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Also.. in Hawaii you have to become certified by the state to be a security guard.. which means more training and more background checks.. Pay can be anywhere from nine an hour to sixteen , seventeen an hour depending on where you work.. and who the client is. I expect guards with handgun certifications might make a bit more.
Farmworkers currently get $15 an hour. And don't need any background checks or worry to be shot at. Weed whacking, fertilizer and pesticide applications, pruning, hauling or chipping green waste, stuff like that. Most work with several smaller farms, often on cash base.
I used to work for a lot less than $15. I see help wanted signs in hundreds of businesses where I live. The typical starting wages are about $9 to $13 an hour. When I walk past those signs, I just can't imagine working that cheap. Even $15 to $20 is way too little money. If you educated yourself in a high rate of return field with a 2 year degree, you could start at $30. After 8 to 10 years, you could be making $45 to $60 an hour.
But you don't stop there. At the same time, you live well below your means and save a lot of money. The saved money makes a lot more money. The saved money, carefully and wisely invested, doubles every 8 years. After working and saving for 2 to 3 decades, your accumulated net worth allows you to retire and have about the same income stream that you had when you were working.
The key factors are educating yourself in a high return on investment career and living well below your means. Or, you could be lazy, not educate yourself or educate yourself in a low rate of return career, work for low wages, live at or above your means, never retire till you drop, then retire in adjective poverty.
I used to work for a lot less than $15. I see help wanted signs in hundreds of businesses where I live. The typical starting wages are about $9 to $13 an hour. When I walk past those signs, I just can't imagine working that cheap. Even $15 to $20 is way too little money. If you educated yourself in a high rate of return field with a 2 year degree, you could start at $30. After 8 to 10 years, you could be making $45 to $60 an hour.
But you don't stop there. At the same time, you live well below your means and save a lot of money. The saved money makes a lot more money. The saved money, carefully and wisely invested, doubles every 8 years. After working and saving for 2 to 3 decades, your accumulated net worth allows you to retire and have about the same income stream that you had when you were working.
The key factors are educating yourself in a high return on investment career and living well below your means. Or, you could be lazy, not educate yourself or educate yourself in a low rate of return career, work for low wages, live at or above your means, never retire till you drop, then retire in adjective poverty.
How lovely for (and presumptive of) you. But education is only one of many factors in a person's financial well-being over the long term. Your theory exists in a vacuum, where nothing apparently ever goes wrong. Throw in an unexpected illness, catastrophic life event, family disaster, or other unpredictable event, and that theory goes rapidly out the window. If you develop cancer while you're in the middle of getting that education, have a child with a serious disability, get shot in a freak public rampage, find out you have progressive MS or your spouse has a brain tumor, etc., there goes that $60/hr and savings doubling every 8 years. Instead you're spending all your time and money at the hospital, or at home unable to work and trying to cope with depression or PTSD, or perhaps in prison because you got hooked on drugs because of chronic physical or emotional pain. Not everyone has a perfect, event-free life where they can plan ahead 50 years into their future and guarantee financial stability for themselves. I appreciate that you want to blame the victim and tell everyone to simply "pick themselves up by their bootstraps" and all the world's problems will be solved, but that perspective seems to lack a connection with reality and an understanding that not all of life's facets are within our control. "Best laid plans..." and all that.
People who move to remote island life need to consider that such things could happen to them, even if they have thus far lived a charmed life. They will need multiple back-up plans in order to survive if something happens to throw them off course of this plan to become financially independent.
Also, it seems that in your theory, all people should work in sectors that have the "highest rate of return" regardless of the talents and interests one was born with, and regardless of society's need for people who work in fields that serve the community more than they serve themselves. I guess you're suggesting that no one should be a farm worker or a security guard, but then where would we get our food? Calling the people who work themselves to the bone every day to supply grocery stores with produce "lazy" is all well and good if you are growing all of your own food yourself and are 100% self-sufficient. Otherwise, it's incredibly offensive, not to mention hypocritical, and shockingly inaccurate.
The OP suggested that local journalism is needed to cover honest views of what life is like for local residents. Now even if such a position is poorly paid (or at first, not paid at all) clearly it still has a value to the community and is deemed by some to be a necessary position. Money should not dictate how such a need is handled (or ignored completely). The need should be filled, and respect to the community paid, whether or not it results in a "high rate of return" for the person who chooses to provide that needed service. And there is certainly no loss of dignity, nor lack of work ethic and personal integrity, for the person who decides to take up the job.
The other day.. two days ago now... A Local male jumped off the upper level of my apartment building and killed himself... Yet it doesn't .. and hasn't hit the local news.. I think that is disrespectful... Perhaps if there were more independent reporters.. This story might have gotten a sentence or two in one of the many news sources on the island.. If the news doesn't cover all the news.. there is no way to get a true 'flavor' of the community.
Also.. I never hear it mentioned on this forum. But Security officer jobs are in high demand. My Wife Works for a large company here in Hilo... and she can take as much overtime as she wants.
I work in local media and perhaps I can shed some light. Covering suicide actually carries a lot risk (Google copy-cat suicide etc) it's a very real thing. Most media outlets won't report on a particular suicide unless it's of high public interest -- i.e. a well-known person or happened in the middle of the day with 50 people watching. If you don't believe me Google around. First I've heard of this apartment building suicide. Few media outlets these days are blessed with unlimited staff and resources and if they don't know about it, the event won't be covered obviously. Next time something like that happens I'd definitely encourage you to contact your local news station or newspaper directly.
In a more general sense though, yes media doesn't cover everything perfectly and while we try there are certainly things that are missed.
How lovely for (and presumptive of) you. But education is only one of many factors in a person's financial well-being over the long term. Your theory exists in a vacuum, where nothing apparently ever goes wrong. Throw in an unexpected illness, catastrophic life event, family disaster, or other unpredictable event, and that theory goes rapidly out the window. If you develop cancer while you're in the middle of getting that education, have a child with a serious disability, get shot in a freak public rampage, find out you have progressive MS or your spouse has a brain tumor, etc., there goes that $60/hr and savings doubling every 8 years. Instead you're spending all your time and money at the hospital, or at home unable to work and trying to cope with depression or PTSD, or perhaps in prison because you got hooked on drugs because of chronic physical or emotional pain. Not everyone has a perfect, event-free life where they can plan ahead 50 years into their future and guarantee financial stability for themselves. I appreciate that you want to blame the victim and tell everyone to simply "pick themselves up by their bootstraps" and all the world's problems will be solved, but that perspective seems to lack a connection with reality and an understanding that not all of life's facets are within our control. "Best laid plans..." and all that.
People who move to remote island life need to consider that such things could happen to them, even if they have thus far lived a charmed life. They will need multiple back-up plans in order to survive if something happens to throw them off course of this plan to become financially independent.
Also, it seems that in your theory, all people should work in sectors that have the "highest rate of return" regardless of the talents and interests one was born with, and regardless of society's need for people who work in fields that serve the community more than they serve themselves. I guess you're suggesting that no one should be a farm worker or a security guard, but then where would we get our food? Calling the people who work themselves to the bone every day to supply grocery stores with produce "lazy" is all well and good if you are growing all of your own food yourself and are 100% self-sufficient. Otherwise, it's incredibly offensive, not to mention hypocritical, and shockingly inaccurate.
Almost everyone has far more potential to excel in life. Most people are limited by themselves, settling for less. I used to be one of the working poor, always in debt, barely making enough money, always next to being broke. It is possible to invest in yourself. Most people are unwilling to do what it takes to get ahead in life, and would rather blame the people who made something of themselves for their own failures in their own lives.
Lots of problems can happen in life that could derail your plans. But does that mean that you should even bother to try to excel in life? Maybe it's easier to just give up, live your life as a working poor person, and hope that the nation becomes socialistic or communist.
There will always be the working poor, since that is the path of less resistance for so many people. So there will always be security guards, cooks, and other low wage workers. However, I know many people who have excelled in life. If others can excel, why can't you? Who's holding you back? You might just find the answer by looking into a mirror.
"If you educated yourself in a high rate of return field with a 2 year degree, you could start at $30. After 8 to 10 years, you could be making $45 to $60 an hour."
Everybody I know near the 6-figure range dropped out of college. All the college graduates I know are practically living in their parent's basements and crushed under student loan debt.
In my experience, when it comes to income, the line of work you are willing to do is far more important than earning a conventional degree. (Though, some professionals (law, medical, etc) will always require traditional degrees).
This is an actual quote (as best as I can remember) from a representative from a major Hawaii corporation as she was announcing their 2014 college scholarships, it was basically wishing them the best of luck but also with a sort of 'dig' against them but also a bit of hope for those who didn't get the scholarship- Their corporation "isn't currently hiring any SCHOLARS (her emphasis, not mine)... we desperately need graduates from certificate programs like diesel mechanics, truck drivers, and heavy equipment operators".
"If you educated yourself in a high rate of return field with a 2 year degree, you could start at $30. After 8 to 10 years, you could be making $45 to $60 an hour."
Everybody I know near the 6-figure range dropped out of college. All the college graduates I know are practically living in their parent's basements and crushed under student loan debt.
In my experience, when it comes to income, the line of work you are willing to do is far more important than earning a conventional degree. (Though, some professionals (law, medical, etc) will always require traditional degrees).
This is an actual quote (as best as I can remember) from a representative from a major Hawaii corporation as she was announcing their 2014 college scholarships, it was basically wishing them the best of luck but also with a sort of 'dig' against them but also a bit of hope for those who didn't get the scholarship- Their corporation "isn't currently hiring any SCHOLARS (her emphasis, not mine)... we desperately need graduates from certificate programs like diesel mechanics, truck drivers, and heavy equipment operators".
That's true, it can make a huge difference what line of work you are willing to do, rather than your education level, with some exceptions. I have both a 2 year and 4 year degree. I started my 4 year degree, then abandoned the 4 year degree and completed a 2 year degree in slightly over 1 year. Later, I slowly completed my 4 year degree with night classes after I was employed. The big financial payoff was from the 2 year degree that I completed in about 1 year.
When I was in the 4 year degree graduation ceremony, there were probably over 1,000 graduates. Different majors were grouped together. There was a group of about 50 people from the "Women's Studies" major. I think it's very likely that most of those people ended up working in fast food, or some other low wage jobs that they could have obtained without a college education, plus, they were saddled with a huge debt. Years later, I recall listening to Rush Limbaugh. A caller mentioned he had a Master's degree in "Africana Studies". The caller was asked what was his occupation after his college education. The caller replied, "a roofer". Many people who work for my employer have advanced degrees, yet many make much less money. A degree or an advanced degree doesn't necessarily translate to higher income. Often times, it can result in lower income, plus a crushing debt. There was a time in the past where a college education was sought after to increase a person's general knowledge without regard to improving their financial future. Those days have passed a long time ago. Most majors in college will not improve people's financial futures.
It can also make a huge difference where you live. You might not be able to live where you dream to live to succeed financially. You may be able to have a happy life without being financially successful. Some very financially successful people are very unhappy people. However, having enough money will make life a lot easier. People should think where you want their lives to be in the long term, rather than only thinking about today.
I know for a fact... (because of circumstances ) that the big Island needs people with early child development degree s..Had to work with Easter Seals for two years... and that was a joke.... because they were so short handed..( they would travel from the other side of the island... to cover ).. We never could get speech therapists to meet their appointments... either.
And FYI for my original post regarding the suicide... it's my understanding that the press .. and or the police are instructed not to report anything that happens down here because it might have an impact on tourism... ( you locals might figure out where I live)...
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