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Like you I don't plan to ever get married or have kids. I've been a little bit different my whole life where I never felt I needed a significant other to complete me or make me feel better. I feel kids are a life long sacrifice that I'm not willing to make. I applaud the people who do. I love being around kids but would never want to have one of my own.
With that being said my decision to not get married or have kids is not based on bad relationships with people or the legal system. It amazes me how close minded you are and how you throw every woman into the same category.
I'm not throwing every chick in the same category lol, it's really the Legal System that's the main problem than the chicks to be honest with you because every "baby momma" that's screwing over a Man through the system, is ONLY doing so because the System allows her (and even encourages) her to do so.
Let's face it, we aren't living in 1950 anymore and the relationship structure of Men and Women aren't what they used to be. Men and Women don't NEED each other for basic survival like they did prior.
Back in the day, due a lack of technological innovation/automation, Men needed Women in the home because actually being in the home was a real chore. Food had to be made from scratch. It took a longer time to clean, wash, etc. And Women actually needed Men out in the field working because they couldn't work.
So the marriage or the relationship was based on actual strong foundations of survival.
Today, the relationships are really based on entertainment, "exaggerated desires" and convenience. In other words, people usually get married today to "check off the list" of things to do in life and also to keep up with their friends, they aren't doing it for survival. That's why the moment they become inconvenienced, bored, or just "unsatisfied" with said marriage.....they leave it and are allowed to leave it due to the No Fault Divorce Amendment.
But the issue on TOP of this issue, is that when a chick leaves you, she's not just going to walk peacefully out of the door. She wants to take half of your assets, get alimony, excessive child support, etc. Women initiate over 70% - 80% of the DIVORCE proceedings across the country and it's MEN that by far are the victims of alimony, excessive divorce settlements, excessive child support and just getting ripped off in terms of spending time with their child(ren).
This is reality of the world we are living in, I understand that people prefer to speak "positive" and see the world through the eyes of an episode of Barney and Friends, but unfortunately the WORLD doesn't work that way
I really don't feel like debating this because we're not going to change each others' minds. I'll just say the main issue for me is houses & cars aren't really liquid. In an emergency, people generally aren't able to sell them for cash (and/or they really, really don't want to).
My neighbor lost his job, had a Escalade he didn't really want anymore. Took it to Carmax and walked out with a check. Cars are very liquid assuming you don't mind getting trade value.
Have to disagree with your first sentence there. People often do things that aren't financially worth it. That's like saying no one ever makes a bad decision with money.
I don't agree with your last sentence either. What are you basing that on? I have no degree, but I'm better off than most of the college educated friends I have. I can name several that are always broke. So, are they making a bunch of money and driving down the road throwing it out the window?
The stats show that college pays off but you do have to think about price. In prior decades it paid off automatically. Now not quite as much but the stats are clear. College educated people as a group have much higher median income, much lower divorce rates, much lower unemployment rates, much lower bankruptcy rates, longer lifespans, fewer health problems, etc.,
We have to remember that the C-D finance section is quite divorced from reality. We are mostly the haves here. Here everyone has a net worth in the 75% or higher percentile for their age, which by definition makes us one of the elites. We're judging ourselves by the standards of near-elites. In the real world, one earner making 50K with a net worth in the low-mid 5 figures is good.
In the real world that I know of, the vast majority of my high school peers that did not go to college never left our hometown region and worked in low-paid service or menial jobs for many years before finally moving up. They often had to pay their dues for 8-10 years before moving into even low-tier management, watching themselves get passed up by those with less time in service but college degrees. Why? Because the college grads read better, they did math better, they wrote better, they solved problems faster, they communicated better.
Those that did go to college almost all have relatively stable careers, own a house, have kids, etc... regardless of what they majored in. I majored in history which is supposed to be useless but I use it a lot in my daily life if not in my work all the time.
It does bring up a chicken and egg question though. I know college was useful for me. I went to a state school for both undergrad and grad and came out with about 35K total debt, which I actually could have kept down somewhat had I lived a little lower. Average student loan debt is still about the cost of a new car which is not that bad. It's more than just the salary your degree pulls out the gate getting a job - it opened up huge doors in dating availability, social networks, institutional knowledge, class markers, etc...
Now, we all know the exceptions, the unemployable people with 100-200K debt or whatever, but often it's due to people being exploited or naive. We also know the exceptions of people without degrees that have a good thing going with a trade or small business, but I would argue that people who have the wherewithal to make that kind of thing work would also be successful in college if they wanted to be. The 20 year old guy who got C's and D's in high school, couldn't hack college and now working as a laborer for a roofing company is not going to own his own roofing company making 200K a year off a 2M gross anytime soon.
A friend of mine is a general contractor and to do that successfully you need business skill, lots of math skill, writing skill, accounting skill communication skill, research ability, marketing skill, not to mention the social networks to dial you in to the best projects and a little luck to make a successful go of that. It's not as if someone can just forego college and get into something like running a contracting business will come easy.
I've been on the other side of hiring decisions quite a bit in the last few years and the more I'm involved in that, the more I see that the particular degree doesn't matter. It's about the person's general competence. Some people leverage their degrees as part of their overall package very well, some don't, but I've seen engineering grads be epic fails at basic things like cover letters and presentations and people with sociology degrees that are quantitative whizzes.
Last edited by redguard57; 09-26-2015 at 02:27 PM..
And for anyone interested, you can check the income trends by education level. Are high school grads closing the gap with college grads in terms of income?
It may feel like it in your social circle (the confirmation bias mysticaltyger mentioned above), but even with the rising cost of college education and student loans, college grads are continuing to outperform high school grads more and more each year.
There is a point of diminishing returns. A bachelor's degree seems to have pretty good bang for the buck, master's decent but not as much of a jump. What the stats show is that getting a bachelor's degree is still a good bet, but beyond that people need to do a careful cost-benefit analysis. Many of the nightmare stories we hear are people that thought a law degree, PhD, or some other expensive degree would work out.
Kansas
28
$60,000 a year (self-employed, fluctuates)
$150,000-$200,000 Net Worth, only liability is $25K on home
I just started making a decent salary, but my NW is hard to calculate since I own a business. If I closed the business and sold all assets at depreciated values I'd be around $150K, also includes all personal assets of course. If I sold the business, I believe I could get another $50K, but I'm not entirely sure I could sell it at this point...
Sweet Jeebus. I'd like to know how you folks on here got so much money. You guys are considerably above the norm.... I mean WAY above the general population. Many of you are reporting net worth and income figures that are well above the 70th percentile, especially those of you under 50 with NW above $250K - those are top 10-15% figures.
I'm way above average net worth only because I don't have kids. I believe most of the posters here who are well off tend not to have kids. If there are people who did it on their own without old money and have kids and who actually spend money on themselves(i.e. vacations, dating, eating out, wearing new clothes) then I have to give them props.
What's the point of having a huge net worth if you let your life pass you by and being an extreme frugal person all the time without a social life? Great if you are laid off or have a long-term illness but otherwise what a sad life.
I'm way above average net worth only because I don't have kids. I believe most of the posters here who are well off tend not to have kids. If there are people who did it on their own without old money and have kids and who actually spend money on themselves(i.e. vacations, dating, eating out, wearing new clothes) then I have to give them props.
What's the point of having a huge net worth if you let your life pass you by and being an extreme frugal person all the time without a social life? Great if you are laid off or have a long-term illness but otherwise what a sad life.
Is all about balance. I do everything I want to do, I'm just not the type of person that "wants" to fly across the country every weekend or fly to islands I can't pronounce.
What's the point of having a huge net worth if you let your life pass you by and being an extreme frugal person all the time without a social life? Great if you are laid off or have a long-term illness but otherwise what a sad life.
I have a kid, and a dependent wife, and a dependent mother long before that. I have been a primary supporter for someone or the other since I was 21. You don't have to be extremely frugal, you just have to be smart and not be wasteful.
I was not sure that I wanted a child, but since I have one, he gives me a massive sense of happiness. Something I have not gotten from anything else. Thats why most people do it. It gives them happiness.
There are difficulties for sure. I cannot just go out and buy my dream car. Or just go see the world. My vacation expenses are 3x compared to a single person.
very few of us get to retirement and don't wish we saved more , especially if we are on the yoyo retirement plan . your on your own
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