Going to back to school later in life.

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by C99c, Apr 10, 2019.

  1. Adventurer

    Adventurer Member

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    I would recommend doing the math to see if it pays off... If you have 25 working years left in your life how much extra would you need to make per year to pay off the tuition, books, and your time? If you quit your job to go back to school full time don't forget to calculate forgone income you could have earned into your equation... I would really think going back part time would pay off, would need a little more details to determine if leaving a job to go full time would be worth it...
     
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  2. C99c

    C99c Member

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    I understand the thinking behind that, but honestly if I can spend the next 20 + years doing something that interests me and I enjoy while making less money than just staying where I am now then I'll consider that a major win.
    We get one life and while it's important to plan for retirement I think a lot of people choose the safe route and basically live a lesser life because of that. I work and socialize with many like that.
    Some are happy with their choices. Plenty of them aren't. Regret is hard to hide.

    Fortunately I can go to school full time right now if I choose to, still work a different job and not majorly impact our retirement savings. And we have nothing keeping us in our current location so after I get finished we can move for better opportunities if needed.

    Believe me, this wasn't a decision made on a lark. It's been coming for several years, it just changed from taking another similar job in another area to school and a different field.

    I say this not to brag, but I've turned down a lot of jobs over the 18 months. Some would have been more money, some would have been better benefits. None would have made me happy to get up in the morning.
     
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  3. Jeff Randall

    Jeff Randall ESEE Knives / Randall's Adventure & Training Staff Member

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    And THAT is the key to the whole thing - enjoying what you do.

    Even if you are 80 years old and want to go back to college or learn a new trade then I'm all for it. Constant learning is what keeps us young.
     
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  4. Adventurer

    Adventurer Member

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    I agree with you as well. If you don't like what you are doing definitely find something that you enjoy. You don't always need to go back to school to get a job that you enjoy but sometimes a degree is necessary. You can't take money/things with you when you die. You need to make sure you enjoy life (while remembering to be being somewhat fiscally responsible so that you don't get yourself into a bad spot down the road). If you think finances will be fine I would say go for it.
     
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  5. C99c

    C99c Member

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    I don't want anyone to think that finances aren't factoring into the decision or at least the timing of the decision. Even though my wife is 100 percent supportive of my plans, even if means sacrificing some things, I've had more than a few sleepless nights thinking about it.

    I want to do this with as minimal an impact as I can on my family. Fortunately, my wife isn't "high maintenance" and may be more thrifty than I am at this point. And she's accustomed to me keeping odd hours, so any kind of job/school schedule isn't likely to bother her.

    I appreciate everyone's comments so far and any that may follow. Good, bad, critical or supportive. Honeslty, I don't have anyone in my daily life telling me that it's a bad idea which I guess is a plus since it's people who know me and know the exact situation. At the same time since I don't have that I guess I'm putting more thought into that side of the argument than I would otherwise.
     
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  6. Adventurer

    Adventurer Member

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    Both my wife and I are currently going back to school. We've got 35+ working years left so it was an easy decision for us. We are both hoping our degrees will help us move into a job that we enjoy more than our current jobs and when you do the math we only need like a $0.60 per hour raise (for the rest of our working careers) to pay off tuition and other direct expenses. Anything beyond an extra $0.60 is a bonus :).
     
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  7. Expat

    Expat Expat™ Knives Staff Member

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    I went back and got a Masters in my early 40's. It was part of a multi-step process to be something else. I think my situation is unique from most as I am independently wealthy from sticker sales.

    But learning and acquiring degrees and certifications are like hobbies to me. I enjoy not only what they can do for me, but the actual process itself. Most people don't like that.

    My suggestion would be to approach it the same as anything else: sit down and analyze your goals and see if the education gets you closer. If your goal is to make more money and education costs $25k for a $3k a year raise, probably not the best idea unless you have tons of work life left.

    Education is critical to success, college a lot less so.
     
  8. ESEE-Fan

    ESEE-Fan Member

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    I entered the work force pretty early, my dad owned his own company and I worked for him on the weekends and most of the times after school. My grandparent's owned a bed and breakfast, I also worked there on top of it. I got kicked out and started living on my own when I was 15-1/2, best thing that happened to me honestly. It gave me drive and a chip on my shoulder. I worked fulltime hours and went to highschool and graduated, barely though cause I sucked at regular school. so I went to a vocational school for welding. That open alot of doors for me, even though I never used it for a long while. After graduation I started at a small plastics factory that gave me a ton of different skills from being a quality technician useing all kinds of different measureing instruments and equipment to being a teamleader, forklift driver and finally became a machine setup where I would maintain, troubleshoot, and set tooling in injection molding machines. After 12 years there I decided I needed more money and less hours along with an education and a legitimate trade. the only way I could do that was to jump ship and join a larger company that my company at the time actually worked for. Kinda scary since I was 29 at the time. So I went there through a temp agency. Had to get my foot in the door, that was the only way in since I didnt have an education in the trades. I worked on the line for a few years, all the while moving up. I got into a job called small tool repair where I repaired all the pneumatic handtools and pumps, air filtration equipment in the entire factory. Its a huge facility, we have over 5k employees. Its a city within a small town... They have a couple programs where they pay 100% of your schooling. One is a 2yr setup program for press and weld where you maintain, troubleshoot all kinds of lines, automations, robots, stamping presses, resistance welding equipment ect. Then they have a 4yr progam for mechanics, electricians, tool and diemaking where you get your journeyman card at the end. They also have a tuition reimbursement program. I got into the setup program, I graduated 9 months ago and Im currently working on finishing the classes for the 4 year tool and die progam. My hopes are that if I get accepted into that progam I'll have all my classes already done then I can work on my welding technologies degree then work on getting my mechanical engineering degree in the 4 years so I'll have both of those degree's along with my journeymans card. I'll be 35 in acouple months, balancing school, work/overtime and a young family is hard (my kids are 9 and 6) but I totally couldnt do it without my awesome wife. She picks up alot of my slack and I'm eternally grateful. Sorry for my ramblings, but if I can do it so can you. I have faith in you. Also i wanna say sorry to all the grammar nazi's lol I fix and build machinery not sentences haha
     
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  9. Drew RedBear

    Drew RedBear Member

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    I was in my early 40's when I went to culinary school. I didn't have any regrets except I wish I had done it sooner. I was a single dad working full time and going to school so it wasn't the easiest, but I think being the age I was it helped with not only knowledge, but the maturity with study habits and just being well grounded for it. I did feel out of place there, but I wasn't the only older person either so that helped with that.
     
  10. chorpie

    chorpie Member

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    There are (or used to be) tons of grants and scholarships for adults going back to school. I'd definitely look into those.

    Money is definitely not the end-all-be-all, although maybe if we were all sticker magnates like Expat, we'd be thinking differently... I can say the 6 months that I spent in Los Angeles last year making 4 times what I make now were the most miserable 6 months of my life.

    To me, the whole point of life is to learn as much as possible while enjoying it, so if you've got things you want to learn, you won't be disappointed.

    Depending on what you're going for, getting certifications may be a good replacement for a full on degree...
     

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