Packing for College, 2010 Style Hidden financial traps are snaring even the best and brightest on campus--and their parents. Here is how to make sure you don't flunk Money 101.

Karen Blumenthal

As you help pack up the minifridge, laptop and extra-long twin sheets for your college freshman, you might consider a few other last-minute chores:

• Scour your health-insurance coverage for loopholes.

• Reread your homeowner's insurance policy.

• Call your lawyer.

Sending a child off to college for the first time is wrenching enough, but a slew of conflicting rules and changing banking and health-care laws are making this year's move-in season more confusing than ever.

And with college costs and student debt at record levels, it is all the more important for students--and their parents--to avoid the new financial traps cropping up on campuses these days, from debit cards to health insurance.

Overlooking small details now, in the frenzied rush to campus, can invite much stress later on.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at August 16, 2010 1:02 AM
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