Great work "poster"

[MAX-24-Dean]

One of my best life lessons as a son was my parents telling me that if I qualify for a bank loan for a vehicle (when I was younger), to come to them. They'd give me the loan, but with no interest payments.

Although my parents were cheap and lived within their means, they did love me and would loan me money. The expectation was that I would pay them back, which I did.

We'll do the same for our kids. As well as charge them rent when they turn 18 and still want to live with us, but save the "rent money" for them when they get older and more responsible with money and give it back to them as a present.

My parents always wanted me to become a better person then they were financially. I hope the same for my own children. That's the GREAT thing about America. Both sets of my eastern European grandparents came over in the early 1900's without a pot to piss in and were poor coal miners.

My parents did better than their parents, and I'd like to think we're doing better than ours while still living within our means and saving.

Thank you for your post, It's good to see a sane approach to helping children through life. We have done similiar things for our children and they have also returned the favor to us.

My Grand parents were from Finland and came to the states on invitation and employment by the US Government. To herd reindeer in Alaska on a rescue mission during the Klondike gold rush. Yes, they were reindeer herders that were poor, given an opportunity that could change thier lives.

Reindeer to the Rescue (U.S. National Park Service)

www.nps.gov

 

[ranger danger]

The GI Bill invested in education and it boosted our economy. Technology is disrupting jobs and careers, and those who don't upgrade their skills accordingly will suffer. I would love to see the number if 1,2 and 4 year first generation college graduates double in the next 10 years. It would have a profound impact for generations to come.

Sorry but, I'll have to call BS. I think the problem is to many college graduates, especially the ones who have the "I have a degree therefore I deserve to work half as much for twice the pay and be the boss!!" mentality. Do we need college educated people? Hell yes but, we need workers who can carry out the tasks that come from those degrees. My opiniun, we need 20% college graduates and 80% people who can then put those ideas into play. Thats what "middle class" is! People who either didn't want to continue their education or simply didn't have the skills for an education. Personally, I couldn't stand school!! So, I dropped out half way through my freshman year of high school and went to work learning a skill. I ended up owning a trucking company and made a damn fine living for me and my family. There are more out there like me than there are snot nosed kids looking for a free ride out of there parents or the gooberment!!

 

[crashz]

I have two gripes with what has been said:

- Education and tools are not the same thing. I like Mike Rowe and the causes he supports but I think he is off-base here. The truck, tools and such are not the craftsman. I can buy a nice van, tools, wire and accessories. Does that make me qualified to re-wire your house? (If you know me you are screaming NOOO!!!!)

- As another poster pointed out (4 pages deep I might add) Higher Ed is big business. My wife is in Higher Ed and I see the ugly truth of it all. Tax exempt big business. There are department chairs and directors of anything you can possibly imagine. Even at the state school level these folks make many hundreds of thousands per year. The Boston Herald posts the salaries of all state employees on their website. It's shocking. About 4 or 5 pages in (last time I looked) the governor's name appears. All others ahead and surrounding are from the UMass system. Director of XX, Department Chairperson XXX. Ugh. And from what I have seen (first hand) it is the tightest knit "good-ole-boy" system ever. Just with snooty people that think they are better than others. And who funds these bloated, overpaid elitists? Students. So to feed the beast, you have to have high enrollment, high tuition, or both. Fortunately anybody can qualify for student loans and even pay them over a lifetime. Who cares if Johnny can't find a job after school with his Liberal Arts degree? Not the schools fault and not their problem. They have their 100k.

Maybe I'm a little jaded...

 

[Sigarms]

Thank you for your post, It's good to see a sane approach to helping children through life. We have done similiar things for our children and they have also returned the favor to us.

My Grand parents were from Finland and came to the states on invitation and employment by the US Government. To herd reindeer in Alaska on a rescue mission during the Klondike gold rush. Yes, they were reindeer herders that were poor, given an opportunity that could change thier lives.

Reindeer to the Rescue (U.S. National Park Service)

www.nps.gov

I've got to ask... did your parents come through Ellis island and then travel to Alaska? That must of been a journey unto itself.

I still have my one grandfathers US "citizenship" paperwork from like 1907, and I think most people would have a heart attack the way it was worded by his pledging allegiance to the US and renouncing any loyalty to his "old country".

 

[airbiscuit]

Sorry but, I'll have to call BS. I think the problem is to many college graduates, especially the ones who have the "I have a degree therefore I deserve to work half as much for twice the pay and be the boss!!" mentality. Do we need college educated people? Hell yes but, we need workers who can carry out the tasks that come from those degrees. My opiniun, we need 20% college graduates and 80% people who can then put those ideas into play. Thats what "middle class" is! People who either didn't want to continue their education or simply didn't have the skills for an education. Personally, I couldn't stand school!! So, I dropped out half way through my freshman year of high school and went to work learning a skill. I ended up owning a trucking company and made a damn fine living for me and my family. There are more out there like me than there are snot nosed kids looking for a free ride out of there parents or the gooberment!!

Did you not notice that I bolded 1 and 2 year degrees? Technology is changing the skills needed for jobs that pay well, and those who refuse to adapt will be left behind. I'm glad you did well as a high school dropout, but I'm not sure that is sound career advice.

 

[Hay Dude]

I have two gripes with what has been said:

- Education and tools are not the same thing. I like Mike Rowe and the causes he supports but I think he is off-base here. The truck, tools and such are not the craftsman. I can buy a nice van, tools, wire and accessories. Does that make me qualified to re-wire your house? (If you know me you are screaming NOOO!!!!)

- As another poster pointed out (4 pages deep I might add) Higher Ed is big business. My wife is in Higher Ed and I see the ugly truth of it all. Tax exempt big business. There are department chairs and directors of anything you can possibly imagine. Even at the state school level these folks make many hundreds of thousands per year. The Boston Herald posts the salaries of all state employees on their website. It's shocking. About 4 or 5 pages in (last time I looked) the governor's name appears. All others ahead and surrounding are from the UMass system. Director of XX, Department Chairperson XXX. Ugh. And from what I have seen (first hand) it is the tightest knit "good-ole-boy" system ever. Just with snooty people that think they are better than others. And who funds these bloated, overpaid elitists? Students. So to feed the beast, you have to have high enrollment, high tuition, or both. Fortunately anybody can qualify for student loans and even pay them over a lifetime. Who cares if Johnny can't find a job after school with his Liberal Arts degree? Not the schools fault and not their problem. They have their 100k.

Maybe I'm a little jaded...

Good points. I think a lot of white collar people think you buy a truck and a pack of business cards and youre good to go.
Learning a trade is just like learning accounting. It takes “brain time” to remember the steps and procedures.
My greatest skill is framing carpentry. My next best is block masonry and concrete.
They take many years to master and still mistakes happen.

 

[Hay Dude]

Did you not notice that I bolded 1 and 2 year degrees? Technology is changing the skills needed for jobs that pay well, and those who refuse to adapt will be left behind. I'm glad you did well as a high school dropout, but I'm not sure that is sound career advice.

Yeah but he has no formal degree. He DOES have a degree from “The School of Hard Knocks”. Thats a free program. It has no term limits and no diploma is given. Theres also no financial aid. Im way more impressed with a successful person from that school than Harvard. Harvard grads get hired because the school is so “ “progressive“ or “impressive“. Hollywood and research grants from the government helped them as much as anything.
We have a great country that still allows the school of hard knocks degree….

 

[Sigarms]

Education and tools are not the same thing. I like Mike Rowe and the causes he supports but I think he is off-base here. The truck, tools and such are not the craftsman. I can buy a nice van, tools, wire and accessories. Does that make me qualified to re-wire your house? (If you know me you are screaming NOOO!!!!)

Although I can't speak for Mr. Rowe, I believe his one point is it takes a lot less money to become a decent craftsman than it costs for a college education, the return on investment is better for a trade education, and that we as Americans, tend to snub our nose at good craftsmen in their trade because they actually have to work and get "dirty" for a living.

When I got my first real "management" position 18 years ago, I was so proud I bought a $50 silk tie to wear to work (I was going to dress the part gosh darn it). I ripped that tie on a piece of sheet metal a week later. Then, 8 years ago with a previous and different company, the biggest complaint from my old boss was I didn't dress nice enough for my position even though my work was great LOL

Don't get me wrong, you don't want to dress like a slob for a new job interview, but by the same token, we Americans tend to believe that what you wear and drive to work somehow correlates with "success" IMO.

There was a former partner who sold his company to the company I worked for in New York, whom I got to know pretty well. Guy was multi millionaire by anyones standards after he sold his company and didn't have to work a day in his life. He still showed up at the office because it's what he did. His wife complained that when she went grocery shopping he would sit on a bench out in front of the store (while she was shopping for food) and people actually left him $1 bills because they thought he was pan handling. She was not only ticked because he looked "poor", but he kept the money people were giving him

 

[airbiscuit]

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well. '”

Dr. Martin Luther King

 

[MossRoad]

I have to laugh. My dad is so cheap (he can really afford it but doesn't want to spend the money) he didn't want to spend the money "out of pocket" on a walk in tub for himself down in our basement (which he really needed and is thankful for now that he has it). Talked with my wife, told my dad that the contractor offered a 5 year 0% finance option that wouldn't cost him any of his savings out of pocket, and he could easily pay for it with his monthly income, and he went with it. We paid for it, and he's paying me back monthly thinking he's paying the bank.

My mom who passed in 2002 is certainly smiling I'm certain.

Hahaha. You're a good son.

My in-laws for decades insisted on paying for things. We'd buy them a pop at McDonalds and they'd want to shove a dollar in my pocket. That kind of thing. Well, there comes a time in an adult's life when you just want to pay your own way, and maybe buy a gift for your parents or in-laws. Well, my wife works at a financial institution. The same one her parents bank at. So if they insisted on paying for something, we'd take the money and the next day my wife would deposit it back into their account. Now my father in-law was not well educated, never finished high school, and was poor in math, but I'll be if he pretty much always caught that his checkbook or savings account did not balance correctly. A couple times a year they'd ask my wife for help balancing things. And she'd blame the overage on them not recording deposits. They often had a confused look on their faces.