Advice for a Sixteen Year Old school leaver

Ordinary_Joe

My old tired piece of advice would be to go out and buy Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. See what he has to say about where good grades get you. I came across it 17 years too late.

I did everything I was asked to do in school like I suspect so many of us did and I don't really feel I'm any better for it than those who fooled around and used their wits when they got out.

I believe it's missing a fundamental requirement to teach people how to understand their money and make it work for them.

Any 16 year old should start sorting their financial knowledge and preparing to invest as soon as possible

Thriftylady

I agree 100% with Lynzpower about the university thing. My friends and I were all advised by our school (a grammar school where about 95% of pupils went on to university) that we had to go to university or we would never amount to anything. I was even told by a careers advisor when I was unsure what I wanted to do with my life 'why worry about that now? you will have no trouble finding a good job with a history degree'. I didn't do a history degree, as it happens, but did do a different arts degree. But I just had no idea as a 16 year old how tough life is, how much competition is out there. Schools tell you that as long as you have your qualifications the worlds your oyster, but then they would say that!

With the obvious exception of those who are doctors, solicitors etc, most of the people I know who are in well paid, rewarding jobs, would say that they landed there by being in the right place at the right time, and then working hard once the opportunity was there. Not by working hard first and the opportunity making itself available to them as a result...

I wish someone had given me sound advice when I was 16. I can't promise I would have listened, but at least if I'd had it I would now be thinking 'well, you were told and you didn't listen, only yourself to blame', instead of 'why did no one tell me? where do I go from here?'. Encouraging everyone to aim for university will result in a generation of people who are miserable that they feel they have achieved so little - they'll have the degrees, but fewer and fewer of them will attain the jobs which they aspire to. To a certain extent its already happening. And with the debts involved in going to university these days, it won't just be a matter of feeling disappointed, it will mean a whole working life worrying about the debt hanging over their heads, the debts which were meant to be an investment to ensure a better income in the future.

kuohu

lynzpower wrote:

I dont know a single person who has benefited from their degree aside from those who have done vocational studies such as IT/Social Work/ denisty/ medical/ engineering. that has a job that pays anything near what they were promised.

Erm, you mean people with degrees in proper subjects then? :rolleyes:

kuohu

My advice would be to travel as far as you can, and stay with women who drink ale by the pint.

Eels100

I'm very fortunate in that I played by the rules in school, got into Uni, and am now a professional with a secure and rewarding career. But did that mean I knew about money? Er, nope!

I learnt my lesson the hard way with an eyewatering finance deal on a car which I thought I needed. Never again!

I think the biggest problem young people face in financial terms isn't to do with careers, exams or education, but it's to do with what they see around them. Down my street there's a new car in every second driveway, there are extensions going up and neighbours are competing for the biggest telly. In this area I know that none of these people earn the sort of money which will pay for the lifestyles they're living - those of us who have learned that hard way can realise that much of what people spend is not what they've earned, but what they're borrowing.

How can a sixteen year old be expected to appreciate this? Our whole society has a culture of borrowing now, and when kids see people splashing out on extravagances they really do start to think that it's the norm. I don't think there's any easy way to show someone this, apart from bitter experience.

millsee

Eels100 wrote:

I think the biggest problem young people face in financial terms isn't to do with careers, exams or education, but it's to do with what they see around them. Down my street there's a new car in every second driveway, there are extensions going up and neighbours are competing for the biggest telly. In this area I know that none of these people earn the sort of money which will pay for the lifestyles they're living - those of us who have learned that hard way can realise that much of what people spend is not what they've earned, but what they're borrowing.

There's a phrase in a book I've just read about this.

"Big hat, no cattle".

Sums it up quite eloquently, I think.

dippy-dora_2

When I first left school I went onto a YTS and had to open a bank account.
Anyway, first time I went into draw my wages and the teller asked
"how do you want your money'
and stupid me said, proud as punch!
'Cash!'