The decision on what career to pursue is massive – and if we are being honest, very few people are ready to make such a decision right after high school. Even after we have decided, many of us change our minds after working for a number of years and still struggle with what we want to do with our career. Because of this, I think people should think a bit deeper about what career they want to pursue, and then determine the most practical way to get there. We go into way too much debt pursuing degrees that we end up not using – it is not a wise use of time or money. I hope this video gives you the spark to self-reflect if you find yourself pursuing college or working with someone who is pondering their career choices. Education is incredibly important, but the traditional four-year degree is not for everyone, and it is not the only way to pursue your dream career and make a good living do so.
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I am a financial coach that focuses on improving personal finance behavior. I do not sell investment products or manage investments.
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If you’re getting ready to send someone To college or if you’re thinking about Going to college yourself this video is Going to give you a few things to think About [Music] What’s up everyone thank you for Stopping by the achieve financial Coaching channel where we believe in Breaking the chains of debt and talking About all things related to personal Finance my name is kenny simon i am your Personal finance coach and today i want To talk a little bit about something That’s very Important especially in the u.s we talk About college and the need to go to College and how education takes you Further but does everyone really need to Get a formal education or does everyone Really need to go to a four-year University four-year college is a Two-year option better it’s a local Community college on the way to a Four-year college better The options are many should you just get A trade i don’t know the decision is a Personal one but today i want to just Give you a few things to think about as You explore whether or not you should go The four-year university route or you Should go to a trade or maybe you even Just go to work right after you graduate From high school please like this video
Subscribe to the channel drop a comment And share this video with someone who is Thinking about going to college or Thinking about sending someone to College and trying to make this decision Let’s get started so for this video i Just want to give you some things to Consider and questions to ask yourself Because ultimately education is very Personal decision and so is the Definition of success in life so you Can’t think that um Everything has a single path right i do Think education is important i’m just Not too sure it has to be formal Education or a path that we would call Traditional so i think the first Question to ask yourself is what are are My formal education options and in General we know there are a few you can Get a ged You can get a high school diploma you Can get a technical or a trade um degree From a trade school four-year college You know bachelor’s degree or you can Get an advanced degree So based on your available options and What you know about yourself and what You know about your kid if you’re a Parent listening to this what is Reasonable And required i need you to ponder that And keep it all the way real on what Your best options are so for this video
We’re going to stick to just comparing Two things like tech and trade schools I’ll you know i’ll group those together Sometimes called vocational schools Right these are schools which can be up To two years some much shorter some a Bit longer they offer a much quicker Path to a paycheck by training you on a Specific skill right so we’ll stick to Trade schools sort of tech schools And then obtaining a bachelor’s degree The four-year degree you know usually Takes four years five for those who Kicked it really really hard their Freshman year so in general when you’re Thinking about four-year colleges and The options there you have a few things To think about and of course there could Be more than these but there’s public School private school Do i want the size of a school do i want A small or a large school do i want to Go to a single sex school all boys all Girls is it in state is it out of state Do i want to go to a religious school do I want to go to an ivy league school Those are some of the things you think About and then there are other choices Like do i go local do i stay on campus Do i stay off campus do i commute and Then once you decide on the college Environment guess what there are more Than eighteen hundred majors to choose From according to my majors dot com
And then when you think about trade School options you have to think of some Of the same decisions as well or some of The same options as well in terms of Size and location is the school local um Or even private by the way But a lot of the decisions around tech Schools are driven by what trades you’re Interested in so check out this list of Possible trades so i pulled this table And it’s broken out by whether your Trade is sort of in the builder space Mechanical space industrial space or the Medical space i want you to pause the Video and just take a quick look at some Of these and this is not Nearly an exhaustive list of all the Possibilities but there are a lot of Career options here and let’s not forget The other trades of fields that don’t Require a four-year degree as well that Pay pretty well like i.t support being a Graphic designer an aircraft mechanic a Police officer a real estate appraiser And even a power plant operator all of These make well above the average income In the us The next question that you should ponder After you think through your options Is What is the cost of college what’s the College versus a four-year college Versus a tech school so this is where i Think people lose their minds and they
Start to believe things like going to a More expensive school Equals you know a better Life a better opportunity better job Prospects which is not completely true So we just throw caution to the wind and We convince ourselves that going into Deep debt for an education is good Even when we may be studying something That will not allow us to pay back the Loan in a reasonable time we will Stutter study underwater fire prevention Because we’re just convinced that that’s Where our interests lie um even though There are no job prospects with Measuring and something like that so the Average cost of a four-year college is 127 000 now we know averages can be Skewed because some four-year schools Are extremely expensive Some not so much But Some tech schools aren’t cheap either Some are private and some are private And for profit with the average cost Coming in around 33 000 So listen no matter how you slice this When you compare costs between a tech or Trade school or vocational school Versus the average four-year institution A tech school is going to be much more Affordable for the average person Another point to consider another Question to ask is how much do they earn
If i go get a two-year trade degree how Much will i earn on average if i go to Get a bachelor’s how much will i earn on Average and so while money isn’t the Most critical thing to consider let’s Not pretend that it isn’t an important Factor when you’re thinking about what You want to do from a career perspective The income of someone who earns a Four-year degree is 17 000 more per year Than someone with a tech or trade degree Now this doesn’t mean all people with Bachelor’s make more than those with a Two-year trade degree but on average They do and by the way People who have a four-year degree have A lower unemployment rate it’s about 2.5 For those with a bachelor’s and it’s About 3.4 almost 3.5 for those who have A two-year vocational or trade degree so Student loan debt yikes we hate student Loans we hate debt But check this out the average student Loan for someone with a four-year degree According to trent hamm the founder of The simple dollar Is 36 327 Versus 10 000 for someone with a degree From a trade school this is definitely Something to consider now some may say Hey hey I have a bachelor so i make more money i Can pay off the debt quicker but let’s
Be honest the average person isn’t super Aggressive with paying off student loan Debts which allows that interest to keep You know just making your balance grow And according to an article i read um From forbes that was published in like October of 2021 something sometime Around there it takes the average person 20 years to pay off the debt so that Compound interest is definitely working Against you okay here’s a nice summary Of the type of education the debt Possibilities and the earnings you get Based on whether you go to a four-year College or whether you get the two-year Trade school it will sort of summarize This by by like this okay four-year College it’s their broader education Possibilities remember there’s eighteen Hundred two thousand majors right a lot Of a lot of things you could possibly Study but remember a lot of them don’t Make much money either so you need to Choose wisely There’s a potential when you’re when you Go to a four-year school for a large Debt but you also earn more money over Your lifetime Tech school provides very specific Training it’s usually in sort of harder Skills And it has Lower tuition in general But there are some tech schools that are
Expensive and then you also when you go To tech school you get an opportunity to Earn your money sooner because you go to School for a shorter period of time i Hope that gave you some food for thought This is all i’m trying to do in these Videos but i have a few things that i Want to tell you as you’re processing And thinking through these things so in Addition to the things that we just went Over um in the slides let’s let’s do This First let’s do what is best for your Child and if you’re the kid watching This that is considering going to College do what is best for you by that I mean you need to choose whether you do A two-year degree four-year degree a Trade based on things you’re interested In your abilities how hard you’re really Willing to work and what are your Interests and what are your strengths Right and so all those things need to Factor into the path that you take in The path you choose and it may not be a Traditional path all right second thing Is you have to consider costs i know we Talked about this but i’m coming back to This because for some reason when it’s Time to go to college Parents Lose our minds and we will let a child Dictate where they go to school no Matter the cost because we want them to
Have the great experience and they need To have buy-in well this is the kid who Couldn’t tell you if they wanted chicken Nuggets or pizza or if they’re happy or Sad just 30 minutes ago and you got to Let them make a decision that’s going to Cost thousands of dollars possibly have You and or them paying back loans over Years you heard that it takes 20 years On average to pay back some of these Student loans So i think you have to consider the cost And be real about what you can really Afford and what’s reasonable based on What the kid wants to do okay and then The third thing is Consider A gap year i don’t think every kid is Ready right out of high school to jump Right into a major out of school or even A trade take a year to mature go do some Things see the world get out of your Bubble that exists in your in your home And learn some other things before you Make that decision gap year not a Problem And then the last thing i think is just A word of encouragement like the path to Success is very personal It has many options to get there and Also how you define success is personal To you i know i talked to my kids about Success for me As it relates to you all is having
Enough first of all enjoying what you’re Doing but having enough money to support Your lifestyle if you can do that on 35 000 a year and you enjoy what you do That’s success i just want you to be Independent and not have to come back You know to us to get money to support Your life as an adult that is success There’s no dollar amount attached to it Like you need to make six figures none Of that so the path is highly unique Very personal but you just have to be Willing to work hard enough to get what You say you want Remember this you can achieve much Greater things than where you are today If you’re willing to put into work Conceive it believe it and achieve it I’ll see you on the next video if you Thought this video was helpful please Subscribe to the channel like this video And share this with some friends check Out some of my other videos as well take Care
