They're McMansions. I was told homes listed at $500k are being bought to tear down. $500k gets you a ~1200 sq. ft. single story home on about a 1/4 acre.
The High-School Juniors With $70,000-a-Year Job Offers
- Thread starter red02tj
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They're McMansions. I was told homes listed at $500k are being bought to tear down. $500k gets you a ~1200 sq. ft. single story home on about a 1/4 acre.
i heard an interesting take on that situation recently. Basically the point was...forget the dollar amounts attached to it - but historically, could a restaurant waiter or a barista buy a house on their own? I'm not sure it's a new situation that those sorts of jobs, whether or not they pay $100k in certain regions, set a person up for renting. That's a big reason I'm resistant to minimum wage increases based on the argument that every should be able to afford their own place. Making minimum wage plus tips 1985 in most places meant you were gonna rent and have roommates just like it does in 2025 and I'm not sure there's anything wrong with that. It's just not a career unless you're so good at it that you progress into higher end establishments where you're getting tipped on $200/plate, in which case you'll probably be rightfully in homeowner territory.
Want to live an above average lifestyle, then be above average at something average, or be average at something that's above average.
I work with engineers all over the country and even entry level can afford a house pretty much anywhere. Same can be said for skilled tradesmen, even in expensive places...There may be exceptions like in the San Francisco area but, exceptions. I talked to an HVACR tech from Seattle a couple of weeks ago...he has his own house, and was making $200k - about double what he would make here, and appropriately so since his cost of housing will be double or more. I wouldn't mind having the guy work for me but I'd have to pay him less, and even with housing cost he's convinced it would be a downgrade to his overall financial situation...as he said "Amazon is still the same price in Oklahoma". Hope is still alive though, he was really interested in how few rainy days we have in an average year.
Here is a nice story for you.
My younger cousin struggled all though school and developed self esteem issues because his brother is very smart. Well, he just squeekd through and graduated HS. Then he floundered around with crappy jobs for a couple years. I asked him if he would like to go to college and he said yes. Got him enrolled and 2 years later he was still a year away from an AS degree. (His father, my cousin, passed away and his mom was in no position to offer any real life guidance. So I did). I had him come down to FL during the summer and while he was here I got him enrolled in welding school. He absolutely flourished. Don't know if it was because he enjoyed welding that much or that someone cared for him and supported him. After earning his welding certificates he went on to robotic welding where he nailed that as well. Three days after graduating that program he loaded up his car and headed back north to his new job. He was hired by a company to be their robotic welder leader making stupid expensive tool boxes for a certain company.
College is definitely not for everyone, but guidance and support is.
I agree. Not to brag, but the public school system where my kids went is ranked around 400+ out of 500. Both my kids are off MY payroll, gainfully employed and home owners. It wasn't because of their schooling, but they had good guidance and support.
Most of the people I know that pursue a STEM degree end up in a related career path. Outside of that, much less so. Like anything, a degree should be thought of as an investment. If it's going to have an ROI in terms of income potential and is a requirement to enter a desired field, etc then it's a wise move. Otherwise it's a waste of time and money.
I understand why the previous generations encouraged their kids to go to college - everybody wants their kids to have an easier life than they had. It was never even a question in my family...college was just the next step of education after high school and was never thought of as optional, but fortunately I had the guidance of a dad that had the right perspective and had helped and encouraged me to figure out what I was good at, rather than focusing on hopes and dreams. Too many kids get pushed to go to college without knowing what they want to do and end up stacking up a bunch of debt for a degree that will never pay itself back.
I fell into that scenario. I had no real direction, and family just offered the shallow advice of "you have to go to college", so after two years off I went and pursued what I thought would be a generally universal degree path. Broadly speaking, I work within that degree path, and my field does require a 4-year, but sometime between my Jr and Sr year I figured out something that I think I would really enjoy doing, but I also figured out that it was more or less too late at that point due to career field edu requirements. I guess that's a cost of a lack of direction.
In the end, I did the college thing the best way I knew how at the time and did it without any debt. On the opposite side of that, one of my nephews with no college edu just purchased his 4th 100K rig for his welding/fabrication and machinery maintenance business, so business is good for him with no edu required. College really is an "it depends" situation and like you say, ROI and edu necessary really should be considered, but I'm afraid many don't even understand what ROI means.
I went to tech school during high school and landed a good-paying job right after graduating—way faster than most of my college-bound buddies. It's all about hands-on skills and showing up.
I looked into floral designer jobs a while back and it seems like a solid option. Class costs range from $20 to $200 depending on what you're going for—some of the short courses are cheap, while full programs are more. Definitely cheaper than a university degree, and a lot of people seem to land jobs pretty quick after finishing.
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