We see this time and time again. YPs living above their means. Savings rates that are negative. Too much credit card debt. And dissatisfaction with their pay in the workplace. This blog post gives a good diagram to better understand the situation.

 Who teaches young people about personal finance?

VTKnowledgeWorks has a new blogto keep folks update on their fine progress, entrepreneurship, and the local regional economy. It is a nice read and you should add it to your blogroll.

If you are looking to get information and exposure about the local employment market, then check out the Roanoke Connect database. You will receive emails every two weeks on a partial list of jobs locally, connections to local employers, and access to helpful job sites in the region. Over 2500 people have actively subscribed. Over 100 employers are actively using it. Over 60 success stories have occurred. Register now!

In preparation for the 2nd Annual Roanoke Holiday Career and Lifestyle Fair, we are putting together a page of brag points and on the back a cost of living comparison. We created a similar document last year. What is interesting is either Roanoke is more affordable or these other cities are more expensive. The source of this data is Sperling’s Best Places.

 For each of these, we compared $60,000 in Location A is equal to $ X in Roanoke.

• Charlottesville $60,000 equals $46,415 in Roanoke in 2007, $52,253 in 2006.
• Richmond $60,000 equals $51,789 in Roanoke in 2007, $54,521 in 2006.
• Washington DC $60,000 equals $36,992 in Roanoke in 2007, $40,226 in 2006.
• Hampton Roads $60,000 equals $48,235 in Roanoke in 2007, $55,733 in 2006.
• Raleigh $60,000 equals $48,713 in Roanoke in 2007, $57,680 in 2006.

All of these take an overall approach considering food, housing, utilities, transportation, health care and miscellaneous. What it does not compare is time savings of commute or travel to and from work. Roanoke would win that category too.

A low cost of living is a competitive advantage we must exploit. We will do this at the fair. If you would like to receive one of these sheets we are passing out, then email me.

On December 29-30 at the Roanoke Civic Center Special Events Center, a plethora of sponsors will be hosting Roanoke GameFest 1.0.  There will be 240 slots available at this LAN party playing both PC and console games. The cost of admission is $30. Watch a video on the event. Please register and bring someone with you too.