inbox but, I rarely get to zero. Before the iPad my inbox count, both personal and work usually hovered between 50 and 100. The iPad’s superior and frankly fun to use interface helps me keep it closer to 10 and enables me to read and respond easier than on the iPhone without having to lug out my laptop.

2. Better Information Consumption (Google Reader Zero)
With work and the challenges of the GMAT, my news reading had suffered for awhile before the iPad. It was just tough to find the time to work my way through the pile of unread articles, even though I enjoy it and find it enhances my career specific knowledge. The iPad is a great way to consume this kind of information quickly and effectively. Using apps like Flipboard and Zite, anyone can interact with a wide variety of their personal news feeds all in one great looking, easy to browse place.

3. More Open and Dynamic Computer-Aided Person to Person Interactions
When opened, laptops become a barrier between two people. It’s only a partial wall but, it has the same effect and the other person either has to wonder what you’re up to, or try to look over your shoulder. With the iPad’s bright, crisp screen people can layout information in front of each other and still effectively interact with it and each other. It works great for budget reviews, trip planning or anything that requires computing on the fly. No partial walls, no isolation or shoulder peeping.

4. Fast, Engaging One on One Presentations
I recently did a project for an executive where I work and showed up to an update with the iPad. It was a great way to demo the tools involved live and let her actually interact with them by touch. No need to waste time plugging in a projector, no clicking intermediary or waiting for a laptop to turn on/work. Just boom, it’s right there at their fingertips.

5. Better Meeting Etiquette
We all know what it’s like when someone get’s pulled into a conversation on their laptop when you are in a meeting.  iPads discourage in-meeting distraction by being flat on the table.  Everyone can see if you are taking notes or doing something else.  This transparency actually helps promote focus on what is at hand for everyone involved.

I am still discovering new iPad impacts as it really is a new way to interact on many levels. What have your experiences been? Please let us know in the comments.

Many young professionals begin considering an MBA a few years after they start working (for those considering, see our posts When is it time to go back for an MBA? and Managers Not MBAs : Critical For Managers, MBAs and Those Seeking Either). One of the first steps towards applying is getting your GMAT completed. I recently went through the process of preparing for the GMAT and received some great advice from my brother-in-law, Noah Bieber, who has graciously allowed me to post it for your perusal below. As a caveat, he went through law school so he was less worried about the verbal section of the test and focuses more on the math section but, it is a great general guide.

High Level Study Timeline

1) ASAP - take a diagnostic test so you know what to work on. The Kaplan software (see below) has a diagnostic that told me to focus on math.

2) 1-2 months out: Focus on general topic lessons. Princeton Review Math Workout for the GMAT. I read all of the math topics and worked some of the practice problems. Good book and I highly recommend it, it identifies all the types of problems and explains them really well.

3) 2-3 weeks out: start taking full-length practice tests.

Testing Software and Practice Tests

-I bought Kaplan’s 2005 GMAT software for $20. The lessons were terrible, but it had several computerized practice tests. I recommend doing computerized practice tests so you can get used to the computer-adaptive difficulty settings. This will help you practice timing to get to the optimal difficulty.

-The math tests always got to the point where I could not do the most difficult questions, so I tried to practice deciding when I hit the “too-difficult” level, eliminating obvious wrong answers, and quickly guessing. Then, I would get one wrong and the questions would get easier, but you get fewer points for them.

-After you do the computerized tests, they will tell you what topics you need to work on. Since the Kaplan lessons were crappy, I looked up these topics in the Princeton Review book and read through them again.

- I usually skipped the writing practice tests because it was largely irrelevant to my admission and scholarship decisions. I had an easy writing topic and a really hard one, and without practicing, my writing score was 4 / 6.

-Toward the end, I ran out of Kaplan Practice tests, so I borrowed Peterson’s Mastering the GMAT from the library. This book’s lessons were more advanced than the Princeton Review. Honestly, it was too difficult and too late for me, so I just used the practice tests

General Observations and Tips:

-If you can find software with more practice tests than Kaplan, I would get that – I would look for about 12-14 computerized practice tests if possible.

-The practice tests were graded much harder than my actual GMAT. I was consistently getting 600-650 on the practice tests, but I got above much better than that on the actual GMAT. A buddy had a similar experience with the Kaplan practice tests.

Do you have similar or conflicting experiences? Share your tips in the comments.

Photo Credit: Online MBA Degree Program

You’re ahead of the game, you have a well thought out budget set and you’re doing a great job of tracking your expenses and BAM! Some unexpected charge nails you out of the blue! You do what you can but it ends up on your credit card and it impacts your spending for the next few months. We have all been there, in fact that can turn in to a spiral for some. How do you deal with these unexpected changes in your spending month to month?

Here are the 3 best ways to prepare for budget variance ups and downs:

1. Build Seasonal Expenditures in to Your Budget
Most people set the amount they budget for each of their budget categories as low as they can. They figure they can hit it and they want to try to be aggressive. They use their lowest month’s spend amount as their goal rather than looking at their average spend when they set it. If you have a good history in Mint or Yodlee, the average spend can be a great guide as to how much you really spend. Also, just looking back at the way you spend can help you make a realistic budget. Make sure that you build in things like more outdoor activities or higher gas costs in the summer.

2. Level Out Your Bills
Some of your bills can spike on you in a given month, causing the scenario described at the beginning of this post to happen. Avoid this by setting up payment plans where you can. A classic example of this is car, home and fire insurance (for more on insurance, check out our post 3 Ways to Save Money on Insurance and a Myth Busted). Many companies charge you for 6 months at a time in one month, causing a big spike in spending. A great way to solve this is to set up a payment plan that charges the same amount each month for all of your policies, it may cost a dollar or a bit more a month in fees but, it’s totally worth it when you consider the interest you might have to pay if you have to put big 6 month bills on your credit card.

3. Track Budget Category Spend Yearly, not just Monthly
When most people budget, they track their costs monthly. At the end of the month, if they spend less in a few categories they pat themselves on the back and go spend the money they didn’t spend for those categories. Unfortunately, the next month rolls along and the pent up demand for the goods in that category makes you go over your goal in that category and you now have a credit card balance or you have to cut back on other categories. This can be solved! Treat each category like a separate bank account. My grandpa told me him and my grandma used to have separate envelopes with budget categories like “Gas” and “Groceries” written on them. They would put their budgeted amount of cash in each month and then let anything extra each month stay in the envelope for when they needed it later. You can do the same on paper or with the carryover budgeting available in Mint. Give it a try, then you can see your budget status year to date, not just for any given month!

How do you control budget variance? Add your suggestions in the comments!

With mortgage rates hitting new lows almost every other week, many young professionals who recently purchased condos or homes in the recession-induced buyers market are trying to weigh their options for refinancing.  I recently went through the process to refinance and came across a number of things to consider if you are trying to make a decision.

5 Things to Consider When Refinancing

1.  Are you really saving money?  Many mortgage companies will dangle low payments in front of you but, when you dig deeper all they are doing is extend your loan and you are actually paying more in interest throughout the new, longer loan.  For a great breakdown of this with examples, check out Mortgage Refinance and Resetting the Clock by a blogger from The Finance Buff.

2. Can you make more of a principle payment and get rid of Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)?  Many first time buyers do not put the full 20% down on their mortgages and end up paying over $100 a month in PMI.  Getting rid of PMI can take many years and even then can cost $400 for a new assement and to prove youc an drop it.  If you you can put down some extra principle to get your Loan to Value under 80% you can get two birds with one stone, lower your rate and get rid of PMI.

3. Are you really getting the best deal?  Make sure your lender isn’t playing games by offering you a low rate with lots of refinancing fees.  Sometimes the fees make up the difference in rates.  Use the comparison tools and calculators at sites like BankRate.com to avoid this.

4. Do you have enought saved up?  Be sure to fully read and understand the documents and quotes the lenders send you.  Often times you need even more than they say because in some cases you need to pay an extra months payment ahead of time on top of title insurance, lenders fees and other fees.  Have everything you need ready and liquid for the transaction.

5. Are you staying in your condo or house long enough to realize the benefits? Young professionals tend to move around more than most.  It’s easy get excited about the prospect of lower payements and saving money but, keep in mind you can realize the savings of refinancing unless you stay in your place for awhile after you refi.  Basically you need to understand how long you will stay in your place, how much you save per month and how much your refi will cost and then you can divide the cost by how much you save each month to see how long you need to stay to make the refi worth it.  If you don’t like doing the math yourself you can use this refinance calculator.

Have you recently refinanced and run in to other areas to focus on?  Drop us a comment below!

A great way to get a head start when you start your professional career is to absorb business-related knowledge from the wide variety of business books available. But which ones are the best? And when should you read them? Are some better to read right away or after you have some experience? Here at Newly Corporate we will do our best to focus our book reviews on these questions.  This post is by a new Newly Corporate blogger, Zachary Henak.

Author: Milo O. Frank
Target Audience: All Communicators
Scope: Any industry or field from management to IT, Oil to Day Care.
Book Type: Quick read/reference
Purpose: To hone your communication skills for everything from your elevator speech, to writing letters of recommendation, to giving a key note address.
Primary use: A tool to focus your objective in any mode of communication.
Cost: Read it for Free on Google Books!

My opinion:
The book is a quick read, (a matter of hours), it gives lots of good examples and expanded examples.   However,  its message is simple and best used for developing and improving your planned communications projects in an “on demand” fashion.

I would not suggest it as nightly reading, but more as a tool for presenting requests or ideas to those around you. When you’re looking to quickly make progress, this is a proven system to produce results!

Cliff Notes for the process:

How to develop a communication piece, a simple but powerful checklist:

1. Know your Objective, Listener, and Approach

2. Ask yourself:

• What am I talking about?
• Who is involved?
• Where is it?
• When is it?
• Why is it?
• How do I do it?

3.  Check your answers against these questions:

• Does it reinforce and/or explain my objective?
• Does it relate to my Listener?
• Does it correspond to my Approach?

Start with a hook and end strong with a dramatic call to action.  Give them something tangible to do, and never take more than 30 seconds.

Professional Development Timeframe (The time period one should read this book in after starting their career.): 3 Months

For more great books for young professionals, check out 15 Books for Rogue Professionals and How to Read them Fast at No Cost.

The excitement of the engagement ring and proposal are just the beginning of two lives becoming one in marriage. A big piece of marital fusion is two totally separate financial setups becoming one. Not an easy task. As I am going through the process right now, I thought I would share my experiences thus far with fellow pre-marital young professionals.

With the whirlwind of planning that occurs for the big wedding event, it can sometimes become the only focal point for a couple, with the exception of maybe trying to plan a tropical honeymoon. This tendency is natural, we all want to focus on the exciting, immediate event but, marriage goes on forever after the wedding.  Failing to plan for the time after the big event could make it tougher on you then it should be. Here are a few ways to help build towards pre and post marital financial bliss:

1. Know your financial strengths and weaknesses, and those of your significant other. Are you a spender or saver? What is your approach to money? Could your partner’s strengths help counteract your weaknesses?  Even just knowing both of your approaches to money can significantly smooth financial discussions and planning because you know your unique approaches to money and how to approach the differences.

2. Learn from others.  Watch how your parents or others approach their finances, ask them for advice (if they are a good example).  Beyond personal examples, there are tons of great reasources out there on personal finance.  Here are the top 18 blogs on money and finance I read via Google Reader to stay in touch with the latest personal finance strategies and ideas.  Even if I know some of it already, it always gets me thinking and keeps me focused on solid financial goals.  If you use Google Reader, here is the bundle of blogs (thanks to Mark Roberts for many of the suggestions) so you can see some sample posts and subscribe to all of them if you want.
Being Frugal.net
Blogging Away Debt
Budgets are Sexy
Dual Income No Kids
Econobusters
Enemy of Debt
fivecentnickel.com
Free From Broke
Gather Little by Little – Personal Finance with a Christian Perspective
Get Rich Slowly
Good Financial Cents
I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…
Man Vs. Debt
Money Under 30
My Money Blog
No Debt Plan
Single Guy Money
The Simple Dollar

3. Measure your finances and get everything in one place.  You can’t management what you don’t measure!  Check out 3 Fast and Easy Budgeting Methods to get started if you don’t already track your finances but, whatever you use you need to know what you are spending and what your budget is before you can merge your budget with someone else’s.   Yodlee is great and I know many who use Mint, pick something that works for you and stick with it.

4. Have a sit down discussion 6 months, 4 months and 2 months before your wedding.  This can be tough, especially if you are busy or not focused on financial planning but, it’s crucial.  Get all of both of your budget, spending and asset information together (I printed mine off Yodlee), take an hour on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon with no distractions (TV off) and walk through what you each spend now and what your budget will look like together.  It’s not just adding things together, you can save on insurance, cell phone bills etc but, there are other things you can’t save on.  Should you increase the amount in your emergency savings fund? What do your retirement savings look like? Get it all on paper.  I know the tendency is there to use excel or a computerized method but, that can distract you from the focus. Don’t forget to file all your papers and review them at the next meeting!

5. Set goals and check up on them.  Set savings, tracking and other goals at your meetings and check up on them at the next meeting.  Are your spending and budget projections on?  Do you need to adjust savings or spending to hits your goals? These check ups and goals will only serve to help you communicate and prepare for a married future.

I am still learning the ins and outs as I go but, this is what has worked for me so far.  Please share your experience, tips, personal finance blogs or other information as well in the comments!

Image Credit: sunshinecity

This guest post was contributed by Shannon Wills, an avid reader and contributor to a number of other professional blogs.

There are some people who swear that their job is their life, and then there are others who try their very best to prevent their jobs from becoming their lives. It’s different strokes for different folks, but no matter which category you belong to, there will come a time when you have to work harder than ever, stay long hours at the office, spend your weekends cooped up in your cubicle, or have to forsake your holiday because an important project just cropped up. Whatever the reason for you to work on a weekend, here are a few things you must remember:

• Don’t expect bouquets for it: While it may prevent you from getting brickbats, don’t assume that working weekends or longer hours is going to get you any kind of appreciation from your boss or supervisor. Rather, your efforts could boomerang on you – if you work a few weekends consecutively, they may even feel disappointed in you when you don’t show up at the office the following week. So if you’re doing this just to get into your boss’s good books, forget the whole idea. I’m not totally dismissing the fact that your efforts will be appreciated, but you have to be prepared to not receive kudos for the extra time you’re putting in.
• Don’t use the weekend to catch up on your week’s work: If you’re working weekends because you’ve goofed away the whole week, then you’re not a hard worker as other people perceive you to be. Rather, your methods are shoddy and inefficient. You’re a regular procrastinator who keeps putting away today’s work for tomorrow, little realizing that tomorrow will come with its own share of work. So get your work done during the week and leave the weekends free for friends, family and yourself.
• Working longer hours does not mean you are a better worker: If you stay all of Saturday and Sunday at the office, from early in the morning till late at night, it doesn’t automatically prove that you’re a good worker. Rather, it shows your inefficiency and your tendency to procrastinate and waste time. When you spend all day at the office doing nothing worthwhile, it is equivalent to not going in to the office at all. Gauge your value as a worker using the amount of work you manage to complete within a certain period of time, not by the amount of time you spend at your desk.

Working weekends does not matter unless you’re able to prove to your superiors that you’re worth your weight in gold, that you’re a sincere worker who is responsible towards your work and the company, and that you’d go the extra mile if the need arose.

This guest post is contributed by Shannon Wills, she writes on the topic of Online Engineering Degrees and other professional education topic areas.  She welcomes your comments at shannonwills23@gmail.com or in the comments on this post.

Photo Credit: Office

As young professionals, or any age professionals for that matter, we often struggle to balance heavy workloads with the right amount of exercise to keep us physically fit and focused.  Although we aren’t perfect here at Newly Corporate, we are going to share which “secrets” or strategies have worked best for us, we welcome your feedback and additional suggestions as well.

The first “secret” is a mid-day workout.  Many workplaces have in-house or nearby gyms with discounted memberships for employees (and showers), especially in this healthcare-sensitive environment.  Taking advantage of these, while sometimes challenging time-wise, can be an easier way to stay in shape than an evening workout.  Here are a few of the benefits:

Mid-Day Workout Benefits

1. Working out at noon raises your metabolism for the rest of the day rather than just the evening hours when you work out after work.
2. A mid-day workout can help you clear your head and take a fresh look at work place challenges in the afternoon.
3. By choosing to workout in the afternoon you are less likely to shorten your workout due to the desire to go home quickly or do something else.

There are many benefits to employers too, a healthier workforce is more productive, has fewer sick days and less stress on the job.  If you normally work through lunch, it may mean coming in earlier or staying later but, it makes a huge difference in terms of productivity and well-being. This strategy may not be possible in all positions, jobs or employers but, it comes highly recommended by many health professionals and corporate productivity specialists.