The $100,000+ Question

The above conversation is happening everywhere.  

But generally, what conversation is NOT happening? 

One week later the smart mom asks . . .  

 So what do people fail to consider?

But now as high school days draw to a close what do they say? 

What if your amazing high school child knows (or has a general idea) of what they want to pursue as a career?  They need to do their career research.

Does it really require a college degree?  What about a 2-yr degree instead?  What about a non-traditional learning approach?  

But “everyone does it”

Many kids march to college in mental lock-step because “everyone does it.”  To be sure, college offers many learning milestones beyond the obvious. 

But for costs that can easily add up to the tens of thousands, if money is the sole consideration, then knowing and understanding the ultimate “financial payoff” is MORE than just whether you can “afford” college.

Study Their Potential Career Path

We’ve had students that knew exactly what they wanted to be, right down to “I want to be a hand surgeon and concentrate on the thumb” (yes, we had a student who knew what they wanted to be right down to that level) to “I have no idea” (we’ve had those kids, too).

Do they know what they might want to do?  YES?

• What would their potential salary be upon graduation?
• What salary would they command if they skipped college entirely and relied on their HS diploma?
• Does what they want to do require an advanced degree?
• What are the long-term prospects of their top 5 career path?

Send them to their computer.  

• www.payscale.com
• www.salary.com

Both of those websites offer insights into career paths. But they are not alone.  There is so much to be learned from a general search.  

Conclusions:

Do the career answers found infer that spending $100K+ makes sense?  If their chosen career has a bleak future and pays $20,000 per year, does a 5+ year payback with just straight math make sense?  But if their career implies a degree is required and pays $50K per year, then a 2 year payback sounds pretty good. 

 Do they know what they might want to do?  NO?

Understood.  Then at least you can look at what the average salaries look like.

By electing the college diploma route, your student leaves $30,000/yr on the table.  However, they pick up $20,000 per year more upon graduation. 

Research Leads to Wise Decisions

When we buy a new car, we research costs, models, resale value, color, and even how many cup holder spots there are.  But when it comes to college research?  We tend to just research the college itself and the respective costs. 

Let’s research the OUTPUT college is touted to give us - a superior career path.  Whether your child knows “what they want to be when the grow up” or not, learning what career information is available for FREE to help make those big career/college decisions is SMART.   

We leave you with our favorite Einstein quote:

“Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” 
― Albert Einstein

Have a great “back-to-school” week!  And as we always say. . .

You CAN Have Success in the Middle of it ALL

Pam and Holly