[quote=“BikerFry,post:64,topic:32801"”]
I’m 25. I can’t afford a nice car. I pay a mortgage that doesn’t leave me with a lot left over. I borrowed whatever I needed to finish my engineering degree in 4 years, so I’m paying off student loans. I took a low paying job right out of engineering school. That job gave me the experience that qualified me for an entry level position at a growing company with tons of opportunities. That company is paying for the MBA that I’m starting in a couple of weeks. Thanks to going off to school and trying to make it on my own I matured enough to gain a bit of wisdom and understand that you need to work hard and make smart decisions when you’re young if you want to have a prayer of living the good life.
Think about where I’m going to be in 5-10 years.
Now think about where I would be headed if I had stayed at home through my early 20’s, not given college a priority, and bought nice cars. I’d be 25, with cars not worth much thanks to depreciation, probably renting since I won’t have much of an income and a mortgage on a shithole would be my only other option, and without a lot of potential to get wealthy. In 5-10 years I’d be in the same place, struggling to make ends meet.
I’m not wealthy, but I have huge potential for wealth thanks to smart decisions I’m making while I am young. Just thought I’d throw that out there for those who think that staying home and buying expensive toys when you’re young is a good idea.
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I was in the same boat, except I am greatful that my grandfather had invested for my college education so I do not have student loans that amount to much. Out of college I took a job that was ok with a really large firm in the field I wanted to go into, I was not doing the greatest work but it got me introduced to the right people. I currently have a great job as a senior mechanical designer and I am only 23. I don’t own a house, cause honestly right now I am not 100% where I want to stay for any frame of time, I do have the opportunity to purchase a nice car in a bit. I know that if I did live at home and went to a local college I would be where a lot of my friends are that did that, either in jail or at some menial job make <$40k a year, none of them are happy, but they where happy that they could afford nice things through college because they lived at home.
I take my FE exam in Oct. and the PE in two years, I am also currently going back to school in January for my masters in ME, at that time I am also taking my LEED exam. From this I have the room for a lot of growth within the company I currently work for, or even at a later date starting my own company.
That is really why I rag at people that are not in college and live at home past the age of 20.