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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have a few degrees in the humanities. Teaching was one of them. It was the most thankless, low paying job. Constantly working. Dealing with discipline, parents....it sucks. I would never recommend it to my kid. My husband went into tech. He actually did have his own company for many years. But most people who start their own companies do not even up becoming Zuckerberg. Eventually, it got too difficult and was a lot of stress, and then he worked his way up through the FAANG companies and makes 500k+. It did take work and time. But overall, while there were some stresses working at those jobs, he got to work from home, could take long walks or do errands or whatever. They didn't care about how long he spent working. They just cared about results. Compared to my earning potential and choices, his were MUCH better. Yes. If you don't like programming or tech, obviously don't do it. But if you want a job with good money---doesn't have to be 500K--you could have a very chill job in programming making 150K--you can just do your job and then live your life. I went to "better" schools than my husband, but I was stupid in my choices.

Most of the doctors I know are miserable, including the ones in my family.

My family tried so hard to get me to become a lawyer, and I was young and stupid and resisted. And I may have hated being a lawyer, but this would have opened doors for me that were not opened because I went into teaching instead.

While we technically have the money to pay for college and grad school, full pay at privates would be a stretch even for us. (I am hoping that doesn't happen.) So, no. I would not pay that money for my kid to get a psychology degree or criminal justice degree or even an English degree--like mine. If they wanted to double major or minor in art, that would be fine. But I want my kid to have a degree that allows them to have a good quality of life. If they don't use it--fine. That is not an issue for me, because my kid wants to go into STEM. They are more like their dad in interests. They do like art, and I encourage it and would happy for them to continue it. But you don't need to go to college to be an artist.

I do not think your experience is the average--nor is getting advanced degrees. Only something like 30% of people even go to college in the US. [/quote]

I'd argue that even if you have the ability to "full pay" at 80K, if your kid wants to major in something where the average starting salary is $30-40K and the growth potential is not high, then your kid would be better off saving that money/you give it to them when they graduate to get a jump start on life.  Graduate debt free and have $150K+ to start life would be a game changer and much better use of money than paying 80K/year.  [/quote]

One of the things I find odd is that I understand the ROI concern for families that are very middle class or where loans will have to be taken out, etc…if you go into a low paying career in those cases you can end up in a hole it can be hard to dig out of, but many of the people spouting this concern are very well off and in a position to provide considerable help to their kids, and likely will provide considerable help to their kids. I know lots of people whose parents pay for private school or sleepaway camps, help with down payments, pass along gently used cars and so on. They will now be in a position to do this for their kids and it can provide a cushion if the kid doesn’t want to do something super lucrative. [/quote]

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