Wow! Do I feel Inadequate now. I don’t want to brag. That’s not my way but this will come out sounding like I am. I am a month away from my 27th birthday. The only bill I have is for my 4800 square foot house. I only owe 1\3 of what its worth. I make $86,000 a year doing a hobby I like. I am on my way to being debt free by the age of 28. You want to know my education level? High School. No I am not a rich kid. I make more than my father ever did. He will retire at the age of 65. I will by 30. If that falls through 35 IT WILL HAPPEN. My 2 cents don’t really matter here but I have no college education what so ever. Didn’t care for school at all. Not that it was hard. My senior year I had a 4.0 GPA. I just didn’t care. Through high school and after I worked for some great men. I learned hands on from people that know their field. I was running a machine shop at the age of 16. Yes I mean running it. I then tried my hand a wood working at a cabinet shop. I learned the building stages and moved into installing multi-million dollar jobs on the west coast. I managed the install crew there before I left. Then I changed to the largest Stair company in the US. I ran their decorative parts department before they were sold. I have worked every stage of residential and commercial construction and then some. The one thing I have found is that there are 2 ways of getting into a great career, a degree OR experience. Don’t get me wrong, I am encouraging you to go to college. You should. They have a lot to teach. I choose a different route. I have lost a job interview to guys with a degree but every time I have lost the interview I have had a call back simply because of my experience with what I do before the next job is posted. I have a mechanical mind. Engineering would have been great for me if I went to college. I had an economics teacher in high school that put it very simple “do what you love and the money will follow.” I did and is has. I bet a lot of RC nuts on this forum did just that. They went to college for what they love and it’s worked out great for them. Do what you love. Money will never buy happiness. That I know. I have enough to live on and that’s what matters. My family time is worth more money than a bank can hold. Here is my 2 cents in a nut shell: find a job you love to do and do it. Let it make you money but don’t work so much you never see your family. After everything’s said and done you will not have anything but your family. Hope this helps.
