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Aerospace Engineer... friend whose daughter wanted to do the same thing. But her parents directed her towards a different degree - astro physics - because so few women are in that field.
Wait a minute.
When did Aerospace Engineering become filled with females?
Also don't fall into the trap of thinking that what you love to do is what comes most easily. There are a lot of high school seniors who go off to college to be PreMed majors and by the end of Organic Chem they've switched to psych majors or elementary ed majors. It's not because they decided they didn't like Medicine, it's because they got a D in Orgo and got an A in Intro to Psych. So they stick with the classes they can get easy A's in. Taking the easy route rarely ends up being the financially or professionally rewarding one.
I can attest to this. I have a friend who became a psychiatrist and he almost flunked one of his classes in med school, but he persisted and either retook the class or found a way to pass (I forget which).
I took classes in college that were relatively easy (liberal arts major) and my earning potential is much diminished as a result. I'm not crying poverty. I have an ok job and I'm very frugal and a good saver...but my lower income has definitely been a limitation....but if I could do it all over again, I would have majored in finance, not in a liberal arts field.
My one piece of advice for you is: do not enroll in any college unless you are 100% certain of what you want to do for a career and 100% certain that it requires a specific degree.
If you choose a field that absolutely requires a degree, well then you'll have to spend the absolutely sinful amount of money required to buy that degree, along with a lot of precious time.
I would encourage any young person to invest their energies into learning a trade, a skill, a business, etc. as I believe this will provide better employment prospects, increased job security, higher pay, plus you aren't starting your adult life with a mountain of debt and may in fact even get paid to learn.
My one piece of advice for you is: do not enroll in any college unless you are 100% certain of what you want to do for a career and 100% certain that it requires a specific degree.
Why do people around here insist on treating a college education as if a college education is nothing more than vocational training. There is a hell of lot to learn in a college that doesn't have anything to do with a future vocation. Go or don't go, but don't base that decision solely on what career you want to pursue.
My one piece of advice for you is: do not enroll in any college unless you are 100% certain of what you want to do for a career and 100% certain that it requires a specific degree.
If you choose a field that absolutely requires a degree, well then you'll have to spend the absolutely sinful amount of money required to buy that degree, along with a lot of precious time.
I would encourage any young person to invest their energies into learning a trade, a skill, a business, etc. as I believe this will provide better employment prospects, increased job security, higher pay, plus you aren't starting your adult life with a mountain of debt and may in fact even get paid to learn.
What job could some one do all of this without going to college, community college, 4 year college?
Hello everyone! First and foremost, thank you for spending your time and reading this. Much appreciation! Anyways, I am seeking advice from other members for my situation. I have a feeling that most people here are adults with professional careers. This serves as a positive because you guys have been a teen at one point in your life, and you can hopefully you can share any strategies or regrets you've made that you wish you could of done differently if you can go back in time.
I just turned 17 and already I am think about my future. First, I do not know what career I should pursue. My parents want me to be a doctor, but I hate the medical field. You do one small, simple mistake, you get sued. When you get sued, you lose money and your reputation gets ruined. Then you have no money which makes your girlfriend leave = Not to Bueno. If I am going to be a doctor, I am considering being a family physicianist, not a surgeon. My biggest concern is college. College is getting way too expensive nowadays. I am think about going to community college for the first two years, then transfer to a state-school to complete my undergrad studies. Then, I can hopefully go to a top-20 grad school. My goal is to have little debt as possible.
Another issue is the government. The teenagers right now are going to have to pay for all the debt in the future. The sad part is that the value of the dollar is going to be nothing compared to 10 years ago. I am just worried about my future financially. What do you think is considered a "great income". I do not believe in have a 10,000 square foot home or a 2013 BMW. For me, a roof is all I need and if there is a car that can get me from point A to point B without any mechanical troubles, it's good. What I intend to do is to save all my money, put it in the bank, and gain some $$$ from interest. I am an only child and do not plan on getting married until I am around 28-30 years old and financially stable. If I am an only child, am I subject to inherit everything from my parents?
Any advice would be appreciated, especially from those with previous experience. Thanks!
Well I think the best career advice that could be given is "Do what you like" (not love). Of course, there are always exceptions...but often doing a career you love involves giving up everything else in life in order to pursue it. Most of us don't want to take that kind of risk.
Here are a couple of good blog posts on the subject of work and work/life balance:
I don't agree with all of her posts, but she hits the bull's eye with a lot of stuff.
As far as marriage and kids go...yes it's generally better to wait. I'd say waiting on kids is more important than waiting on marriage. The marriage thing is a little tricky. For guys especially, waiting too long (say after age 30) can be a bad thing, as guys tend to drift and get set in their ways. Men tend to be happier in marriage than when single (contrary to the stereotypes). Of course, there are plenty of exceptions to the rule. The most important thing is to select the right spouse. An excellent book on that subject is:
I wish the above book had been around when I was 17. It would have saved me a lot of time and heartache. It's written for women but 90% of the advice is applicable to men. I think a few key things are important in selecting a spouse. 1. Pick someone who is frugal. Your chances of divorcing go down significantly if both spouses are frugal. 2. Being in love/attracted to your spouse is obviously important...but it is never enough all by itself. (Read the book for more info). Passion/love/attraction is a key ingredient of a good marriage, but a marriage is like a cake and passion is just the icing.
A few other books I thought were really good on the subject of happiness. These books were written by psychologists who researched the thinking and behaviors that actually make people happy:
As far as money goes, I think you need to realize that ideally, you should have 3 different pots of "savings". One is money in the bank for emergencies/salary replacement. You want at least 3 months' worth of salary in this pot...ideally a year's worth. The second is for intermediate term goals, such as saving for a wedding, saving for a car, etc. The third pot of money is your investing money. This is your money you invest for financial independence, so that you don't have to depend on a job for income. Usually, you can designate this as a retirement account. ROTH IRA is generally best for young people. An Individual Retirement Account just means you are designating this pot of money for retirement. You can have anything in your IRA, such as savings accounts, stocks, bonds, or stock and bond mutual funds. It's usually best to have long term investments like stocks or bonds (or mutual funds that invest in stocks and bonds) in your IRA...this is money that you don't plan to touch for 20, 30 years or more.
I think the best financial advice is to set up your 3 pots of money (short term savings, intermediate term savings, investing). Initially, you might just have 2 pots of money...one for savings and one for investing. It's possible for some to put a little in savings and a little in their investment account at the same time.
As another poster said, I like mutual funds that invest in a mix of stocks and bonds. Mutual funds are good, because you don't have to pick the individual stocks and bonds (which most of us would be really bad at, anyway).
One of my favorite balanced mutual funds is: T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation (T. Rowe Price - Corporate Home).
If you set up an automatic investment plan, they will allow you to invest for $50 a month.
It used to be true that a degree would increase your chances of obtaining gainful employment as a young adult. In the current economy, people who would normally be retiring have to stay working longer. The unemployment rate for young adults is soaring, even among those with degrees. Those who do not / did not attend college are at least able to take a lower paying job and still survive comfortably because they don’t have the massive debt burden of a college loan. For the last 10 years we’ve been in a student loan bubble where tuitions have skyrocketed because student loans are being pushed onto kids. These loans are causing tuition to go up and up and up. The student loan default rate is reaching a critical level and for somebody to start going to college now - when tuitions are at an all time high and with the bubble about to burst - is very bad timing because they will end up paying way more than the degree is worth.
We all know people in this current mess who are unemployed for years at a time because they are dependent on someone else giving them a job. Unless you learn how to make $$ on your own without depending on an employer hiring you, you will always be vulnerable to that situation. College today is not about teaching you how to provide for yourself - it is about making sure they have enough butts in the seats to get all the federal loan money so that the employees of the university don’t have to feel the same economic hardships as the rest of us.
There are certain jobs - computer programmer, nurse, veterinarian – where yes you absolutely need college. But if you don’t know what you want to do, I’d hold off on spending a ton of $$ and time on schooling. That was really my main point.
We all know people in this current mess who are unemployed for years at a time because they are dependent on someone else giving them a job. Unless you learn how to make $$ on your own without depending on an employer hiring you, you will always be vulnerable to that situation. College today is not about teaching you how to provide for yourself - it is about making sure they have enough butts in the seats to get all the federal loan money so that the employees of the university don’t have to feel the same economic hardships as the rest of us.
There are certain jobs - computer programmer, nurse, veterinarian – where yes you absolutely need college. But if you don’t know what you want to do, I’d hold off on spending a ton of $$ and time on schooling. That was really my main point.
Some very valid points here. I don't think it applies to everyone...but it can be valid for those who are aimless/directionless. In many cases, I still think college is worth it for those who are focused and for those who don't take out too much in loans. However, you really have to scrutinize the value of college a lot more these days than in times past.
Look up states that pay for the medical school in return for you spending x number of years in that state.
Think Florida is one.
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