We will consider any question. Sure, if you are being rude or crude, or obviously not serious, your question might not make it here. But we want to offer honest answers to any honest question if we can. So ask anything. Send your questions to the_encourager.geo@yahoo.com.
Q. Is it really
all that valuable to go to college or even to finish high school?
A. It depends on what you want to do with your life. MOST of the
time a person's earnings will be more if he or she has more education.
Sometimes those earnings will be a lot more. Just do the math.
A person who earns $6 per hour for 40 hours per week will earn
$12,480 per year (but a bunch of that will be taken out for taxes).
And a job that pays $6 per hour probably will not provide health
insurance, dental benefits, eye care, etc. Now if a person develops
a skill and gets a job paying say $10 per hour, he will earn $20,800
per year (before taxes). To get a job like that will probably
require a skill that will take at least a year or two to learn,
either while working at a lower wage, or by going to trade school.
So, even if you don't go to college, you should consider going
to some school beyond high school to learn a skill.
For those who actually do go on to college and take a job in a professional field, they are likely to earn from about $30,000 a year on up. Also, theses kinds of jobs are likely to include health benefits and perhaps other benefits such as retirement plans. Also, these kinds of jobs usually offer opportunities to move up to better paying jobs as the years go by. But let's say you get a degree and start work at $37,440 per year (that's 3 times what the $6 per hour job pays). And let's say that you work 40 years and never get a raise or a better job. You will earn $1,497,600. In the $6 per hour job you would earn $374,400.
Now let's say that the better job made it possible for you to save a mall amount, about $100 per month, toward your retirement. This money would be invested in a modest interest rate (7%). You would invest $1,200 per year for 40 years, or $48,000. By the time you retire, this would have grown to $247,946.81. (It would likely be more than this. This is a very simplified example.) Just leaving this money invested and continuing to receive 7% interest will provide you with about $17,356 per year for the rest of your life.
So, is it worth it to finish high school and get even more education. Most of the time it is. Sure, there are exceptions. The star athlete, the top model, the singer who gets a good break, the person with a natural gift of salesmanship, and some other things. But most of us aren't them.
One last but important thought.
No matter what a job pays, it is really valuable to find something
to do that you like doing. If you love driving a truck or operating
heavy equipment, or cooking, or styling hair, or welding, or working
with kids; whatever it may be, pursue it. Chances are you will
spend 40 hours or more every week for as much as 40 years at some
kind of job. It's good to like what you do.
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Family Earnings
Q. Is it really
necessary for married people to both work?
A. One of the things that many families are discovering that it
doesn't always help that much for both a husband and wife to work.
After you have children, having both work usually means paying
for child care. It usually means more expenses for work clothes,
transportation, fixing less economical meals (or eating out),
etc. Several studies done over the last few years have shown that
the job that pays about $7 to $8 per hour ends up only being worth
about $2 to $3 per hour after all the expenses, including taxes.
To take all those hours away from the children and home, to handle
the extra stress, etc. is something many couples find is not worth
that small amount of income. Everyone usually benefits when one
parent in a family can spend time at home.
There is on thing to remember
though. It can still be valuable for both husband and wife to
get a good education. It is wonderful for a woman to devote herself
to being a mother. However, something may happen which will require
her to go to work at some time. It is good to be prepared.
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This page last modified on 08/22/99