"It's my money and I want it now"

[welsummerchicks]

I have a hypothetical question.

You are debt free, your mortgage is paid, you own nothing on any car you own, and you have what people consider a good job, and you're very good at it.

And you want to start a new career. You want to have something with new challenges and more security, but it requires an expensive college degree. You want to be self employed, and in this case, that degree and different career would give you more financial security, and in a fairly short time, a much higher salary.

Assuming you feel college would be fun and you have no concerns about mastering the material or doing well.

Would you use your savings or investments to go back to school and start a new career?

What sort of reactions would you get from your relatives and partner?

Would you go ahead with it?

Would you answer differently if you were 20? 30? 40? 50? Sixty?

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

If I were in that situation, ( I am close), I would go for it! I am 48 and I think you should follow your dreams, also, if you never take chances, you become stagnate.

 

[ebwy2]

I'd discuss it with my partner and see whether we thought it was viable

 

[WIChookchick]

In this economy, I would NOT touch my savings or investments. There are lots of grants out there, and small scholarships that a person may qualify for.
Also small student loans. ALSO I would NOT give up my job. I would talk to a school counselor or a person who can see if the job you want will be viable in 5-10 or 15 yrs.
There are apprenticeship programs that could work for a person. I would take core classes online or at night, and then go to school part time.
YOU need your job, you need that security.
I had a friend that had a contract job with a county, with their schools, the job ended, he went through his unemployment, then savings, and COULD NOT find a job in his field.
It wasn't a school type job, but computer type work, but the computer language programming he knew had become obsolete. He lived with us for a year and a half.
Finally we had to kick him out as we were moving, he lived in his car, got a very part time job at a juice factory, and is living in a room somewhere.
Another friend had his job disappear after the company moved. He qualified for free school/job retraining, he can take apart a computer, write codes in all the latest
computer lingo, do IT support.. AND CANNOT FIND A JOB in our area.
Another good friend, he is a psychiatric nurse, a capt in the reserves, and a health and occupational saftey nurse. He got down sized and cannot find a job nearby.
He may end up being a traveling nurse in NM for 3 months, I found a job vaguely similar to what he was looking for, and he has had 3 interviews now at a hospital
in a different county that on a good day is 45 mins from where he lives. All of us are hoping he gets it. He is in his late 50's, or early 60's and now has to find a NEW job.

I tell you this so that you can understand the gravity of our economy.

Carol
PS good luck
Edited to say I am 41, nursing a useless shoulder/arm from a break in JULY, w/ 2 surgeries, being self employed as a person who works with horses.
no funds in the bank, no savings, and no way to pay for schooling except a grant OR loans. (loans I can't get).

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Quote:
No, not if all the factors were the same and starting a family wasn't in the mix.

I've know a lot of people that have made major career changes later in life. I've never heard one of them regret their decision.

 

[Sootsie]

if it helps i went back to school at 37 got my IT and teaching qualifications and its the best thing i ever did. But i was unemployed and married my now ex husband worked full time so bills were paid. i did part time courses and worked a few hours a week cleaning. i was lucky i managed to get free tuition an exam fees because i had no other formal qualifications. i been teaching 6 years now and love it. if you can financially afford it, and be able to manage if you dont get work straight away or if you could do home study or part time courses to fit around a job i say go for it. i dont regret it one bit and i still look for more courses to do to improve myself lol took me till i was 37 to actually see the benefits and fun education can bring.

 

[ksacres]

My father liquidated his assets at 55 and went back to school for his doctorate. He's now in a career he LOVES and is happier than he's ever been. Ever. He'll be sixty-one this year. I say, if you know what you love and you have the ability to do that for a job, go for it.

 

[nonseq]

Quote:

 

[Spookwriter]

I would think long and hard before jumping. Probably pass.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

And I thought you were going to be talking about those annoying commercials...had comments on that

,

but as others have said, opinion of dh would matter, and how it would overall affect the future, but my general inclination would be "go for it."