Making my money work for me, what degree?

M

Murael

I know there are a hundred threads a week about how to be a day trader and how to make millions etc.

I'm not interested in that. Im in my mid 30's with no college degree. I have a solid career with good benefits that earns me about 52k a year, that will increase to about 65k a year over the next 7 years. I have about 20k invested as of now, however I also pay $7500 a year in child support, so needless to say it is hard for me to save money and I don't have much liquid funds often, despite how frugally I live within my means.

I will get a 50% pension 20 years from now, and I would like to retire shortly after that. I can however earn an extra $2500 per year, which also counts towards my pension, if I get a bachelors degree.

So my thought was, why not get a degree that I can use in my personal time to manage my money well and help me make some smart investments. So I am not interested in being a day trader, although I would like to dabble a bit in stocks.

My question is, what type of degree would best equip me with the knowledge to make sound financial decisions, smart investments and perhaps some tax knowledge so I can maximize my tax efficiency, being as how I usually do my own taxes.

The two obvious choices I suppose would be either Finance or Accounting. What would be the pro's and cons to these degrees? Also am I overlooking another degree that would be beneficial?

I'm going to be earning an online degree due to my schedule restraints, and I'm also attempting to invest as little as possible in earning said degree, as I stated above, it only earns me $2500 a year, for approx. 20-25 years, that is only 50-63k so I don't want to spend 40k to get this degree.

All opinions, feedback, suggestions are welcome
 
If you get a degree, get one with the intention of helping you get a higher paying job, not helping you invest better. Even if you get an accounting or finance degree you still won't have the skills to compete with thousands of financial professionals who spend all their time breaking apart financial statements searching for companies to invest in.

Maximize your earnings. Take any savings and invest in low-cost index funds. Find a good accountant and have him/her do your taxes (should cost you no more than a couple of hundred $). To be blunt, there is little else you can do given the amount of money you make.
 
Murael said:
I know there are a hundred threads a week about how to be a day trader and how to make millions etc.

I'm not interested in that. Im in my mid 30's with no college degree. I have a solid career with good benefits that earns me about 52k a year, that will increase to about 65k a year over the next 7 years. I have about 20k invested as of now, however I also pay $7500 a year in child support, so needless to say it is hard for me to save money and I don't have much liquid funds often, despite how frugally I live within my means.

I will get a 50% pension 20 years from now, and I would like to retire shortly after that. I can however earn an extra $2500 per year, which also counts towards my pension, if I get a bachelors degree.

So my thought was, why not get a degree that I can use in my personal time to manage my money well and help me make some smart investments. So I am not interested in being a day trader, although I would like to dabble a bit in stocks.

My question is, what type of degree would best equip me with the knowledge to make sound financial decisions, smart investments and perhaps some tax knowledge so I can maximize my tax efficiency, being as how I usually do my own taxes.

The two obvious choices I suppose would be either Finance or Accounting. What would be the pro's and cons to these degrees? Also am I overlooking another degree that would be beneficial?

I'm going to be earning an online degree due to my schedule restraints, and I'm also attempting to invest as little as possible in earning said degree, as I stated above, it only earns me $2500 a year, for approx. 20-25 years, that is only 50-63k so I don't want to spend 40k to get this degree.

All opinions, feedback, suggestions are welcome
More...

Obtain the degree and get a financial advisor to take care of your long term investments.

Don't even consider becoming a trader and just shut down the idea as fast as you can, you got a kid to support and you cannot afford to waste time and money with a pipedream like trading where very few make it; odds very much against you.
 
No degree will necessarily make you a better investor or trader. o_O
(you have to learn and hone those skills on your own.)

Even if you get a business, or finance, or accounting degree...they will all more or less teach/preach the same thing...about buying a mutual fund for the long term kind of thinking. aiming for the typical 5-10% a year returns.

younger people should have a greater percentage of their portfolio in stocks, and older people should have a greater percentage in safer bonds. yadda yadda yadda.
 
Last edited:
I in no way have some pipe dream of becoming some wall street or day trader. Apparently people don't read these threads thoroughly.

I'm going to get a degree. I just figured I may as well get learn content that will, as stated above, "would best equip me with the knowledge to make sound financial decisions, smart investments and perhaps some tax knowledge"

I'm not that interested in making a career change again. I just made one. I'll be close to 40 by the time I get this degree and have no interest in changing careers just to work my way up from the bottom again, and NOT have a pension to look forward to at the end of the road. I'd rather make my 60-70k a year and not roll the dice on a new career that may or may not pan out, and does not gaurantee any type of retirement.

Let's face it, there are staggering number of college grads with this type of degree that won't even make 40k a year for years to come, so why would I want to put myself in their place when I'm 40 years old.

I'm just looking for a degree that will give me some knowledge about investing and managing my money well, maybe get a second income doing part time financial consulting for friends, families, co-workers, etc.
 
Murael said:
I know there are a hundred threads a week about how to be a day trader and how to make millions etc.

I'm not interested in that. Im in my mid 30's with no college degree. I have a solid career with good benefits that earns me about 52k a year, that will increase to about 65k a year over the next 7 years. I have about 20k invested as of now, however I also pay $7500 a year in child support, so needless to say it is hard for me to save money and I don't have much liquid funds often, despite how frugally I live within my means.

I will get a 50% pension 20 years from now, and I would like to retire shortly after that. I can however earn an extra $2500 per year, which also counts towards my pension, if I get a bachelors degree.

So my thought was, why not get a degree that I can use in my personal time to manage my money well and help me make some smart investments. So I am not interested in being a day trader, although I would like to dabble a bit in stocks.

My question is, what type of degree would best equip me with the knowledge to make sound financial decisions, smart investments and perhaps some tax knowledge so I can maximize my tax efficiency, being as how I usually do my own taxes.

The two obvious choices I suppose would be either Finance or Accounting. What would be the pro's and cons to these degrees? Also am I overlooking another degree that would be beneficial?

I'm going to be earning an online degree due to my schedule restraints, and I'm also attempting to invest as little as possible in earning said degree, as I stated above, it only earns me $2500 a year, for approx. 20-25 years, that is only 50-63k so I don't want to spend 40k to get this degree.

All opinions, feedback, suggestions are welcome
More...

Skip the B/A, just go for your MBA. An accredited university, Heriot-Watt, lets you write the exams without a prerequisite. You'll learn how to handle money and get an even bigger raise. It used to be 10 exams, and maybe write 4 a year. Used to cost $1100 an exam. Do the math.

If you're not sure, go get a book, like the "10 Day MBA", by Steven Silbiger, and if you feel comfortable with that, do the Heriot-Watt thing.

Cheers!
 
Accounting is what finance people need to get a job. Finance is what accountants do when they move up to a position of authority. Investments is just a small subset of Financial Management.

It really doesn't have to be that complicated. Just pick up a book on Introduction to Investment Management (buy used at a dime book store). From there, you can check the reference section for advanced study.

Here's the rub, a lot of the references in these textbooks often contain research using a level of math that can only be understood by Math majors. That means you probably know enough.
 
Again,

Not looking to be a "trader"
Not looking to change careers
Not looking to spend 40k a year to get a masters

I feel like nobody is actually reading my original post haha.
 
Murael said:
Again,

Not looking to be a "trader"
Not looking to change careers
Not looking to spend 40k a year to get a masters

I feel like nobody is actually reading my original post haha.
More...

10 exams x $1100 each is, how much? Maybe buy yourself an "HP 17bII+" calculator to start.

Cheers!
 
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