I am two years away from getting my MBA. I am seriously considering to take some non-tech job so I can get my MBA worth down the road.

Thanks for sharing.

http://www.becomingyourownbank.com

Thank you for the good advice. I’ve recently been listening to Dave Ramsey podcasts, and he confirms all of your thoughts.

I learned the hard way as well. I was in college for 8 years, finishing with a BS in CS after changing majors a few times – initially entering college as a Micriobio/Pre-Med student. I landed my first job 2 months out of college, with $15k of debt. Thinking I could afford a new car on my decent salary as a software engineer, I took on a $38k loan on a new car. That just extended the time it took to pay off my college debt for over a year. I’m now going to sell the car to purchase an inexpensive car (lower insurance and gas mileage) without a loan, which will finally leave me completely debt-free. Then I can focus as much income as possible on saving and investing.

If I had to do it again, I would follow the advice of others. Skip the luxury car. Purchase a cheap daily driver. Pay off college debt as fast as possible. Live cheap – skip gym membership and expensive tv and cell phone plans. Live with roommates to split bills and lower rent. Don’t eat out frequently. Skip expensive trips. There will always be time to do these things after the debt is paid. Max match your 401k. Always invest extra cash – use interest to your advantage. There are so many things that can all be done to save and maximize your investments, and combined they make a significant difference.

I totally agree with your argument. Recently graduated with a BS in Computer Science, I have had relatively little trouble finding jobs with good pay. However, I feel my aspirations of wealth (which I’m still developing a personal definition) may be hindered by my lack of worldly knowledge. My logic may be top notch, but my lack of communication, business, and broad common sense skills makes it hard for me to imagine myself becoming the proactive, well-spoken leader I want to/can be. I was thinking whether or not it makes sense for me to go back to school sometime (I was thinking MBA), but now I’m just unsure.

@Frugal

I love the advice about taking a managed risk with a smaller/start-up company. In the past, when I worked 70-hour weeks for a small company with no overtime (meaning I would have probably made more doing a McDonald’s job), I didn’t get the mental support I wanted from loved ones especially my girlfriend. Eventually, I bucked, listening to family and friends, and left the company. That was the most exhausting job I’ve ever done, but I don’t regret any of it from the vast amount of experience I gained from it.

Even though my worldly skills are not up to par, I really appreciate that I have the ability to develop the crazy ideas I have in my head into actual projects with my technical skills. Although good projects don’t mean good businesses, I feel I’m in a better position than other people with good ideas because 1) I can execute it myself (develop/program this thing) 2) I am in control of what I’m developing (instead of trying to explain to someone else the vision), and 3) I know what is technically possible/what’s not.

@Anyone and everyone

Here is my situation…I am a 23 year old college grad with a BS in Computer Science. I am a jack of all trades Web Developer. I have done a dozen freelance jobs, contracts, and internships over the years. I am $75K in debt ($20K credit cards, $20K car loan, $35K rv loan [the girlfriend wanted it...arg, don't ask, lol]). I live rent-free at my parent’s house. I was thinking of putting all my efforts into the best paying contract jobs and pay off my debt as quickly as possible. Then I was thinking of saving up for a house and getting a place of my own. Do you think this is a good way of creating wealth, or could you advice/suggest on other ways? Thanks.

I think if we like to invest our hard earned money we need to take risks. The level of the risk that one is willing to take will depend on his/her mentality and boldness!
I am a risk taker ( not a huge risk taker).
But I am in a position to give anyone who would like to invest US$ 1000 for 3 whole months a return of US$1040.
Just think and let me know about your views.
I tell it again we take risks all the time sometimes we win sometimes we don’t.
Can anyone willing to take the risk?

Email me at vnck25@yahoo.com

Specialized skills (in particular I think of an engineering degree) can actually stick you in a bit of a cul-de-sac. You are very good at something lucrative when you start, but your professional growth may be limited because of a lack of skills like communication, general adaptability, skills that become obsolete over time (what ever happened to the mainframe programmer?)… I think career resiliency depends upon a lot of things that the specialized professional degree may not bring you.

Personally, I favor the liberal arts education– while you start out a little rougher, you have the skills to go higher. I would tell my own children (eventually) that the key is understanding money and business, but not making them the center or the be-all and end-all of your education. Let university be the place where you prepare yourself to prepare yourself, because the next 20-50 years will be about change, change, change. (My perspective comes from having a CS undergrad degree and a graduate degree in literature, both from very good schools.)

In some ways I’m rather behind my original classmates, professionally, because of the extra years involved in the second degree (which I finished just as the dotcom bubble burst, so I kind of stepped into a void for a while there), but I’m a broader, more effective employee and a better person from having the humanities degree than I would be if I had, say, a CS degree and an MBA. And while I didn’t have the first million at 40 (in fact I had no savings at 40), I think I’ll get there by 50, at the current rate…

Most of your other advice I agree with… I’d also add, though, that depending upon your field, people should look for jobs that involve travel, preferably abroad, even if they’re kinda mediocre jobs. A year or two of experience abroad will be very useful later.

What kind of “job path” would you suggest? How often should people start looking to upgrade their responsibilities? When should people consider relocating for better opportunities?

You cannot spend money to buy your valuable work experiences. Those experiences that are obtained in the first few years can shape your career to come for a long time. Even after almost 10 years, the work experiences that I obtained in my first job have been very positive till today. I went to my first job, mainly because of the potential valuable work experiences. The location was not conducive for wealth. The salary was so so. But I got what I really wanted, a solid valuable work experience, that so many others couldn’t get.