Many students ruin their wealth building opportunities and wealth building strategies within a year of leaving university.  One of the first mistakes is that they stay loyal to the financial institution that issued their student loan, according to new reports by Moneyfacts.co.uk.

They offer several tips for recent graduates that include:

“Make a list of exactly how much you owe and plan to start reducing your debt. Most people will leave university owing a five figure sum, but be sensible about it. It doesn’t all have to be paid off within 12 months, but then again you can’t ignore it and you should look to start making repayments as soon as you can afford to.”

“The NatWest & Abbey Graduate packages both offer up to £2K free in year one, then £1K in year two and down to £500 in year three. We’re still awaiting details of packages from the other big banks, but last year Barclays Graduate Additions offered the highest interest-free limit in year one at £3K but this account does charge you a £5 per month fee. However the extra £1K interest free overdraft is worth £100 (at a typical rate of 10%) so paying £60 in fees over a year for benefits including mobile phone insurance is still worthwhile.”

“Unlike the student account market, where incentives are the often the main focus point for providers marketing, only Lloyds TSB, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland offer incentives or benefits to graduates. But don’t be lured simply by the incentives on offer, as charges may soon eat away any initial gain. And remember they only have any value if you are actually going to use them!”

These three key tips will help students start their lives on the right track in avoiding the personal loan mess that many graduates end up in by not being sensible with their finances.