Reply to DH Wants to Incur Educational Debt and We're Almost 40

Forum Index » Relationship Discussion (non-explicit)

Reply to "DH Wants to Incur Educational Debt and We're Almost 40"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]+1 that you need to put numbers behind this.  Rather than talk about him to DCUM, see if you can work with him to research course options, salary differences, etc.

I'm a big believer that you're never too old to develop yourself professionally.  I also 100% believe that you have to have numbers behind those kinds of decisions, otherwise it's just selfish.  I'm going back to school full-time this fall, but I did a ton of work on crunching numbers and only allowed myself to go when I got a full ride.[/quote]

I'm a believer in this economy we will all need to adapt, learn continuously, and find new skills and self-invention. I would take the rigid hardline that OP has taken.

OK, you don't like debt but you sound like you're overly militant about that perspective--and refusing to look at the upside of the new degree is part of the attitude I'm referencing here.

Rather than being so knee-jerk about this I think you want to keep in mind that he's  continuing to work full time, and that's a big admission that your collective financial security is important. Maybe you want to ask yourself as a family if there ways to reduce the amount of debt the family absorbs, like selling one car (or buying a used car for less)? Saving less for a few years on retirement savings? Asking him to look into whether any of the classes are eligible for reimbursement from work?

Another thing is that most of us are not going to retire at 60 or even 65. That's an antiquated model. My father lived to 97. Life expectancy is now in its 80s and rising. I have no interest in retiring in my early 60s and funding 20-30 years of retirement. I plan to work until I'm 70, even if I'm working part time for some of that time, so that I'm only funding 15-20 years out of savings...
[/quote]

Agree. Don't go in with a "No edu debt" attitude. If it pans out long term in added income, better mental happiness, why not. 40 is not young, but he will have more than two decades to work. I have a friend who started MEDICAL school at age 42. Seriously. And she prepared for it for 3 years (she had to go back and do college level coursework for the prerequisites and then got a masters in science while prepping for MCAT and buffing up her resume with clinical work) all the while working AND being a mom of elementary school kids. She will still get to practice 15+ years, probably more. But she was already accomplished in another field, she is incredibly driven, and she is used to working super long hours. But OP, it sounds like your husband is not like that and I do realize that he might be doing this as escapism, as he is talking about a B.S. degree instead of being practical about it since the degree itself doesn't automatically get you a programming job. Nevertheless, don't shoot it down on $ reasons before you hear him out and have him do a detailed cost benefit analysis. Starting out with online courses, community college classes sounds great.  [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics