4 ms·

Its much harder (not impossible) to attain wealth if you don't come from at least an upper middle class background. Having a safety blanket (family) that can su

Its much harder (not impossible) to attain wealth if you don't come from at least an upper middle class background. Having a safety blanket (family) that can support you if you fail allows you to take greater risks in the pursuit of greater income, including starting a business. If you fail, worst case you end up in your childhood bedroom as opposed to on the the street. If your parents are able to pay for your college tuition, you are provided with a much stronger launch pad. Many (most?) people are not taught financial responsibility and how to budget or run a household in school or at home, I believe that it is this lack of knowledge that really inflicts long term harm and feel that it should be required in both high school and college. My parents never knew how to manage money and so I never learned. I am taking the time to educate my self now, but you never even know you are missing out until life hits you in the face one day. The greatest indicator of where you will end up financially continues to be where you started from.

nunez 8y ago
> If your parents are able to pay for your college tuition, you are provided with a much stronger launch pad. Ain't that the truth. I've spent 10 years at ~$1300/month paying my student loans down. I'm two years from done, but that would have been half a mortgage paid off! To be fair, though, I knew squat about personal finance coming out of college, so I probably would've burned the money some other way.
- ohithereyou 8y ago
  Quick back of the envelope calculation ($1300/month * 12 months/year * 12 years = $187,200) shows part of the problem - either college should not be necessary (we need a programmer's guild) or the cost of college is way too high.
  - wonderwonder 8y ago
    I agree its way to high, at least programmers can hope for a well paying job eventually though. Imagine teachers or something similar. They get a degree to do something that society has a hard time going without (going to work is hard if I have no one to watch my kids) and then get a low salary and are told that they are being greedy and disruptive for going on strike to get raises. We are also told from a young age that going to college is a requirement for getting a good job, perpetuating the cycle. Higher education has a great PR department.
  - walshemj 8y ago
    guild ? you know that historically they where set up to restrict access
    - Aeolun 8y ago
      And keep up standards. I personally enjoy the idea of having apprentice, journeyman and master programmers.
      - walshemj 8y ago
        All good if your Dad is a Guild Member not so much if your an immigrant for example.
  - imtringued 8y ago
    This is unsustainable for older people. By the time someone in their 50s, who has lost their job, finishes their degree and repays their student loans they'll have reached retirement age and barely broke even. If in those 12 years anything unforeseen happens (lose your job, job doesnt pay as well as expected, etc) they'll have to retire with debt and be forced to work until they die just to pay off the student loan.
lr4444lr 8y ago
But you could GET to upper middle class though, and then your children or their children might have a shot at wealth from that higher starting point. Seeing the next generation do better is an amazing incentive.
achillesheels 8y ago
I fully agree, and this is coming from someone from the right-wing who believed in the myth of “equal opportunity”. Opportunities are unequal, however, I would claim that’s natural. A working class repairman in his mind may dream of wealth as owning a home with a boat; he may capitalize on the opportunity for bringing to market a unique tool to his trade which an otherwise white collar society would never conceive of, with these material goals as motivation. And his labor conditioning may give him an edge in bringing the product to market because he “executes” every day with his work. After all, most businesses are started in middle age by those who likely have built up the resources (including financial acumen) and network to capitalize. It’s fallacious to continue to pigeon-hole affluence as only coming from trading on information asymmetries from higher education.

nunez 8y ago

> If your parents are able to pay for your college tuition, you are provided with a much stronger launch pad. Ain't that the truth. I've spent 10 years at ~$1300/month paying my student loans down. I'm two years from done, but that would have been half a mortgage paid off! To be fair, though, I knew squat about personal finance coming out of college, so I probably would've burned the money some other way.

ohithereyou 8y ago
Quick back of the envelope calculation ($1300/month * 12 months/year * 12 years = $187,200) shows part of the problem - either college should not be necessary (we need a programmer's guild) or the cost of college is way too high.
- wonderwonder 8y ago
  I agree its way to high, at least programmers can hope for a well paying job eventually though. Imagine teachers or something similar. They get a degree to do something that society has a hard time going without (going to work is hard if I have no one to watch my kids) and then get a low salary and are told that they are being greedy and disruptive for going on strike to get raises. We are also told from a young age that going to college is a requirement for getting a good job, perpetuating the cycle. Higher education has a great PR department.
- walshemj 8y ago
  guild ? you know that historically they where set up to restrict access
  - Aeolun 8y ago
    And keep up standards. I personally enjoy the idea of having apprentice, journeyman and master programmers.
    - walshemj 8y ago
      All good if your Dad is a Guild Member not so much if your an immigrant for example.
- imtringued 8y ago
  This is unsustainable for older people. By the time someone in their 50s, who has lost their job, finishes their degree and repays their student loans they'll have reached retirement age and barely broke even. If in those 12 years anything unforeseen happens (lose your job, job doesnt pay as well as expected, etc) they'll have to retire with debt and be forced to work until they die just to pay off the student loan.

lr4444lr 8y ago

But you could GET to upper middle class though, and then your children or their children might have a shot at wealth from that higher starting point. Seeing the next generation do better is an amazing incentive.

achillesheels 8y ago

I fully agree, and this is coming from someone from the right-wing who believed in the myth of “equal opportunity”. Opportunities are unequal, however, I would claim that’s natural. A working class repairman in his mind may dream of wealth as owning a home with a boat; he may capitalize on the opportunity for bringing to market a unique tool to his trade which an otherwise white collar society would never conceive of, with these material goals as motivation. And his labor conditioning may give him an edge in bringing the product to market because he “executes” every day with his work. After all, most businesses are started in middle age by those who likely have built up the resources (including financial acumen) and network to capitalize. It’s fallacious to continue to pigeon-hole affluence as only coming from trading on information asymmetries from higher education.