My family is middle class, my dad only makes 50% of his salary which wasn't a lot in the first place due to being on long term disability leave. Im worried that I wont have enough money to stay afloat through my college years mainly and I dont want to stress my mom out and ask her for money because she'll need it when Im on my own. Please give me any kind of advice, money for jobs, saving, tips for spending, etc.
16 years old and I want advice for finances so I'll be stable on life even in my early adult years.
byu/InfamousMistakee inpersonalfinance
Posted by InfamousMistakee
13 Comments
This..
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23014006-money-master-the-game](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23014006-money-master-the-game)
and this…
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40242274-a-random-walk-down-wall-street](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40242274-a-random-walk-down-wall-street)
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May check out from a local public library; a larger city is likely to have it.
Possible to be ‘back ordered’ as many around may want to check those out.
Don’t stress too much, read through the wiki, it’s great, get through college – student loans exist. And then once you get a job you start the marathon
Look into CLEP exams. They are a way to obtain college credit for much, much cheaper than if you took the class at a university, even a community college.
You could basically do an associate’s degree (or close to it) for free. You can take those tests at any time and even online, though doing it at a school at a testing center is generally seen as easier.
Community college to finish those credits, if you need to, then transfer over to a 4 year degree. Biggest bang for your buck.
r/CLEP let me know if you have any questions!
When you get a job, be steady at it. Show up on time and do the work, even if the job sucks. If you can do that even for a few months, that will be good for your first job and set you up to get better jobs as you get older.
Learn to budget early. If you make $12/hour, figure out how many hours you’ll have to work to buy the leggings you want, or the game, or whatever. Learning how much money you bring in compared to how much you spend is a skill even lots of adults don’t have—and they wind up in terrible debt because of it.
If you’re able, get a job now. Create a budget, where you track money coming in (from your job, chores, gifts), and everything you spend money on. Aim to save some of that money for when you are in college. Save some for when you retire. Ask your parents if they have set up a college fund for you that you can contribute to.
Don’t ever buy anything you can’t afford to buy with cash, even if you have a credit card. If you need to save up several months to pay for something, do that. Don’t buy it on credit and pay it off over several months.
Ask your parents about how they budget. If they’re not in debt, they probably have a wealth of information to share with you.
Since college is your goal, make sure you pick a degree with good career outlook. Check Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Since you dont have much, I’d prioritize careers that you can use with just a 2 or 4 year degree. Solid picks include to healthcare (ex: nursing, surgical tech, dental hygienist, etc),engineering, accounting/finance.
Avoid art, history, theater, gender studies. Remember you get paid for what you can do for others, not what you know.
Prioritize in-state public schools, as its much lower cost than private/out of state schools. Lower cost means less scholarship needs to be a “full ride”. And state grants, if available, usually want in-state schools. Apply to multiple, take the best offer (aka lowest cost after grants/scholarships). You may get lucky and get a generous offer. Least amount of debt possible, ideally.
Assuming your in the US, your best bet is to win as much scholarship as possible from the university itself for those admitted . Less competition compared to those open to the USA as a whole.
For max scholarship potential, you’ll want to take the act/SAT as many times as possible for highest superscore possible (average of highest score made for each section), and maintain at least a 3.0. Always check the university site, it will tell you what they want. Some are automatic
If your family is as low income as it sounds, you’ll likely get the PellGrant, which doesn’t need to be paid back. Regardless of what you think you may get, do FAFSA every year early before funds run out. If you must take out loans, fed loans first. But seriously consider paying them off when you graduate, earlier the better.
If you don’t get an affordable option, community college first. Then go to university for last two years, if needed.
When in college, you can always work part time. Many offer [tuition reimbursement](https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/analysis/2021/09/16/top-companies-offering-tuition-reimbursement/).
Stay away from debt, live below your means. Invest large % of your income. Be smart with what you decide to do for work. Going into the trades would be my recommendation. Do this for many years (around 15-20) and you will become a millionaire.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/teachme/](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/teachme/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/young_adult](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/young_adult)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/)
Google compound interest. You want to save as much as possible as early as possible. Invest systematically; meaning monthly whether the stock market is on fire or in the dumps. Re-invest the dividends. Don’t look at the market. Just invest and leave it alone. A basic low-cost S&P 500 index fund will be great.
If you get a full time job every summer and work part time during the school year 12 hours a week you’d take home about $12,000/year. If you can actually save most of that you’d have $40k for college. If you can graduate in 4 years that could cover your living expenses if you live very cheaply with a shared room, OR continue working part time and in summers.
I wish I’d done this. Working 3 jobs during college was extremely stressful and the mental health impacts took a while to work thru.
I think you’re being incredibly smart to think about this now.
Study computer science and mathematics if you can double major. Start grinding leetcode as soon as you possibly can. You should get to the point where you are completing at least two leetcode problems every single day.
Your goal after your junior year to get an internship at MAANG or in quant. Quant is tougher but if you get that major in mathematics and do Putnam your chances are higher. Microsoft is a backup plan.
From there you should get a job out of college making at least 150k and likely TC over a million before you’re 40.
Automate savings. I read a book years ago by David Bach called the Automatic Millionaire. Basically use whatever tools with your bank to automatically contribute to savings, IRA’s etc. we all are well intentioned and mean to stick more aside. But few are so disciplined. Pay yourself first from each paycheck. Don’t think about it, make it happen with a pre scheduled arrangement. Trust me. I’ve been doing it for years and have savings I still can’t fathom.
Study hard. Apply for scholarships. Take classes for college credit during the summers (at local community college). Start off at a community college to save money and then transfer to a university for the final years.
Pick a career that makes money and has potential.