I want to offer you some advice based on my own experience in life. May you benefit from my mistakes, and avoid them for yourselves!
I've been studying the differences between the 'Haves' and the 'Have Nots' for a few years now, and how each group thinks about money. The differences are pretty amazing. What the rich teach their kids about money is very different than what the middle class and lower class teach their kids, and what you might learn in school. I started this research about 10 years ago, and I also put some of the practices to work. The result was that in 10 years I managed to drag myself out of the lower class, and firmly into the middle class, and still climbing. This is not rocket science. It's just a few things that can be done differently, and they can change your life. I want to share the basics with you in a series of short essays that, hopefully, will be easy to read & follow. Here goes....
Learn how to make money.
Money cannot buy happiness, but it sure makes it easier to explore the places where you might find it. Therefor, address your money needs first, because if you have money, then you will be able to afford to take the time to do what you really want.
Studying art may sound great, but rarely makes you rich. Learn a practical skill that pulls in a big paycheck first, like computer programming, Brain surgeon, chiropractor.... It will eat 8 or more years of your life to learn it, and it will be hard, but you know what? An 8 year (master's) degree in any field is hard, and will take dedication and sacrifice... But then you will be able to take vacations, explore the world, take afternoons off to do art, dance, music, whatever your heart loves, and still live in a nice house, with a car that is not a junker, afford good food and the occasional dinner out. Plus you can fund your hobbies, too.
It sucks to think about sacrificing 8 years of youth to learn something that is not your passion. I get that. But the flip side is that if you learn what you love, and later discover that there is no money in it, you will end up working any crap job you can get, and you will work 40+ hours a week at something you hate until you are 65 (providing the retirement age does not go up by then, and providing that retirement still exists...).
So many people will tell you to 'do what you love', and yes, that sounds wonderful, but that is the poor person's view. Poor folks expect to work until they are 65, and so they try to do something they will at least enjoy. Rich folk stay rich because they teach their kids to address the money first, then enjoy the benefits for the rest of their lives. If you can't think of anything else, take a business degree, which will give you that all-important certification, which in turn will get you a bigger paycheck in any job you take. Plus, a Business Degree will teach you how to run your own business. You will probably think of doing that at some point anyway, because it's better to be the boss than the employee in any field. It's true. If you have a college degree in ANYTHING, you make more money, even if your job has nothing to do with your degree. The diploma basically just proves that you are able to see a thing through, and that counts for more than years of experience.
In the 'real world', you can get a 2 year degree, or get 8 years of experience, and it is considered equal. Or you can get the 8 year degree, get your Master's, and that is equal to about 30 years of experience! When you look at it that way, 8 years is not so bad. 8 years, and you not only get a career that will make you good money for the rest of your life, but it will also get you that Golden Ticket(diploma), and that my friends, That can open so many doors, to all sorts of jobs and adventures.
Money won't buy you happiness, but when you have the money part figured out, then you get extra time. Time in which you can do whatever you want, be whatever you want, get a second degree in whatever you love. You may think that you don't want to 'waste' your youth in school, you just want to go play and take time off. That's fun for a while, but the fun wears off about the time you discover that working 40 hours a week at Burger King won't cover rent, or a car, or groceries, and you can forget about going out with your friends, because you'll be broke. The truth is that even in school, you will probably be broke for a while, and rack up a huge student debt... But you will make friends who are in the same situation, so you won't feel left out. And then, if you do it right, you will make a lot more money than most people, and have more time to spare, and the possibility of retiring early. If you take good care of yourself, you won't start feeling 'old' until your forties or so, maybe even later, which still gives you plenty of time to go 'be young' and play. With all your money. And all your spare time.
I really wish someone would have told me all this when I was 18. I would have gone into computer programming then, and would probably be making $200+ per hour now. Or more. Maybe some of you will read this and remember it, and maybe you will do the smart thing, and be better off for it.
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