This guest post was written by Go Banking Rates, bringing you informative personal finance content and helpful tools, as well as the best interest rates on financial services nationwide. Follow them on Twitter at @GoBankingRates and on Facebook at /GoBRates
Congrats college grad! Now it’s time to ship out that resume and get your real life going. As you know, the job market is tough and competitive. If you’re lucky enough to land a “real” position straight out of college, it still might not come with the salary, benefits or job …

My generation is fascinating to watch.  We grew up in the middle of the greatest economic boom (artificial boom, maybe, but a boom nonetheless).  As such, it’s amazing to witness what we expect out of life.  We expect things to happen for us.  We expect a four year vacation (college) where we can study fun things like psychology and history prior to entering the “real world” without any real skills.  We expect a high paying job with lots of benefits and a wonderful work/life balance.
It’s not our fault.  We were …

I love reading about individuals who chart their own path, going in a different direction than the herd.  While obviously we don’t read about the countless failures of this path, but typically only the successes (i.e. Timothy Ferriss “Four Hour Work Week”), it is still fun to read and think on such people and their paths.
Most of us view a “different path” as one different than a normal job/career lifestyle.  This “normal” existence typically means working some version of a 9-5 like job Monday thru Friday, with a few weeks …

If you read this blog, you know I’m incredibly bearish on the U.S. economy as a whole moving forward.  If you don’t typically read this blog, then go through some of the other posts to read why.  I feel it is important to say amidst all this bearish talk that there are definite opportunities available today and in the future despite this bleak macroeconomic view.  This is your motivation to keep moving forward.
It’s important to realize that even when the macro economy as a whole is struggling, there are still …

Depending upon your circumstances, you might be really in a funk right now or really moving forward with a pep in your step.  If you’re unemployed and struggling to find any meaningful work, it’s probably difficult to discuss motivation since you’re just aiming for survival.  On the other hand, if you’re financial life is stabilizing or improving, maybe it’s time to start looking at the motivation in your life.
So, what motivates you?  A paycheck?  Satisfying a customer?  Building relationships?  Building up money for a down payment?  Starting a business?  Getting …

Time management is one of the most best things that you can strive to get better at in your life in my opinion.  Improving your time management can be the difference between an increase in income, the ability to build and manage a second income stream and a quality work / life balance versus a poor one.
When it comes to developing a second income stream, most fail to do it not because of the difficulty or the lack of skills.  Most fail to develop a second income stream due to …

I was getting a cup of coffee the other day from the little cafe in the building I work in, and the two employees were talking about their career aspirations outside of the field of pouring coffee.  The one guy was saying how he wanted to get into a non-profit company and work there.  Interestingly, I soon realized that it had nothing to do with one particular area or cause or industry, but rather, just the idea of working for a non-profit.
I walked away thinking about it and wondering why …

Sometimes we tend to read and think about high level concepts such as the economy or the markets.  Well, I’ve had a few people ask me to write more about what to do right now with your energy, your money, your time, etc.  It’s great to become knowledgeable regarding some of the “pie in the sky” stuff but it’s important to establish a track to run on, and then actually start running.
So, ok, I like to write about how the economy sucks and how the markets are over-inflated.  You probably …