Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I grew up with blue to pink collar parents. They're 65 now. She took SS at 62 and retired because of "health." My dad is still delivering paint part-time and can't retire because they need his $15/hr. income.
I don't want to be in that position. That's why I took a government job with a pension last month. The pension is among the most well-managed nationally.
I'll never earn enough in the private sector to accumulate "what I need to have." Government is the best option to get that cash flow in my senior age via pension. That's the route I've chosen.
The college degree based job recommendation from parents is because that route is proven to work,
There are other ways to be successful, but here is something that the "influencer" hopefuls don't understand. The people who are a success in life are the people who will always do more work than what is required to meet the minimal standard. It seems to me that some of the youngsters who dream of being a You Tube success are thinking they can get rich without actually doing any work.
I suspect that the influencers who are actually making a good living at it are putting in a lot of hours of hard work. Just because they make it look easy does not mean that they do nothing but lay around, play video games, and spend lots of money that they didn't do any work to get.
I recall when Ninja was the biggest guy in Fortnite streaming(I learned to play so I would be able to talk to my kid about something he enjoyed) and was making $500k per month. Lots of kids were thinking they could do the same thing. However, Ninja was clear that he worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, and had no life otherwise. He also had a wife t0 handle the business side of things.
There are a few You Tube channels I watch where the channel owner makes enough money to not have to work as hard, but they are doing something they would do anyway, and are making about the same as a job would pay, $5k to $15k per month.
(For many people; not necessarily all). Get good grades in high school. Go to college or certification. Get a 9-to-5, where you show up in person. Be clean cut and professional. No tattoos on your neck or hands. Then getting a stable government job or maybe a private job with nice benefits.
I feel like so many people want to be social media influencers, cryptocurrency investors or 4 side hustles.
And there's a survivor bias. You see the successful hustlers on instagram all the time. But what you don't see are the millions of people in their 50's who are burnt out from having to constantly hustle and do feast-or-famine type work, wondering if they'll ever attain financial security.
There are exceptions to every occupation:
Neighbor's kid got a 5mm signing bonus to play baseball at age 20. That's not sit on the couch money for life but he should be set with the time value of money growing that lump sum. Currently playing MLB, base salary is like 700K+. What's the plan later, not sure but he should be able to play 5-7 more years especially with a good contract next season.
I know a mid-20's kid working a warehouse/supply job, likely making $16 an hour. He is obsessed with crypto, yet doesn't own a single one. Loves to text me whenever a big announcement is made, so of course I return the texts whenever another one fails/goes bankrupt whatever. The company he works for is publicly traded, they do about 2 billion a year in sales, stock is up about 150% in 5 years. Slow and steady wins the race but kid thinks crypto is a winning lottery ticket. He really feels owning a single bitcoin would make him a millionaire in the next 5 years. Paycheck to paycheck living, renting, driving older junk cars, high school graduate. Great kid, just hyperfocused on cryptomania.
I personally know an IG influencer. She has a good thing going buuuuuuuuutttttt it isn't what it seems. She had a whole segment about fixing up her new house, ehhh except it isn't hers. A relative died and left the place to her parents who in turn let her live there for free. So she is a high school graduate, very cute (for now) and people watch her videos etc. When she is 40 will people still be interested, likely not. So then what? I suspect there are a lot of youtubers that are "faking it until you make it" or until you are forced to get a regular job.
While those are 3 different examples, I'd rather be a kid with a college degree in a great field and ready to begin a 30+ year career than someone clinging to a long shot dream.
(For many people; not necessarily all). Get good grades in high school. Go to college or certification. Get a 9-to-5, where you show up in person. Be clean cut and professional. No tattoos on your neck or hands. Then getting a stable government job or maybe a private job with nice benefits.
The problem is that a scary percentage of teens in America don't have the ability or work ethic to get good grades in high school.
[quote=lair8;64852017](For many people; not necessarily all). Get good grades in high school. Go to college or certification. Get a 9-to-5, where you show up in person. Be clean cut and professional. No tattoos on your neck or hands. Then getting a stable government job or maybe a private job with nice benefits./QUOTE]
I spend a couple weeks a year doing job interviews and recruiting on a college campus. My customer is adamant about screening out the tattooed folks, at least if they are visible. Snooping on social media to pre-screening prospective recruits is a great tool to cull the herd
Getting certification/college degree and working for someone else is a safe choice until you get laid off.
They are the worker bees, very valuable as a whole but not valued individually by employers, easy to replace.
That's not why I didn't choose that type of employment however.
We live in the best place on the world to take a chance on yourself and try something no one in your family ever did.
For those people "safe" is not their goal.
We should encourage go-getters, dreamers, developers and inventors, the Henry Fords, Edisons and others like them.
When they are young and full of ideas and goals we should support and encourage people to take a chance.
Don't mortgage your house to pay for their crypto dreams, that's up to them.
I loved self-employment, wish I had someone help me figure out things but that's part of the job.
Don't make your teenager go to med school when they don't want to. Let them decide what their life should be.
If it takes a couple years that's OK. Let them figure it out while earning minimum wage and paying their way.
They might decide they DO want to be a doctor.
It always struck me as slightly funny that people wish to be called "Influencers" when those who are intoxicated or on drugs are said to be "Under the Influence".
People don't become influencers just for the imagined monetary gain; it's also because they're absolute narcissists who have grown up showing off on camera. I actually know a 2-year-old girl whose mother is obviously grooming her to become a social media influencer; she poses and coaches her endlessly to perform on video for Insta and FB likes; numerous pics in multiple outfits and at least one video per day. She has fan girls.
People don't become influencers just for the imagined monetary gain; it's also because they're absolute narcissists who have grown up showing off on camera. I actually know a 2-year-old girl whose mother is obviously grooming her to become a social media influencer; she poses and coaches her endlessly to perform on video for Insta and FB likes; numerous pics in multiple outfits and at least one video per day. She has fan girls.
For the youngest, I'm sure it's just habit!
Wow, that's awful. How sad.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
