@Porwest 29 September 2021 more from that month

Just Don't Do It: College I am going to go out on a limb here and give you what some might consider to be some of the worst advice a guy could ever possibly give. But I am going to give it anyway. But I *will* tell you why I think so. *Forget college*. I mean, no. Really. Just forget about it.

Unless you *really* aspire to be a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, an architect, or something like that. Just don't do it. We do need *all* of these people. So, if you happen to be one of *these* guys, please *do* go. And that's not to say anyone *not* in any of these listed professions is not important. *Everyone* is important, even the guy flipping our burgers at Burger King. When I am hungry I am grateful to the guy who can make me a sandwich. But not everyone *needs* to go to college, and to be totally honest with you, as many statistics will show (which I will not cite here—that's Google's job, not mine), a lot of the time it is simply a waste of time and money. Oh sure. Education counselors will *tell* you that you can't make it in this world without a degree. They will tell you that you cannot be successful. They will tell you that making a good income is impossible without one. It is all hogwash. Every bit of it. Some of the highest paid professions, at least in the United States, are professions that do not require a college degree. That includes plumbers and electricians, HVAC installers and repair people, and even certain manufacturing professionals. People brewing your beer and building your cars probably make anywhere from $50,000 to $90,000 a year believe it or not—and these are people on the *production lines*. Not the people high up in the offices on the top floor of the building. But that's not even the point, really. There's more to this "advice" to skip college than how much money you can make *without* a degree from a job. What I want people to do is to change the way they view income. When you mention income the first word that comes to mind is a *paycheck*. And it's true. Paychecks do provide income. But, is it the only source of income possible? There is another huge mistake people make when they view income. That is, they believe *how much you make matters*. It doesn't. You can be a guy working at Burger King flipping burgers who becomes very rich, and you can also be a guy who becomes a highly successful and grandly paid lawyer who becomes poor.

What matters is what you *do* with your income. Not how much you get. What matters is how much you *know* about money management, and how much you don't. Instead of focusing on income *necessarily* as a sole basis for deciding whether or not to go to college, one should focus on what their financial goals happen to be, and how you intend to achieve them. Books and information *abound* on the subject of money management, investing, frugal lifestyle, and financial planning. Dig into *this* kind of information and self-educate before you decide to dig into a college course to seek out what you may not need in order to enjoy the lifestyle you are after. Because quite frankly, if you don't, even if you *do* decide to go to college, you'll be as good as broke even with a high income. Why does a lottery winner tend to go broke and a businessman tends to become even richer? It's not the *money*. It's the *know-how*. There is one simple recipe, I think, for people to follow when it comes to really getting ahead financially in this world. Get the best job you can. No, really. This is important. I am not saying to short change yourself along the way. *Get that money*. And get as much of that money as you can get your hands on. Always keep your eye on opportunities to earn more.

But, don't *squander* it all. In other words, don't just spend every dime you have. This will get you nowhere. Having more money is *worthless* if in the end after you pay the bills and pay for your lifestyle there's nothing left and you just have to keep getting more of it. Learn the art of frugality. And keep in mind that being frugal does *not* mean living like a pauper. It does not mean sacrificing *living*. It simply means that you save on the things that you need so that you can afford the things that you want. But, if you can't afford it—don't waste your money on it until you can. Learn to pay yourself first, and more important than that, know what you are doing when you put that money into savings or investments. Just going blindly into investing is not that much different than going to Macy's and buying an expensive pair of shoes or walking into a casino. You are just wasting your time and money, and you will still lose in the end. Think about it this way. If you are willing to spend time and money, at the very least four years of your life studying hard to become someone who knows a thing or two about something to get that good job with the high pay going to college, why would you not put as much effort into studying how money works, and how the stock market works, how real estate works, and how any other investment vehicle works?

Never let "I don't know" be justification to not *do* something. Nobody starts out being good at something that they haven't taken the time to learn how to do. Consider this thought for a moment, if you will. Work is the means to a paycheck. But *money* is the means to an end. I never went to college, and over the years because of what I do with my money, I have never felt that I missed out on anything. In fact, I think I actually *gained*. Instead of investing my time and energy, *and* money, on pursuing a degree. I invested my time, energy, and money into beginning to build a future. I spent it on learning all I could about money and what to do with it. I studied how money *works*. And more importantly, how I could make money work for *me*. When I look over at my buddies and family members who went to college, most of them have less money than I do. But not for lack of income. I see them saddled with college debt, working their butts off to pay it back, working tirelessly just to keep up with the current bills and the student loans—having little if any money left to save and invest for the future. On average it takes a college student 15-20 years to repay their student loans. While they are shelling out their extra money to repay debt, someone working, making as much money as they can, having studied how money works, spends their 15-20 years building valuable wealth. Again, this is not to say don't go to college at all. It is simply to think long and hard about what you really want to do. Again, if it is more money you are after, college will probably not be the way to do it. But you *will* have a nice job. *Lead image courtesy of Morguefile, user GaborfromHungary.* *Morguefile.com free photographs for commercial use* https://morguefile.com/photos/morguefile/1/college/pop