Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
My wife had about $10k in student loan debt for her bachelor's in biology when we married, which is not bad for a 4 year degree at a private school. She was making between $14 and $10/hr 4 years post graduation. I paid off the loans immediately with the sizable savings I had accumulated from working a $17/hr job for the past decade. A job I got with no formal related education and no degree, but with work experience as an intern.
Her first job as a PA will likely start her around $90k.
As an aside, I could easily provide for both her and myself on a single minimum wage salary.
My grandfather always used to stress the importance of obtaining a degree, any degree, to be "successful". That was more true of his day, but 4-year degrees are worth vastly less than they used to be worth. With how commonplace a degree has become, and with the skyrocketing cost of obtaining a degree (and the ease of self-learning), the old wisdom no longer applies.
Yes, of course. If everyone "did what they love", there would be about 10 plumbers in the entire US.
It's often detrimental for people to constantly hear that they should be working at a job they absolutely love. I say, do what you're good at, decide to love it, and continue to pursue both work and hobbies that you enjoy.
... and didn't Uncle Sam pay for your education?
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$17/hr for a decade? That totals about $260k take home pay. I took home that much money in the past 4 years alone.
Lets say you pay for school 100% on loans and graduate with $60k in debt, you still come out ahead in that same 10 year period despite only working for 6 of those years. And thats just the startup decade. Unless you major in a slacker's field.
However, go to a tech school if you're not going to major in engineering, medical, or computer stuff at the 4 year.
Then, when you go to the tech school, major in engineering technology, dental hygene (or nursing), or computer programming.
If you don't want to do that stuff, start a business.
