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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Have you had a conversation with your DC about what careers pay?

My oldest is headed to college and went to a private high school on aid. [b]Many classmates are going to study finance or law because that is what their parents do.[/b] My DC has no idea what the path is to make money but he wants the lifestyle that he's seen around him at school (and didn't have). He's a smart kid and is going to a top10 college. We've never talked to him or our other kids about Wall Street, finance, consulting, top law firms or anything of that sort. It makes me cringe to think about saying "hey, if you're serious about wanting a nice home and XYZ, you should probably consider this major vs that major (because btw--you're not coming into any money or significant inheritance from us)." I assume he can figure it out while registering for classes and during the course of his first few years of college but he has had no exposure to these careers in our family and no real idea what these people do. Thoughts? 
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The bolded means these kids will land plumb jobs because of their parents.  Your kid, even if he studies the same field and does better than them, will always be on the back foot.   The playing field is not level and even worse for women and people of color, and especially women of color.  I'd have the whole conversation with him - starting with life is not a meritocracy, don't expect it to be fair and you won't be disappointed.  He can (and probably will) be successful because he will know that he has something to prove, while the others start on 3rd base.  And yes, absolutely have the conversation about lucrative career paths, just know for every big law partner, there are many lawyers making 100k struggling with crippling law school debt.  For every successful person in finance, there are many who entered into the corporate world and earn very mediocre salaries.  Every lucrative field I can see has this component.[/quote]

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