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?
