Reply to In our 50s, have never been able to create wealth

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Stop thinking about it.  You don't need to "create wealth" to be a productive and happy person.  Just so you have enough to support yourself without being a burden on others -- that's enough.  And please, please, do NOT go into any debt to send your kids to college.  State schools all the way.  The best way to "create wealth" is to avoid debt.[/quote]
Very good advice here. Do NOT go into debt for college and [b]do not let your kids take out loans.[/b]

If they are still in HS, stop the APs and do dual enrollment instead for college credit. Where I am, it's free. Then if you live near a community college, have your kids live at home and get their AA. If they are smart, they can do it in 3 semesters. If they are leaning towards a final BS in STEM, it's a good idea to check out requirements for the intro classes in the sciences.

There might be Biology 101A which is for general students, 101B which is for semi-science majors (like CS) and 101C which is for hard science and math majors. So they can take Bio 101A to get their AA, but when they start working on their CS degree, they will have to take Bio 101B. Better financially to just take Bio 101B right off the bat.

If you live near a state school, consider having them continue to live at home the last 2 years. Yeah, it's not the traditional experience, but that's a luxury now. It's not worth borrowing 20K a year just so they can live in a quad and walk to campus. Especially with the uncertainty about which majors will be worth the cost anymore, due to AI and having our economy purposely being tanked.

If you have saved money for college but haven't saved enough for retirement, stop college saving immediately. You will do your kids a much bigger favor by being able to fund your own retirement and not become a burden to them. Even if they have to work during college to pay their tuition, in the end, that is better for them.

While you are still under 65, start cutting extra spending and save as much as possible. If you have a 3% mortgage, don't pay it down.

Cut WAY back on travel, dining out, holiday gifts, graduation gifts for the next 10-15 years. Do not plan on funding expensive weddings. You just can't. Contribute 5K at most, and let them cover the rest themselves. You just can't afford to do otherwise.

I would never suggest someone in their mid 50s start their own business. There's a greater chance you will fail and lose what little savings you may have.

Try to look and act as youthful at work as possible to not be a reminder to management that you are "old" and dispensable. Try to line yourself up with roles and projects that can take you into your 60s. Keep your networking strong. Plan to work until 65 and beyond as a goal.

If you have at least 250,000K in savings, maybe even less, see a financial advisor to map out the next 10-15 years.

And please don't tell me you are one of those posters who has "only" saved 3 million and therefore have not built up any wealth. Please![/quote]

This is tricky advice. If I didn't take loans I would not have been able to go to Purdue for aerospace engineering. That degree from that school gave me a shot at the "American dream". I am wealthy today and I honestly I am glad I took student loans.[/quote]

I'm the PP you're responding to. I agree with you sort of. Until a year ago, I would have said only get loans if you are going to major in Engineering, CS, Math, a for sure Pre-Med genius (no risk of washing out), Nursing, and a very few other majors.

But now with Trump tanking the economy and AI, is even Engineering/CS going to pay off? For some yes, but I'm sensing there's dark clouds on the horizon for this field. To the point of considering is there a way to minimize the loans by 2 years at Community College? Can you minimize living expenses by living at home and only taking on tuition debt? Can you work during the semester to minimize loans needed?

Majoring in Biology and Chemistry has not seemed to pay off in terms of considering student loans for over a decade, from all the friends of my kids who are ages 27-35. Today I had lunch at a local private college (they let the public dine for $6). They were showing the recent graduates who were offered jobs. One guy just graduated with a degree in Chemistry and took a job doing activities for an after-school Boys and Girls Club. I *know* that doesn't pay much.

I was a CS major and worked my career with aerospace and other engineers. We were paid well and it was my ticket out of poverty too. But with no $$, I did it by going to community college, living at home and going to the state school (which at the time was beating MIT in computer contests) and working 20-30 hrs/week, while triple majoring in CS, Math and Statistics. I don't know if 25hrs of work nowadays would cover tuition, but it just seems so risky borrowing $40K or more a year with the current STEM outlook. Never mind $40K a year for Communications major. And I know 40K is on the low side for many schools that are probably $60K or more?

Students from generational wealthy families that have connections will probably always find a job through family, friends of the parents and help sliding into an internship. But for those of us starting from zero, is it worth having student loans almost as big as a mortgage?

My son graduated 10 years ago in CS and is making great money. I know he's well over 200K, maybe 300K. But I'm hearing some worry in his voice about the future of the industry, and how difficult it will be to replace his job should he get laid off.

My daughter just finished 10 years to be a psychologist with with veterans with traumatic brain injuries. After her internship, she should make 100K to start. But she will have around $400K in student loans. Ouch!

And then all the kids who take student loans for a year or two and flag out, need to help family back home, or life just gets in the way. Now they have student loans and no degree to get a professional job. Really sad for them.

So I get you, and for academic go-getters like us in lucrative majors, they are probably safe getting loans if that's the only way to get through college. I sure hope this is still true.

[/quote]

You made excellent points. The issue is that our education system is preparing for jobs and careers as if we were still in the 90s. A degree in STEM is not going to be the ticket to a high paying career that a lot of people think it will be. In fact a lot of people who graduate in STEM will never work in STEM. The capitalist system wants to pick the best candidate out of 100 than out of 5 because it keeps wages from spiraling out of control. In fact for someone who wants to be an engineer and doesn't have family money the cheapest and frankly great route is community college and then 4 years.

I think there is a culture of prestige in this country that's hurtful everyone. Some parents will go into extreme debt just so their kid went to say Georgia Tech as opposed to the local community college. [/quote]

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