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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Plumbers and electrons are making about 300/hr around here so I think there is a good living to be had in the trades.  It's getting worse every day - you cant find anyone.[/quote]

My brother is in HVAC and got his master's apprenticeship, so he makes good money. But, it is very hard on your body. He is 45 and is tired and struggling to keep up. [/quote]
I believe it. The trades are hard on the body, particularly as a person ages. Now folks will chime in about how everyone moves to management or opens their own, wildly successful, business as they get older & more experienced. This is true in some cases and far from true for most. The skill set required for entrepreneurship is much different than being a productive worker & most do not have it.[/quote]

I wrote the earlier carpenter post and this is exactly what I was talking about.  I have a graduate degree and have a "white collar" primary job, but my dad was a carpenter and I grew up among tradespeople, and I did a trade on the side professionally for the first half of my adult life.  Carpenters interact with most trades in any building project so you end up knowing a lot of different tradespeople.  And, depending on your trade, your body can start feeling it in your late 20s early 30s.  And the successful switch to more managerial roles or owning your own business is just not that common.  If you go into a trade a) front load your extra capital in retirement accounts or brokerage accounts as much as you can; b) take community college courses beyond the initial trades courses that involve reading/writing/business from the get-go while you're still fairly close to high school so your intellectual skills don't get rusty.  [/quote]
On a dialy basis, I probably work with more tradespeople/others who have pursued other paths than college more than most of the people here. One thing that strikes me are their poor communication skills (reading and writing), lack of critical thinking, not able to easily learn new processes/systems.

We need these people in the workforce. I'm so grateful they chose this path in life. But to think they will easily be able to move into management/open a wildly successful business?Those are definitely few and far between.[/quote]

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