So they’ve graduated! Now what? Guide to welcoming your children home after graduation!

Between the dismal economy and the student loans epidemic, your child graduating from college no longer means they are out living on their own away from the nest. These days more and more graduates are returning home after college and even graduate school to save money and pay off debts they have acquired during their school years.
Although you are most likely willing to greet your child with open arms, tensions can easily rise arise if expectations from both sides are not communicated.  In order to keep the peace, I suggest a frank and open discussion with your graduate about money, house rules and a realistic time frame for shacking up with you again.  These are my five tips for the things you must discuss with your child post-graduation.     

-Set some house rules: 
Your child may have a sense of greater independence after living on their own for the past four years, but that doesn’t mean you need to give them free reign.  Explain the guidelines you expect them to abide to, whether it is keep in contact with you when they are out with their friends or to keep their room clean.  Once you make all of your policies apparent, they are less likely to cause any turbulence.  

-Have them contribute:
Since your child is now an adult, explain that you anticipate them to take on certain  responsibilities around the household.  Whether that means you ask your child to pay some rent or pay for their cell phone payments or car insurance, your graduate should be contributing to some of their personal expenses.  If your child is not able to contribute financially, ask them to help around with certain things around the house, such as mowing the lawn or doing the grocery shopping to make up for the inability to contribute financially.  Making your expectations transparent and giving your adult child certain responsibilities will help them on their transition to independence and eventually out of the house. 

-Encourage them on the job hunt:
It is a hard time to graduate and look for a job. Encourage your adult child to actively look for a job.  Help them work on their resume and push them to go to as many interviews as possible and to network in young professional groups.  Understand that rejection and disappointment can discourage the job hunt and explain that getting denied is part of the process. Be supportive but most of all, work to be the inspiration to motivate them to persevere in their quest for a job. Explain that even if they don’t get the job the interview is good practice and that they will find the right job for them eventually.    

-Teach them how to budget One of the most important parts of becoming a financially independent adult is knowing how to manage money.  Help your graduate understand how to budget their money, even if they don’t have much, so they don’t land themselves in debt. Going over a budget and budgeting tools with them will help them to understand what expenses they must pay and how to make sure money is available to pay those expenses. Frank discussions on the types of expenses will be important too. Your graduate may think that cable or concert tickets are a necessity but not realize they really do not have the funds for those expenses. Budgeting will help them learn how much they should be able to spend on luxury/entertainment as well as how much they should be saving.  Encourage them to use an online, mobile budgeting tool to help them keep track of their money and expenses on-the-go!  We suggest you try our new online budgeting tool, Budget Jewel, which allows you access your budget online and on the go to help you know when or when you cannot afford something!  

-Help them understand their student loans:
Whether you cosigned their loans for them or not, it is still important that your graduate understand the repayment terms of any student loans. This will prepare them to begin making payments once the grace period for repayment ends.  If your graduate has income coming in, encourage them to make payments before the grace period is over to lessen the loan load once the repayment period starts.  Once the payments start, keep track of their payments to ensure that they are making them on time and in full through the budget and by regular check-ins with your graduate on the status of their financial situation.   

These tips will also help to instill good financial habits in your child while getting him or her on the road to independence and preparing them to leave the nest once and for all!