22 w/ 40k saved... what do I do with my life?

Been creeping this thread for a while now. I went to vocational school to learn a trade rather than college. In the last 3 years all my school friends are finally finishing up their college/university programs. A lot of them haven't found work or if they have, its a $50k-$60k a year job tops. If you can sock away that kind of money in a year, I'd do it for a couple more years. Just think, stick it out for 3 more years and you'll be 25 with $160k in the bank. Pull the pin on trucking, fork out a few dollars for college and still have enough left over to put a decent down payment on a home. If you play it right you can be set for life before you're 30.

 

If you go the college route stay away from IT. There used to be good money in IT, but companies have started paying 1/2 what they used to, and they will complain they have no qualified applicants. Once they deem it as unfillable they will sponsor an H1B Visa holder from India. If I were just starting I would look at the medical field.

 

Medical field work is much harder to outsource. It's just not for everybody.

 

I can attest to this.

In 2009 I did a 4yr Computer Science IT degree with my main focus on IT security, particularly database networks. Completed my degree in 24 months.

$80k in Sally Mae loans later, I graduated and not for lack of trying,.. hundreds of phone calls,.. meetings,.. the one thing in common was that all wanted me to start somewhere in tech support. Be it a data call center, phone support,.. etc. The promise of $80 - $90k starting salary is much like the lies they give new CDL graduates in trucking. I know how to program my own scripts, turn large resource time consuming projects into minutes. The best starting salary I was offered was $12hr and had to answer to a kid half my age with an ego twice over.

At the time my kids were still in there late teens. I was making more money going door to door hustling my lawn equipment and hustling jobs using my pickup truck and 22ft trailer. I found myself falling back onto my CDL.

Not saying that college and getting a degree is not the way to go. I strongly encourage it. I think much of it has to do with my age. Who wants to hire some guy in his mid 40's with old school ideas? A young up and coming millenial would probably be much more socially appealing. I had nothing in common with those guys,.. not politically, not socially,.. nothing. I just didnt fit in.

Hurst

 

I agree with this 100%

If you are bound and determined to start in trucking,.. the more capital you start with,.. the more you can reduce the odds of failure.

Trucking is such a cut throat business. You really need to understand the dynamics and logistical side of things before buying a truck. Get a realistic business model that you understand 100% worked out. Know where and how much money will be coming in before you buy your first truck.

Simply owning a truck is not enough. It does not magically make money by just having it. You will need to know how you plan to make money with it. Which segment you want to get into. How you plan to operate within that segment.

It took me a couple years to figure out which direction I wanted to focus on. I'm still learning and working on ideas myself. Its like anything else in life. Stay within your means and try not to finance or live beyond what you are capable of supporting.

There is still money to be made in this business. Even in our current market rates. Minimize your expenses, never operate below a set percentage of profit and you will find yourself surviving. Once you perfect your operation you will begin to profit more. Hard work does pay off when you are in control. Work ethic plays a very large role in how successful you become.

Hurst

 

I think it's kind cyclical as well. Kids my age were all told to go to college by our parents because that was the hot ticket back in the 80's and 90's to a middle class life. Now it's a completely oversold concept that carries nowhere the near the clout it used to but people my mother's age (who's now 60) who went back to school finish their degree in their late 30's and early 40's and are true believers don't want to hear that. I've noticed a general trend that baby boomer aged people in general have this overly rosy and optimistic view of higher education, like it's a cure-all and panacea for everything. I try to make some comment to effect that it ain't that kind of world anymore but usually they don't want to hear it. Skilled trades and blue collar work are a shrewd choice these days if you can stomach the stigma from society and people who look down their nose at you for not sitting in an office and pounding a keyboard all day for a living.

 

That was the reason I went in to the trades. Kind of hard to outsource truck/heavy equipment repairs to overseas countries. In tough times, the people who have a skilled trade will always get by better than someone with a Liberal Arts degree (whatever the heck that is!)

 

The High School Diploma of yesterday is the College Degree of today. I just hate the thought of knowing most of the kids today are racking up $100,000 plus in student loans. I was fortunate, I had a job that paid well enough for me to put my kids through college that wanted to go. I am not sure how anyone can look at that student loan and not worry about how they will pay it back.

 

I think there are people who are naturally successful mainly because of their work ethic.

I've been around computers since around 1989. Mostly self taught. They are my second love. Hot rods, trucks and things mechanical are my first love. So I went the mechanical route when I started focusing work with a career in mind.

I have a couple friends who even to this day do not have a single cert to their name,.. yet both make between $150 - $200k annually in the IT field. They have the experience and know the right people to see them through.

Its like anything else. Once you gain a foot hold into an industry,.. you become familiar and comfortable within that industry. Thats where we tend to focus our efforts.

I hate to use the term slackazz but you cant be that and expect to be successful in any kind of business. White collar or blue collar. You have to be on top of your game and know how to produce in order to be in demand.

Hurst

 

If you go to college, study subjects you're actually interested in, not subjects you (or someone else) think you should be studying. That's why it's called college, not trade school. Some of the most successful people I know have degrees in Liberal Arts and Fine Arts. Life has a way of working out.