Yes, you
heard me right. Don’t be financially
responsible. I’ll tell you what I wished
I would have done when I was 18 in light of our current culture.
1) Going to
college, make sure and go to the most prestigious school you can get accepted
into. That looks great on your
resume. And don’t try to do it debt
free; I’ll tell you why in a moment.
2) Open a
credit card as soon as you turn 18. Pay
the balance every month, but use it more than you use your debit card. This way, you’ll build a credit score. This does actually require you to be
responsible enough not to abuse “free money” at 18. And not to be a pessimist, but…good luck.
3) Every
summer between semesters at college, don’t worry about your mounting debts,
because you need something else to look good on paper – experience. You’ll quickly find, if you’re motivated,
driven, and want to make a difference, you’re going to have to get a job in a
career area that is highly competitive.
Politics or policy, for instance.
So every summer, apply for an unpaid internship in the career area you
want to be in one day. You’ll work like
a dog, you’ll probably have to use that credit card of yours to pay for food
and housing (because unless you’re super lucky those won’t be provided), and by
the time you’re done it will be school time again! Huzzah!
When you
graduate college, even with the ridiculous debt you’ve accrued, you’ll have
more positive credit than someone who was financially responsible and took out
no debt (go get that car you need now that your clunker died!), and you’ll have
1-4 years of relevant experience in the field you want to work.
Finally, 5)
write up a killer resume, and realize that you spent all that money, got into
all that debt, and spent all those summers, just so you can write a few lines
of text on a page that will be electronically submitted to someone you don’t
know who will spend less than 30 seconds reading it.
As
unfortunate as it is, our society punishes young people who are responsible
enough to work hard during their summers, get through school debt free, and who
have never opened a line of credit. You
can’t get a small loan to buy a car (I’ve tried), you can’t get a job you’re
passionate about, because even an entry level one requires experience (wait…so
you’re telling me I need experience for the job I’m getting…for experience?),
and your prized college education has been marginalized to being worth nothing
more than a check in a box on your next job application.
So you tell
me...in our current society, are there any young people out there regretting
being financially responsible?
As a young person who sees myself swimming in a similar fix, I went unto my brother, who has 16 extra life experience years on me, and said to him, "O brother, who is nearly forty, and therefore old enough to be wise and young enough to speak my young person language....Verily, how do I adult? Thou hast unto thy name no degree of the college, and yet thou art commander of thy peers in thy department who possess degrees, and maketh more moolah than they. How can this be?" And this is what he told me:
ReplyDeleteCollege degrees are good, because you have learned very much stuff, and learning stuff is good. But college degrees are not the key to success that we were all told they were. *cue sad crying from all of us who were fed this most of our lives* According to my brother [and I believe him, because he has lived this and doesn't just talk it], the key to success is humble determination. And time - time being the tough part.
Work at whatever you can, he told me, even if you're not sure about it. Be trustworthy, be responsible, respect your boss and your coworkers; be eager to learn and humble enough to do the dirty work well, but wise enough to walk away when you're being taken advantage of. You'll do jobs you like, and jobs you don't like, and maybe all you'll learn is, "I do not ever want to be a plumber," but you'll build up a good reputation with the people you interact with, which in time lays the foundation for people to offer you work, instead of you asking them. [I've gotten job offers based on my brother's reputation. It's a powerful thing.]
The other tidbit of advice he gave me, now as a manager who goes through hiring and firing folks, is that one should not be intimidated by job applications. An employer will often choose someone who doesn't meet all the qualifications because that person is determined enough to go after the job anyway and is willing to be taught what they don't know.
The thing he regrets - not being financially responsible, which ended with his creditors eating massive chunks of his income that he needed to support his family.
It's a tough job market out there (how are you supposed to get experience when you need experience to get the job - I mean, really? did no one think this through?) but don't compromise your principles, because ultimately, it's your character that will set you apart from everyone else. Through all the doubt and all the How the heck do I do all this and the Well that just crashed and burned and now what, we know Who lives upstairs, and we know He's got a Plan.
Anyway, those are the two cents that my bro gave me when I asked for them. Take it or leave it, and hang in there.