ELEANOR BLAYNEY:  What advice would I give to college graduates starting off their careers with enormous student debt?  Put that enormous college debt to enormous work by finding a job with plenty of upside potential. Commit to continually building on the knowledge, skills, and networks you acquired in college to ensure that your “human capital” is growing at a rate much greater than the interest rates on your student loans.

    Make sure to keep your lifestyle as modest as a college student’s, even as you grow in professional stature and earnings. Think twice about payment plans that stretch out those loans for as long as possible: Your goal is not to reduce your payments but to retire the debt, so you can get on with the other important things in life–owning a home, kids, retirement.  Draw up a financial plan with a certified financial planning professional that will have you student debt-free by the time your own kids are off to college.


    Read the latest Wealth Management Report.