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

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

I would research the field VERY THOROUGHLY!!! There are ALOT of people trying to convince people that certain degrees (law degrees being one of them) are the ticket to the better life they seek and it is not. Law is overcrowded and not looking like it will recover any time soon and the student loan is crushing.

I know you said you'd use savings etc rather than loans, but that makes it even more important not to go for anything without being really thorough. Not all degrees are equal. No matter what the level and not all fields are as lucrative as they once were. (medicine)

Nursing is a huge seller right now, but I predict an overcrowding market soon.

I am not saying you should not pursue your dreams - you should. Just be really careful the rules are not what they used to be and there are ALOT of people trying to sell you something you may not need.

 

[HHandbasket]

If I were in your shoes, I'd do it.

Another poster mentioned that in this economy, they wouldn't touch their investments or their saving. If the market does a FULL collapse (which I suspect it may in the next 3-5 years), your investments won't be worth the paper they're written on, whereas an education is very, very lasting.

Money isn't everything. I've had money, and I've been broke. Right now, we're broke (long story short, both our previous jobs have been eliminated in the last 2 years & we have gone from making $85K a year to just right at $40K this last year between the two of us, lost our big 3-bedroom house in a nice suburb and our Infiniti and are riding scooters, driving an old, beat-up used Dodge Neon, and living in a 650-sq. ft. bungalow in the ghetto). But we're still together, still happy, have our animals and probably would never have gotten into chickenkeeping had it not been for the el-crappo economy.

Having investments isn't going to make you any better off financially than I am when our poor excuse of an economic system implodes upon itself. I say spend the money to get your education, learn what you need to learn, and do what makes you happy. Even if the economy DOESN'T collapse, when your life is coming to a close, will you look back and say you lived, REALLY lived, and followed your heart and your dreams, or will you be able to say you lived a so-so-mediocre life but have a nice nest egg to leave for someone else to spend and follow THEIR dreams?

 

[mom'sfolly]

I think you need to look at the education as an investment. You have done enough research to know you can be self employed and make more money by changing course.

The opinion of only those closest to you matters. You must have your spouse's support (if you're married) because you will be spending money not making it for awhile. If everything is paid off, I think using your assets to pay for school make sense. You obviously know how to manage money, and I suspect that won't change simply because you are going back to school.

I think for anything under sixty-five this would be worthwhile. We have a lot of years to work, most people work for 40-50 years. I don't think many people really love what they do enough to spend that amount of time doing the same thing. Retirement ages are pushing up, and many are working into their 70's by choice. If you are fifty, and plan to retire on time, you still have at least 10 years in your new career.

 

[welsummerchicks]

The big advertising campaign is for places like 'ITT TECH!' and various worthless online universities (they aren't all worthless) that provide useless 2 year degrees that don't generally get people a job.

This is an advanced professional degree that carries a very, very comfortable salary.

Law is 'over supplied' with young general law graduates with no experience and desiring to go into either entertainment or big corporate law.

This hypothetical person has 30 years in a highly technical field that would create a very specialized professional with an advanced degree on top of the 30 years experience, a combination that generally gets about 300 dollars an hour for specialized consulting.

Retire? When you make 300 dollars an hour, you can work ten weeks out of the year and make 120,000 dollars a year. Who needs to retire? This hypothetical person would work for 18-20 more years, and love it.

 

[mom'sfolly]

In that case, the money is an investment. I think you should go for it.

I think my brother is still kicking himself for completing all the course work for a PhD in child psychology and the for not getting his thesis done, and he would have only made $100/hour.

 

[verthandi]

Quote:
I am debt free except my truck payment. I returned to college two years ago at age 55. Maintaining excellent grades will also increased scholarship money and grants. I left my former job after one semester, when the University offered me a position in the Math tutoring lab. Working for the University comes with 2 free classes a semester, so I actually receive money back from my financial aid. My family and partner are thrilled. And I start a research project this semester in my new field. with Federal Grant money backing the research. If someone really wants to change their path in life, there are ways to get there. I have not touch any of my investments or savings to return to college.

Age does not matter. In fact after age 60 or 65 in many states, tuition is waived.

 

[vmdanielsen]

Wellsummserchicks,
The best investment you can ever make is in yourself. Plan carefully and go for it!
Ginny

 

[welsummerchicks]

About 20 years ago, I was coming into the office and said to my officemate, 'So, Frank, what exciting things are you going to do today?'

He said, 'I am way past the age where I am excited to come into work'.

I decided I wasn't going to grow up and be a Frank.


LOL!

 

[WIChookchick]

OH and to be a devils advocate... I have another friend who is a plasma physicist, he got part time teacher's aid jobs at the UW. It took him years to get his job where he is now, including presenting at
conventions. Going to conventions and seminar's at his own expense to meet and get his name out there, to find out where the jobs are.
HE is now in Colorado.
Before going into a new field. See how well new businesses do in that field, see how much capital they have. Have a business plan, and see if the market is saturated with that type of business.
Like another poster said, the Law field is over saturated. Your chosen new career could be too.
Its good to invest in yourself, but do you want to loose it all like the HHandbasket?? I am glad they are happy, but to loose soo much, in so short a time.

No offense to HH, but use their story as "I REALLY don't want this to happen to me."
And be cautious, you want to be able to retire, to not have to worry about money, and to enjoy what you have, now, and when its time to stop working.

 

[Junkmanme]

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

Certainly. It is naive and short-sighted to NOT consider your age, health, and other prospects when considering a MAJOR life change. Life consists of many "trade-offs". We don't have TIME to "do it all". Choices must be made and the choices should be based on a good analysis of the Costs vs Benefits. And a person's age in Life and number of potential years remaining certainly DOES enter into the decision-making process.

IF you are 60 years old, it seems pointless to me to consider spending a future 8 years in pursuit of an advanced degree in anything. It would be more productive for a fulfilling Life to use the knowledge already gained....to pursue a related, productive endeavor.

my 2 pesos worth,
-Junkmanme-