Mentoro sits down with COO of Praxis to discuss finding your own path and choosing the education that is best for you
With rising inflation, career uncertainty, and the cost of tuition, many people are taking a second look at their decision to attend college directly following high school. For many in our society, the decision to attend a traditional four year university is rarely questioned, and often people don’t feel that they have any other options in creating a healthy, financially stable career for themselves.
This is where they are wrong. Although attending a four-year university can seem like a safe option, for many, this option is actually the most high risk. A recent study was released that revealed a startling statistic, 40% of undergraduates that began college dropped out before finishing their degree. As of February 2023, student loan debt has piled up to over $1.6 trillion. The personal toll on the dropout’s bank account is high, with an average of $3.8 billion lost each year (ThinkImpact, 2021).
For many people, attending college is the first and one of the most significant financial decisions they will ever make. The average student takes on $30,000
“Praxis is a yearlong program; we work with young adults to help them discover and find work that makes them come alive. The way I like to think about it is we help young adults make the strongest start possible. We help them build their skills, and their network and help them land their first professional opportunity.”
- “So you mean the strongest start isn’t getting $50,000 into debt?” -Danny
Tip #1: Learn how to be valuable to other people
Figure out something you can do, that other people would want, at a reasonable price.
Get your first job early – in your first job you get an appreciation for each dollar you earn. Think about your time as money. There are different ways to make money. You don’t have a ton of skills when you start out so you need to trade your time for money. THrough this you start to build your skills. Learn how to be increasingly valuable over time
Tip #2: Capture the Value you Create
This is all I get after I get paid? The more expert you are and the more value you can create leads to capturing more wealth. Learn how to create valuable situations that no one else can create. Be difficult to replace.
Tip #3: Conserve the Value you Capture
Saving money is not a way of cheating yourself out of life
Preserving optionality for down the road. You may limit your ability to say yes. Be more intentional about how you want to spend your money and open up your options. Create opportunity fund.
We want to be able to afford to change our minds. Its not all about making that magic salary, fulfillment in your job can be much more impactful in your life than the paystub.
Hold out a job
Why is work so important?
- Self-respect
- Making the biggest impact in your life and your family’s life
- You need basic provisions
- Most people don’t have a silver spoon
- Spend time thinking about what is important to you
Become financially independent as soon as you can.
Where could he have been if he didn’t “spin his wheels” for 3 years?
College ends up delaying the inevitable.
The decision should not be made by default- especially when it comes to debt
Everyone goes to college and follows a certain pathway
People wake up in a life that they did not plan- quiet desperation
Build a skill set of optimizing your life to what you want it to be
Challenge conventional wisdom when it comes to money
Rules of thumb can be wildly wrong for the wealth building strategy you want to have
For example, 401k match wasn’t smart for him because he needed to have access to that capital to do more aggressive investments
What are the results you want to achieve?
As a parent, it is important to lighten up and not put too much pressure on your children to follow the same path that you did
Give yourself some time to figure everything out
Don’t be afraid to try things
Discoverpraxis.com
https://www.multiverse.io/en-US/blog/do-you-need-college-to-be-successful
