It sounds like you’ve got a good head on your shoulders, and will probably do better than most. I was terrible with money until I learned the hard way that being terrible with money sucks.
Don’t listen to your father. Debt can, and does, ruin people. I used to work at a consumer credit counseling organization and I saw people every day in states of crisis because of their debt. They lost their homes, their cars, were forced into bankruptcy, all kinds of nasty stuff, because they failed to realize that the things they ‘‘bought’’ weren’t really theirs. And they would come into the office and weep. They were so ashamed, so overwhelmed.
I never suffered consequences that extreme, but I’ve been to that weepy place and it sucks.
I was raised to believe that student loan debt is ‘‘good debt,’’ and some people still believe this. But I don’t think any debt is good debt. I think some debt is necessary, but never good.
To be taken seriously in my field, a Master’s degree is pretty much required. I could have gone to a cheaper school but I decided I was going to take a gamble and hope that going to a good school would give me a salary boost to offset the cost of attendance.
There is something to that. Reputation counts. I’ve seen the effects of that already, in terms of the kinds of connections I’ve made, but I’m not sure if it will translate into a better paying job or just more interesting work.
It’s still a gamble. Since the correct option is no longer obvious, pretty much every financial decision I make is a gamble. There is no way of knowing the outcome ahead of time.
I realize this may sound discouraging, but the fact you are aware of these issues should be an encouragement to you. You can avoid some of the more obvious mistakes because of your knowledge.
I think it is this sense of entitlement that scares me the most. You have this whole segment of the population who are essentially “useless eaters”. All they do is consume and ring up debt thinking that they deserve the reality show lifestyle they see on TV without actually having to do anything to earn it.
When I was younger I worried about turning into my parents, nuclear war, acne, animal cruelty and all manner of things.
Then I had children and realised I had never known true fear before. I fear for their safety, their education, will they get decent jobs, that some suicide bomber will pick a train with one or all of my children on, the list is endless. What’s worse and really strange is that the older they get the more I worry for them.
I don’t necessarily believe that anyone is a ‘useless eater’ their whole life. I think they probably look back when they’re poverty ridden and essentially useless to society and wish that they would have done better. Thats something that scares me too - regretting what I’ve done upon looking back at my life. Although I am confident enough in myself to be fairly certain that I will never be a poverty ridden useless member of society (please do not think that I am insinuating that everyone in poverty is worthless, because I’m not,) I fear that I will be in as dire a situation as some of my close friend’s families, or even some members or my family.