My Degree

FCXoptions

FCXoptions

I am looking for a little input from everybody for advice on my degree. Just wanting to see some other opinions really.

So I am 21, married with one child, and working on my finance degree at a very large local University. They don't have a top tier finance program so to speak but it isn't bad by any means. I just doubt it would have me at the front of the line on

I work at a small credit union as a Financial Services Representative. I do accounting work, budgeting, loans, and quite a few other things. There is a good chance I will be moving up to an EVP spot at the end of the year though. I have been offered the spot by the CEO but not until December when the current guy leaves and the board has to approve it as well so we will see.

My job really limits the hours I can go to school, I take the evening classes offered from 6pm-9pm. The problem is, my school just stopped offering a ton of the finance courses in the evening. So it is going to take me forever to finish my degree at the rate of 1 or 2 classes per semester since the offering is so inconsistent and limited.

I would transfer schools, but most around here don't have finance programs or they are WAY out of my range on tuition and I am not taking out student loans.

I was talking with my advisor and mentioned, I am not sure if I want to stay in the banking world or move more into trading (what I originally wanted to do). He said well if you want to get into trading why don't you look into a math degree and take some advanced statistics and actuarial science courses. Actuarial Science is a shadow finance program and covers many similar topics just on the math related side of course. He also suggested to take computer courses but said he thought most firms would be more interested in general programming facility than in familiarity with a particular language.

So basically I am at a point now where I need to figure out my classes for next semester whether the math/computer route or finance/accounting route and decide what would be the best for me. Just wondering if anybody had any input on the above paths?
 
Getting married and having a kid are financial mistake that you are now learning the consequences of. I don't blame you. Most people make the majority of their mistake when they are young. Most people don't mature until at least 25yo. Don't take this personally. You asked for honesty.

Having said that. It's gonna be tough for you. I'm not saying you can't do it but it looks like the stacks are working against you. You need to consider if you're aiming too high for your situation.

My parents immigrated here from an eastern country with basically nothing. Sure they have hopes and dreams but they also had to be realistic. They couldn't just go to college, open a business, or get a well paying job. Those doors weren't open to them. So they had to do the best they can with what they have. Which were factory jobs.

Consider that. I'm not saying that you should abandon your dream. But you should be realistic. Maybe look for a more realistic goal instead of trading. Even without a kid and a wife it's still ridiculously hard to find success in.
 
Quote from FCXoptions:

I am looking for a little input from everybody for advice on my degree. Just wanting to see some other opinions really.
More...

Hard to say specifically with any degree of confidence.

However... any work you can do in hard science (math, physics, chemistry) will do you well. I think a BS degree should carry more weight with potential employers than any BA degree.)

You're still young. You don't know where you will end up. (I started college in an accounting program...ended up with a degree in forensic chemistry... never accepted a job there because of low starting salary.. eventually became self-taught in finance.)

Though you may not have clear goal in mind at this time, it's not really a necessity yet. However, you appear to be on a good path IMV.
 
Anyone starting out in the corporate world should be aware of this old saying. In my opinion, its the most important thing that you can learn.

" When you get a new job and you meet a real shit head then make friends with him first because eventually he is going to be your boss."

And here is a true example of how the they do it.

While I was commuting 60 miles a day to work and going to graduate school at night and trying to figure out Cauchy Riemann Surfaces, this guy endears himself to the boss and the other higher ups in the organization.

He keeps his ears open and when he hears anyone say anything derogatory about the management, he runs as quick as a bunny and tells them. He does it over and over and over again.

They love the bastard and eventually he becomes my boss and when
he does,then brother, I'm in deep shit .

Even if I helped design 16 air vehicles, authored 44 technical reports and
8 journal articles and hold 5 US patents he charged me with "a negative
acceptable level of competence" and tries to fire me. Unfortunately for him, it backfired and they shipped his ass to the Pentagon where all the other shit heads end up.

Good luck with your career.
 
Quote from jinxu:

Getting married and having a kid are financial mistake that you are now learning the consequences of.....
More...
True, it took me six years of college to accrue two typical years of credits. Because I was married with a child and working two jobs. One of which entailed traveling. (before the internet allowed online classes) I finally just got burned out and quit.




I knew a guy years ago who had a math degree. He made a lot of money, before he lost it all.
 
1 to 2 classes per semester will take you 12 years to get your bachelors. Correct me if I'm wrong, but your credits for classes you took are no longer good after 10 years, so if you don't finish in 10 years, you have to start retaking classes. Plus an employer might look down on someone that took 10 years to finish a bachelors vs someone that took 4.

Also keep in mind, you are going to lose out on YEARS time to spend with your kid when he is growing up because you will always be at work/school/studying. Not to mention time to spend with your wife too. Are you guys only going to have date nights in the summer and for the rest of the year its all work/school/study? And what for? So you can have a house thats a few hundred sq ft bigger and a job that get a little more respect from people OTHER than your wife and kid? I would first ask yourself whats most important to you before you decide to change your life around. I'm not trying to be negative, but most people do not look at the big picture before they make major decisions in their life. You are young and with a family and as the man, you have realize that unlike before you had a family, every life changing decision is going to affect 3 lives now, not just 1.
 
I did not get married to I was 35. I now have 4 kids.
My friends who started a family at your age... are now going out to dinner all the time and doing cross fit.

So having a family early is not so bad.

However, the guys who had families and had govt jobs... probably out earned the non govt guys on average by about 4 to 1or more when you look at retirement packages.

Get a govt job with a govt which is not likely to go bankrupt.

You will have time for you kids. set up your retirement and then think about owning a business or trading when your kids are out of the house.
 
Quote from jinxu:

Getting married and having a kid are financial mistake that you are now learning the consequences of. I don't blame you. Most people make the majority of their mistake when they are young. Most people don't mature until at least 25yo. Don't take this personally. You asked for honesty.

Having said that. It's gonna be tough for you. I'm not saying you can't do it but it looks like the stacks are working against you. You need to consider if you're aiming too high for your situation.

My parents immigrated here from an eastern country with basically nothing. Sure they have hopes and dreams but they also had to be realistic. They couldn't just go to college, open a business, or get a well paying job. Those doors weren't open to them. So they had to do the best they can with what they have. Which were factory jobs.

Consider that. I'm not saying that you should abandon your dream. But you should be realistic. Maybe look for a more realistic goal instead of trading. Even without a kid and a wife it's still ridiculously hard to find success in.
More...

Nope no problem with honesty, I prefer it. I started off with a warehouse job at night and mowing yards in the morning. Then I got lucky and mowed the right man's yard (the CEO of the credit union) and that led to my current position at the credit union. I was hired as a part time temporary worker to fill the spot of a fired employee. I made it my goal to bust ass and get the job done and make myself as valuable as possible so they would consider keeping me. So next thing I know I am no longer temporary, then I am made full time, and now I have been slowly working my way up here. I think I will probably end up staying in the banking world honestly. As much as I would like to get into trading I do agree the odds are very slim and I can't take that risk given I have 3 mouths to feed not just 1.

On the positive side, I feel being made an EVP at 21 will definitely carry some weight on my resume for the future if I ever want to move somewhere else. I do still need to get my degree knocked out though.
 
Quote from peilthetraveler:

1 to 2 classes per semester will take you 12 years to get your bachelors. Correct me if I'm wrong, but your credits for classes you took are no longer good after 10 years, so if you don't finish in 10 years, you have to start retaking classes. Plus an employer might look down on someone that took 10 years to finish a bachelors vs someone that took 4.

Also keep in mind, you are going to lose out on YEARS time to spend with your kid when he is growing up because you will always be at work/school/studying. Not to mention time to spend with your wife too. Are you guys only going to have date nights in the summer and for the rest of the year its all work/school/study? And what for? So you can have a house thats a few hundred sq ft bigger and a job that get a little more respect from people OTHER than your wife and kid? I would first ask yourself whats most important to you before you decide to change your life around. I'm not trying to be negative, but most people do not look at the big picture before they make major decisions in their life. You are young and with a family and as the man, you have realize that unlike before you had a family, every life changing decision is going to affect 3 lives now, not just 1.
More...


That hasn't been my pace all along and won't be my pace necessarily going forward. I was just saying that I don't want to go at that pace but with their current offering that is what I am restricted to. I have 60 hours and just turned 21 so that isn't really that far off schedule in the grand scheme of things. I also take classes in the summer to speed the process up. I more than likely will have about 2 or 3 years left I believe if I can maintain 2-3 a semester and one or two over the summer as well. So I should graduate at 23-24 and unless I move jobs for some reason I will have 4/5 years of experience at my job to go with that degree. So hopefully that will carry some weight for me and allow me to keep moving up in the world but we will see!
 
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