School Responsibilities (2 Viewers)

[HoustonSaint68]

Great points....my older son had multiple soccer scholarship offers from some Division 1 schools but had no interest in playing college soccer...."They own you dad, I wouldn't have a social life"....most soccer scholarships aren't full but would have easily made up the difference between in and out of state (as you alluded above)....I really wanted him to further his soccer career but it all turned out for the best....

Smart kid.

Neither of my kids really have fully devoted themselves to earn money in their college major field but I still feel it was worth it for the overall experience -- I'm still a fan of a classic college education which requires at least some non-STEM education. But, I do appreciate that that's a luxury that many quite literally can't afford -- I sure couldn't and that was 40 years ago!

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

Semi-related

College students expect to make $103,880 after graduation – almost twice the reality

Today's college students expect to make around $103,880 in their first, post-graduation jobs – but the average starting salary is actually $55,260.

www.usatoday.com

Today's college students expect to make about $103,880 in their first post-graduation job, a survey suggests. But the reality is much lower – as the average starting salary is actually about half that at $55,260, statistics show.

The survey, conducted by Real Estate Witch, found that, across all majors and institutions, undergraduate students overestimate their starting salaries by 88%. And 1 in 3 worry that they won't make enough money to live comfortably after graduation.

Real Estate Witch found that undergrads studying journalism, psychology and liberal arts were the most likely to overestimate their future pay. Journalism students, for example, expected 139% more than the median journalist’s starting salary – projecting to make $107,040 one year after graduating while the average salary is actually $44,800.

Overestimates also persisted in undergrads' outlook for mid-career earnings. Ten years into their careers, the surveyed college students expect to make $200,270 – but, in reality, the average salary is $132,497, according to online job search and employer review site Glassdoor.

 

[mjcouvi]

I really do think I get where you're coming from and perhaps I even agree relative to how much better things theoretically could be. But it always gives me pause when people use phrases like the above which seem to indicate an unwillingness to relate conditions today to pretty much any other sheetty point in the entirety of human history.

Capitalism, (relatively) free markets and, especially, human greed and ambition suck in a ton of ways but there is no denying their positive impact in raising masses and masses of the human race out of abject poverty. Capital markets have and always will need course corrections because human beings are imperfect and also often suck. And I freely acknowledge that: 1) we're currently in a new robber baron era that needs to be trust-busted just as has been done previously in our history; and 2) it is morally bankrupt for the richest country in the world to not provide basic, affordable medical care to each and every one of its citizens.

However, throwing the baby out with the bathwater makes no sense. What's the alternative?? And please, not the Scandanavian model, which is to a great degree built on fossil fuels, draconian immigration policy, and/or an ability to essentially ignore spending on national defense. Frankly, there will be a limit to our own economic system's ability to make things really right so long as maniacs like Putin force so much spending on guns instead of butter, and certainly with the looming climate crisis and no easy path away from fossil fuels.

Sincere apologies if I've misinterpreted your post but I can't figure another explanation of your intent when you use the phrase "devastating to the masses" in the context of a discussion about current macroeconomics.

"relative to how much better things theoretically could be" is ultimately where I'm coming from mate.

Relative to how things could be, from the perspective of typical historical negativity, I think things are great and humanity is in a wonderful position to find an even greater state of being than the apex we are currently in.

I'm optimistic about the future.

 

[HoustonSaint68]

"relative to how much better things theoretically could be" is ultimately where I'm coming from mate.

Relative to how things could be, from the perspective of typical historical negativity, I think things are great and humanity is in a wonderful position to find an even greater state of being than the apex we are currently in.

I'm optimistic about the future.

Haha, that's cool. But I've had a working lifetime of being trained not to rail against the status quo without a realistic alternative, so it's hard for me to NOT react.

In this case, realism requires acknowledging that the general shirtiness of human nature isn't going to change, and that no more efficient macroeconomic system has yet been invented that takes actual human nature into account.

 

[HoustonSaint68]

Semi-related

College students expect to make $103,880 after graduation – almost twice the reality

Today's college students expect to make around $103,880 in their first, post-graduation jobs – but the average starting salary is actually $55,260.

www.usatoday.com

"Real Estate Witch found that undergrads studying journalism, psychology and liberal arts were the most likely to overestimate their future pay."

That is sadly hilarious and actually may shed light on a number of things for me....

 

[mjcouvi]

Haha, that's cool. But I've had a working lifetime of being trained not to rail against the status quo without a realistic alternative, so it's hard for me to NOT react.

In this case, realism requires acknowledging that the general shirtiness of human nature isn't going to change, and that no more efficient macroeconomic system has yet been invented that takes actual human nature into account.

If the general shirtiness of human nature has brought us to where we are then bring it on. Keep it coming. There is NOW so much progress, so much great science humanity is generating, the general state of humanity near so many pinnacles of discovery. It's a great time to be alive.

Humanity seems on the right track, just so far from where it could be. And money, the generation and dispersion of it, is a big part of the chasm between us and our potential. I think it's a problem being solved and much of the solution is beyond our time and place

 

[HoustonSaint68]

If the general shirtiness of human nature has brought us to where we are then bring it on. Keep it coming. There is NOW so much progress, so much great science humanity is generating, the general state of humanity near so many pinnacles of discovery. It's a great time to be alive.

Humanity seems on the right track, just so far from where it could be. And money, the generation and dispersion of it, is a big part of the chasm between us and our potential. I think it's a problem being solved and much of the solution is beyond our time and place

Oh, whoops, I thought you were being sarcastic in your previous post. Sorry, I'm really bad at this interwebs thing and I'm constantly doing it wrong.

 

[SWJJ]

"Real Estate Witch found that undergrads studying journalism, psychology and liberal arts were the most likely to overestimate their future pay."

That is sadly hilarious and actually may shed light on a number of things for me....

Biology degrees are needed for a LOT of graduate level education programs, but if you stop your education after a bachelor degree, there is very little employment opportunities needing a biology degree.
Psychology is a much needed field, and we need psychologists, but similarly, you must have graduate level education to make a decent living in the field.
Journalism is dying, there is so much opinion and entertainment out there, but so little actual journalism.


This country NEEDS more journalist, psychologists, and "liberal arts," it's a shame that they can't earn a respectable living, and it's a shame these fields are undervalued by our society.

 

[efil4stnias]

Semi-related

College students expect to make $103,880 after graduation – almost twice the reality

Today's college students expect to make around $103,880 in their first, post-graduation jobs – but the average starting salary is actually $55,260.

www.usatoday.com

I will NEVER EVER forget my Econ 101 at UNO in my first year.

FIRST DAY of class, instructor polled class as to how much we think we will make upon graduation. The consensus was about $40,000 ( this was 1993/94 )
So he writes $40,000 at the top of chalk board.
Then says ok...gotta live somewhere. Rent. ( deducts )
Ok gotta pay utilities. ( deducts )
ok gotta eat ( deduction)
gotta have a car, right? gas? ( more deduction )
spending money. ( deduction )
Few more smaller items and the final number was around $3800.

So the class was all like " yeah thats for savings" and he was like " well done" and starts to walk off.

Then abruptly flips around and heads back and stares at board. Turns to the class and says " huh, ya know what we forgot"? Everyone like " ummm no you covered all"


TAXES. that $3800 in the black turned to $2600 in the RED


Never forget that lesson that day.

 

[mjcouvi]

Oh, whoops, I thought you were being sarcastic in your previous post. Sorry, I'm really bad at this interwebs thing and I'm constantly doing it wrong.

Honestly, I don't know my own sarcasm myself sometimes. Just a crapshoot of words is all it is.

 

[St. Widge]

Honestly, I don't know my own sarcasm myself sometimes. Just a crapshoot of words is all it is.

Well, at least the Africans didn't starve.

 

[mjcouvi]

Oh, whoops, I thought you were being sarcastic in your previous post. Sorry, I'm really bad at this interwebs thing and I'm constantly doing it wrong.

As a secondary reply to this that got me thinking...we are so alike, you and me, we have so much in common, communicate in somewhat the same place, among somewhat the same people, yet we can have difficulty understanding each other. This is unfortunate but important to understand.

It's not an uncommon occurrence, it's more common than not maybe, that even if we speak the same language we CANNOT seem to understand each other. However, despite this obvious fact of practical misinterpretations, or because of it, the impact of only slight misunderstandings can be catastrophic it seems.

 

[mjcouvi]

Let's take a broader perspective, in the realm of finance, as it is today.

If you are in this world of finance, where are you really, from a perspective which might put your position into a more financially REAL point of view?

Where you are if you are in your 20s or 30s, or even 40s, that perspective that told you where to put your money, IT WON'T KEEP WORKING, it's antiquated!!!

It's a new world of finance. It just won't keep going for those who want it to follow the statistics, for those who thought history could possibly be applied to the future unknown real world of actual finance.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

I usually just say "not Jesuit."

I actually got a job like that one time. The guy went to Jesuit and told me he decided to hire me as soon as I said that.

It’s why you never became a Modern Dancer - that’s nothing to be proud of

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Haha, that's cool. But I've had a working lifetime of being trained not to rail against the status quo without a realistic alternative, so it's hard for me to NOT react.

In this case, realism requires acknowledging that the general shirtiness of human nature isn't going to change, and that no more efficient macroeconomic system has yet been invented that takes actual human nature into account.

There’s too much discussion in here from people who know financial literacy- I’m here to fix that
First let me address the ‘shirtiness’ of human nature and how it relates to the discussion
Hard disagree- human nature is built on tribal development and complex cooperation- ‘shirtiness’ is learned and the chief teacher is power imbalance- how to get/keep power
Obviously wealth is a significant tool in that lesson
Could you ‘teach’ an honest financial literacy class without also explaining how the system is rigged? (Could you teach financial literacy in an anti-CRT state? Florida says yes, I’m not sure)

plus consider those classes would be taught be teachers and if we were good at financial literacy we wouldn’t be teachers…

BUT, I’ve always been an advocate that practice is better than theory- why not give each kid $500 (or whatever amount) at the beginning of freshman year - an incentivize ways to grow/keep that money