With the advent of companies off-shoring and outsourcing more and more high-paying jobs, we need to refocus our attentions to job training (or retraining, as the case may be) that’s recession-proof, outsource-proof, and off-shore-proof.
We’ve shifted from an information economy to a service economy, so we need to adjust our expectations from the corporate world. Gone are the days of long, steady employment with paid benefits and a decent retirement package…now we all must do more with less, even at work.
The cost of a higher education has outpaced both inflation growth and wage growth in some areas, and it’s time to step back and start questioning the need for “high-paying degrees” in some occupations. The need for a high-level degree (or an Ivy League degree) in a low-paying profession is also coming into question, as this is swiftly becoming a big reason why more students become strapped with high levels of educational debt for long periods of time.
A classic example: a Nursing degree (BA) that will only get you a maximum of about $40k/year salary. All the class time, lab work, and 12-hour hospital shifts (not to mention getting barfed and peed on), plus the paperwork…for THAT? It’s no wonder we have a nursing shortage!
A Harvard degree in social work makes absolutely no sense financially or in the work world, just as a Doctorate in teaching doesn’t. This kind of overkill is unnecessary, because employers don’t really care where you got educated, but how and in what you got educated. What they want to know is whether or not you can do the job.
The high cost of prestige can kill you financially. Save it for a Wall Street career.
Top this all off with the fact that even high-paying positions are no longer the ticket to riches—take Tucker Carlson, Jon Stewart, Paul Begala, James Carville, and Dr. Phil for example: each of these men are trained for other professions, rather than the one they’re doing now. Dr. Phil and Jon Stewart are both trained in the field of psychology (bet you didn’t know about Jon Stewart), Tucker Carlson has a degree in journalism, and Paul Begala and James Carville are attorneys. Strangely enough, none of these men have a degree or training (except OJT) in communications or broadcasting, yet they ALL are on television. That’s where the money’s at—in media (TV and books).
This should tell you something: there is no room at the inn for lawyers, psychologists, and journalists…and a whole lot more professions. One quick look in the yellow pages should tell you that!
No matter where the business community sends job, or to whom they send them, we here at home will still need service technicians of some sort: mechanics, heating and A/C repairmen, roofers, plumbers, electricians, carpet layers, construction workers, health care workers, cable and satellite installers and repairers, computer fix-it people, chefs and restaurant workers, delivery drivers, and so on. These jobs aren’t glamorous or high paying, but they’re steady (to a large extent) and rely on your hustle to grab the possibility of bigger bucks. They also have the advantage of low-cost, quick, local training.
We’ve abdicated our hustle to machines, and our brains to India. We need to get them back.
If you ever get into a position of having to think about job training or retraining, I urge you to rethink your employment options and forego the expensive educations and the myth of high paying careers. Think “ongoing demand” rather than “bucks.” Also think about the difficulty of replacement—can this new job be outsourced, off-shored, or replaced by a robot with software?
Once you have the occupation whittled down, find out where you can go for the least amount of outlay—in time and money (no sense in becoming another Sallie Mae statistic). You need to get on your feet (or back on your feet) quickly. Combine this “new” thinking about careers with the frugal skills of living below your means, and you have the secret to living life in the next decade.
It’s not about the money—it’s about what you do with what you can make. Less is more.
Here’s another angle on the higher education question: what if a house and land were given to you, upon high school graduation, instead of a college opportunity? Isn’t a house and some land the reason why we go to college in the first place? We go to college to secure higher-paying job skills, with the ultimate goal of owning a house along the way…but what if we STARTED with those goals fulfilled?
Granted, you’d have the chance to “get out of the county,” and learn more about the world around you while away in college, learn how to navigate societies and cultures, and learn about other viewpoints and beliefs. The ultimate goal of your being there at all would be to gain the means to get your own place with your own stuff—you’d just be able to get it faster with a higher-paying job.
If you started out true adult life with the house already in possession, though, you could afford to make different decisions regarding the rest of your life. Your main concern then would be how to keep the lights and heat on, and that wouldn’t take as much income as the standard method of doing things: having more stuff and servicing debt for years.
Choosing and maintaining a career would be far easier, in my mind, with less competition and steady demand…and you’d get to have a life outside work. Flying under the radar like this might just be the ticket to future generations’ well-being.
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13 comments:
There's no money in books, unless you're already making money in TV.
Dr. Phil wouldn't be on TV unless he had training as a psychologist. I don't know who any of the other names you mentioned are (except Jon Stewart, natch).
But the people who are on TV are just a teeny, tiny fraction of the population. Most of the people in the upper middle class haven't made their money on TV. They've made it in professions like psychology and law.
Wait, on re-reading, I'm confused. How do you get a free house?
Well, my husband's just completing his doctorate in education, and his tuition (for which we paid cash) will be more than compensated for in the raise he will get next year to reflect his new degree. Fair or unfair, some professions scale pay by level of education, not level of ability. I see the irony here, but sometimes, additional education can make an already rewarding career more profitable.
okay--answers to all comments in one reply...here goes:
1. There IS money in books if you read about how the industry works and who works it. Many authors make money without ever stepping foot onto a TV stage.
2. Dr. Phil wouldn't be on TV if it weren't for the generosity of Oprah Winfrey and her beef trial. Dr. Phil is a jury psychologist, and was hired to "stack" Oprah's jury in her defamationsuit against Big Beef. He was relatively unknown before Oprah sacheted into his life...now, he's Celebrity Numero Uno. He was a garden-variety psychologist then, and a garden-variety TV self-help guru now.
3. No, the upper middle class mostly did not make their money from TV--they cut out the middleman and went to courses where they knew the money already was. Trouble is, the money ain't gonna be there in the future, and that's what my blog was aiming at. You might be better served by looking into the biographies of some TV personalities--then you'd find out how many lawyers and psychologists (as well as other well-intentioned career fields) are doing TV work because they can't get a job in their own field.
4. A free house (presuming my predictions of the future are correct) would come from one's parents instead of a 509 college savings plan--instead of saving money specifically for college, parents would just SAVE for kids, and they would decide what to do with the money.
5. Your husband is living in today's world with today's dollars--kudos for paying cash, BTW!! However, in the future, those jobs that pay according to education level will be going overseas, where the highly-educated will do them for penies on the dollar (India and China). Frankly, I'm surprised his job hasn't already been outsourced--there are plenty of people in India with Doctorates who will work for $8/hour.
Higher ed can make a job more lucrative, but for how long? Get a backup plan before it's too late.
I work at a literary agency. So I can say with some confidence that I am familiar with how the industry works.
Overwhelmingly aspiring authors can't get published (because they suck). Those who are published often get very little money. For example, the advance for a category romance novel would probably be about $5000.00. Say you write one every three months - that's an income of only $20,000.00 a year.
It is statistically rare to come across a writer who supports him or herself through his work alone. Many writers have second jobs.
When books command big advances, it's usually because the author is already a celebrity.
You'll read the occasional story about a first novel sparking a bidding war. It happens, it's just very rare. And when you compare it to the immense number of people who are trying to get published and never get any financial reward at all out of their efforts....
your nurse pay is correct...for the starting nurse who is not in a needed or crit. area. Here in Oklahoma (land of low living expenses) a starting nurse with no experience gets 37-42k per year. Tack on a few years or in a crit. area and very soon one breaks 50k and on.
Obviously one has to have the empathy and personality to be a nurse...so that a bit o' pee or other body fluids does not make one faint. Or working 12 hour shifts. But those types are weeded out quickly in training though.
On the very cool side of nursing is that one can work just part time (20 hours a week) earn a very decent amount of money with the critical health benifits and still have large amounts of free time. Add a few years of experience and one can earn 35k easy working part-time!
Wenchypoo....good lord I read you when da Fool was free.
Nice to see that you are still around!
nobody
Good point about future job shifts overseas. I can really see where this plays out in technology industries. Thankfully, unless we are about to start shipping our children overseas for schooling, teachers (even those with doctorates) will have jobs here at home.
It's rare to find a frugal blog with such depth. Glad you're here!
Here's another thought that occurred to me.
Most people I know didn't go to college in order to secure a high income.
They went to college in order to broaden their minds and to learn.
Okay--round 2 of attempting to answer everybody in one post.
1. To the literary agent--what kind of literature are you in? I should've added the fact that nonfiction pays rather well and can be easy to break into...as long as the book cover contains the words "millionaire", "revolutionary method", "get rich quick" or "financial happiness", they will sell like hotcakes--provided they have the marketably-correct cover containing the colors red, blue, and/or yellow, or some sort of money graphic. Fiction, OTOH, is a whole 'nuther universe completely.
Cases in point: Carlton Sheets, Robert Kiyosaki, the Motley Fool boys, and any other late-night infomercial thief.
2. Attending college to broaden your mind is not a necessity, and millionaires by and large didn't attend college either. If you read Thomas Stanley's books "The Millionaire Mind" or "The Millionaire Next Door", you will see exactly how rich people became rich. Libraries can broaden your mind for a whole lot less than college tuition--I'm living proof. I briefly went to some community college classes some 20 years ago, but haven't stepped onto a campus since. What I have between my ears today comes from reading...books, websites, listening to talk radio, and watching C-SPAN 1 and 2 (mostly BookTV).
3. I'm not saying this stuff in the blog will happen overnight, or even next week--all this stuff may happen in the next generation or three, and there's a lot of "what if's" involved. I merely serve as a beacon for what might be coming down the pike, and helping my readers prepare for it in frugal living ways.
If you read the right books, listen to the right people, and read the right blogs and websites, you can begin to get a picture of what may be in store for the future, and use the current time to build an acceptible offense or defense to lessen the impact on your life. Taxes and social security, for example, come into play here very clearly.
4. To Anonymous (who read me at TMF before it went to pay-for-play): Now you know why I blog--to have a free voice unencumbered by censors like Twitty. I have been trying to create a place for forward-thinking frugalites to join and read,and this is just another attempt to reach out. I've been back to TMF and LBYM, but find it very much a dried-out husk of what it once was. No longer is it a learning place, nor even an on-topic place, and I'm surprised as hell people shell out good money to go there!
5. To all--thank you for reading and commenting. It lets me know you're still out there, and I still have a reason to get up and blog each day. :)
Well, what can I say, I just can't keep my mouth shut. Must! Comment! I know you from TMF too, which may have something to do with the fact that I feel free to blabber on as if this were a discussion board.
My office works in non-fiction and I am trying to expand into fiction as well. In fact, we've represented a financial advice book (The Dolan's 'Don't Mess With My Money').
Non-fiction is easier than fiction but it's still very difficult. Having a 'platform' - a radio show, a tv show, classes, seminars, late night infomercials, whatever - makes it much, much easier. The reason Kiyosaki has been so successful is that he a relentless self-promoter. The reason the Fool boys have been so successful is that 1) they had a simple-to-understand idea for investing, and 2) they leveraged relationships with organizations like AOL and NPR to increase their visibility.
Yes, attending college is not a necessity for a broad mind or for a million dollars.
Where our opinions part ways, I think, is that I don't think having a million dollars is a very good goal. Having 'enough' money for comfort, security, etc.? Yes. But beyond that mysterious 'enough' figure (which, I know, for many people is more than a million dollars by the time it comes to retire), the accumulation of wealth along isn't particularly rewarding when compared to the accumulation of knowledge and understanding.
All-in-all I consider my expensive education a very good buy, if not a great investment.
Of course when it comes to professional post-grad degress that's a whole different story.
I typed a response for over an hour, then lost my connection. Rather than try to remember what all I wrote, let's just skip it and move on...
My brother wanted to be a philosophy major in high school because he loved his one year of philosophy. He got to college and decided he wanted to major in math instead, and now he's working in computer science.
While in college, he worked swing shift at a Denny's. The head chef there was a philosophy major. It discouraged him even further from philosophy. Then he found out that Alex Trebek is a philosophy major, too, and it didn't sound so bad. You're right - media's where the money is, no matter the major!
Dear Wenchy,
I SO agree about education and the future of our job sourcing in the U.S.
I obtained a University education in the Arts. I didn't have a clue what I would do in the future, however, my husband and I had our education funded through PELL grants. My husband served in Vietnam. Therefore we received $464 for housing. As California residents (with a child no less) we simply couldn't afford the rent in L.A. so we moved to a small town in Southern Illinois, and attended a University there. Long story short, my husband received his Bachelors in Electrical Engineering subsequently obtaining a job in the engineering field. Fast forward 20 years. He hasn't received a job increase in 5 years, though as you have described in other posts, he has bartered to obtain other perks. He currently works from home and receives a small stipend for internet connection. I went on to obtain a teaching certificate in Ca. through a little known program called, "the District Intern program." This program allowed me to be paid as a full-time teacher while obtaining my teaching certificate- gratis. The shock of all of us (mainly older students) returning to the classroom was astounding. Many immigrants, many union "games", just mainly poorly treated and malnourished children trying to concentrate in the classroom! My point? I have two brothers who never went on to higher education One owns his own service-oriented business (welder), the other is a pilot (without going through the military or university to obtain his license- just hard work and smarts.) They both bring in more income than either my husband and I combined.
I'm an older, stay-at-home mom now. Content to be so. I went back to school to obtain a completely useless certificate to re-enter the work force after a 10 year hiatus. I wasted almost $4000 and I still do not have a job because now all the hiring goes to the upper grades and I STILL don't have the proper credentials that require specialization (they change the rules every decade or so.)They also don't hire teachers in my field any where I live any longer unless I decide to commute some 30 miles to work. Advice, do MUCH research before committing to ANY work field. Higher education or not!
My parents taught us how to be janitors as children-please don't talk slave labor - we just worked together, and hard. It is common-sense smarts, library and social research that will get you ahead. Job security is a thing of the past. Do I value education - absolutely. But if you believe your children are being prepared for the future by our current school system, you are sadly mistaken. Want to help your children succeed in the future real world? Teach them at least three foreign languages, teach them at least one trade (cooking,sewing,automobiles, computer programming, welding, plumbing, etc.)And if you have the time then give them a solid classic education, if you can find one. As you've said before, the real jobs are the jobs that serve the common man. Our future is changing and it will take flexible minds, physiques, and educations to exist in the world of the future.
One last note. I like your idea about giving our children dwellings to live in after graduation or learning a trade. The impetus of thinking of ways to pay for utilities, etc. will teach them to think critically and imaginatively about what they can do to survive, but might I also add, teach them about the realities of commerce, home ownership costs, frugal living BEFORE they graduate. Our job as parents is to teach our children how to successfully navigate adulthood. Home ownership or not.
By the way, I like your website. Thank you for providing this free help. Keep up the good work!
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