Is it better to borrow money for investments or an education?

[Anonymous]

In Pittsburg: I could buy a nice size home for 50k around here. I could even buy a 4-5 unit apartment if I searched hard enough with 700-750 return on each unit. That being said, why not live in the complex. Free rent, you're paying off your property and extra cash goes into a portion of saving or your pocket and your salary can cover the rest. I specifically put 20k because that's pretty darn low but the average income for pittsburgh is around 35k.

[Anonymous]

I will say because I'm in school, I do make roughly 55k right now if I was full time. In my experience, I was given scholarships and grant for my tuition but I know of many who pay full price plus housing. They rack up almost 50k a year for college. 250k just got a bachelor... I just wanted to have my options back then had my education taught me about investments before I decided to go to college. 

[wasCB14]

I'm not familiar with the Pittsburgh market...I am definitely bicoastal...but while you fret about wasting money on a college education instead of Pittsburg real estate, rental income from CA investments paid for much of my education.

[tacpoly]

I think a lot of young people go to college and grad school without really thinking through the tuition, housing, and opportunity costs. They also have no plan to reach their goals -- and some don't have goals at all!

That might have been okay a couple of decades ago when a good education was relatively cheap. And it may still be okay at the top schools (an English degree from Yale can still be worth something). But if you're a middling student spending $50K per year at a middling school, it would behoove you to question whether the cost is worth it. The calculation would be skewed even more if your major doesn't have immediate practical (read money-earning) application.

And really, why would anyone decide to spend $50K with no guarantee of a return? What is the thought process of a student taking a $50K loan then deciding to major in Philosophy? (And blaming their outsize loans for delaying their life?).

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for esoteric studies and even studied what could be the most esoteric, but I combined it with a more practical subject as well. Plus I didn't take out loans to finance my education and I had a job lined up before I even finished.

[Creditplz]

I went to a good private school 43k/yr and got a bachelors in International relations (expected to go into law after bachelors). My parents paid all my tuition and offered to pay for my law school if needed, in total in my four 1/2 years in college costed them around 185k.


I don't use my degree.... I own a construction company and specialize in drywall / flooring / installing kitchens. Although I made 203k in 2016 and 186k gross income in 2015, I'd still say school was a good investment! I'd take it over investing in stock or other investments

[Anonymous]

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@Creditplz wrote:
I went to a good private school 43k/yr and got a bachelors in International relations (expected to go into law after bachelors). My parents paid all my tuition and offered to pay for my law school if needed, in total in my four 1/2 years in college costed them around 185k.


I don't use my degree.... I own a construction company and specialize in drywall / flooring / installing kitchens. Although I made 203k in 2016 and 186k gross income in 2015, I'd still say school was a good investment! I'd take it over investing in stock or other investments

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Did your degree help you open up your construction company? If so then yes! I agree, college was meant for you... but if you didn't utilize the degree, you could have invested 185k into your company, your home or even your future saving. My parents never gave me that choice lol. It was always you're going to college but perhaps I could have gone down a different route an even more sucessful one. 

[tacpoly]

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@Creditplz wrote:
I went to a good private school 43k/yr and got a bachelors in International relations (expected to go into law after bachelors). My parents paid all my tuition and offered to pay for my law school if needed, in total in my four 1/2 years in college costed them around 185k.


I don't use my degree.... I own a construction company and specialize in drywall / flooring / installing kitchens. Although I made 203k in 2016 and 186k gross income in 2015, I'd still say school was a good investment! I'd take it over investing in stock or other investments

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I think you can say school was a good experience; from what you wrote, it would be hard to call it a good investment. 

Your experience actually makes my earlier point about considering a trade instead of going to college. If your parents offered to either spend $185K paying your tuition or giving it to you in cash, knowing what you know now, what would you pick?  

[Revelate]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Creditplz wrote:
I went to a good private school 43k/yr and got a bachelors in International relations (expected to go into law after bachelors). My parents paid all my tuition and offered to pay for my law school if needed, in total in my four 1/2 years in college costed them around 185k.


I don't use my degree.... I own a construction company and specialize in drywall / flooring / installing kitchens. Although I made 203k in 2016 and 186k gross income in 2015, I'd still say school was a good investment! I'd take it over investing in stock or other investments

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Did your degree help you open up your construction company? If so then yes! I agree, college was meant for you... but if you didn't utilize the degree, you could have invested 185k into your company, your home or even your future saving. My parents never gave me that choice lol. It was always you're going to college but perhaps I could have gone down a different route an even more sucessful one. 

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The value of an education isn't always tangible.

All my peers for the most part have degrees, I don't.  I have a decent career but I get flushed out of some jobs as a result of being "uneducated."  Not certain it would've made my career better, but it would likely have been different.

Also getting school done when you're supposed to makes it a lot easier if you have to change careers later... I'm likely going to need a second career, going back to school at 40 simply isn't ideal, and it'll probably be worse the next time I try.

I'd still suggest anyone that has a decent state public school, go do that, but if I had to do it all over again I would've gotten a degree.  Was a wierd spot at the time when Microsoft offered me a gig and said I had to take it now, wouldn't be available later if I went back to school... definitely of two minds on how that went down, but it was a unique gold rush event not seen after and rarely if ever before to my knowledge.

[Creditplz]

Knowing what I know now? I would still take the education , let me explain why...

As Revelate said, education could be used as a back up plan / safety net, if the economy goes down or let's say I was new to this trade and did not get business frequently I could walk away and simply go find myself a career in a different field that pay well.

My dad was actually a VP of a large construction company and they eventually went bankrupt due to no business come 2008 they closed their doors, my dad was set because of good saving, investing and working hard for 23 years. He always told me that education is helpful and now I see that! I sit in meetings as a sub-contractor for projects now with the DoD or GSA also private clients and they usually ask what college did I attend and it feels good to tell them.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't trade my education for anything because I've had many valuable lessons that will essentially set me up for success in the future. However, I do wonder whether graduate school would be a good choice for me. If I was given 185k from my parents back then, I would have bought real estate. I knew nothing about stocks and bonds but I could have bought myself a nice complex and prepared for retirement at this point. I would leverage that 185k for a second complex and double my cash flow, worked a 9-5 job and make sure my investments were being paid off and continue on that route until I was stable enough without a 9-5 job. I honestly believe that I could be making a butt load of money by 30. I do value my education but honestly, there are easier ways to make money and that's not by selling my skills to be a slave to a corporation.