Posted by Financial Samurai Comments. The Average Net Worth For The Above Average Person. I argued some point and disclosed my six-figure income at the ripe age of In true optimistic fashion, I interpreted that to be a guest post opportunity over four years later.

This post is for you. Now is the time to cut the crap out. If my parents showed me a site like this, I might have made better decisions during that critical time. You have a maximum of one semester to screw around in high school. I did so myself until I found out some idiot from my childhood had a higher rank than mine.

Quite childish, but it was the spark that lit the fire under my rear. Instead, channel your aggression towards maximizing Advanced Placement AP and community college courses.

Because these translate into real college credits later for a fraction of the cost now. Check if your state schools have similar guaranteed admission criteria. Unfortunately, their guess is worthless. I remember because my parents and friends all advised against it.

However, the petroleum business is a commodity business, which means there are good times and bad. The trick though is to stay within your state. Further, the ultimate advantage chemical engineers have is that they are not limited to the dirty oil industry! Another advantage public schools have is their far broader acceptance of AP and community college courses remember Step 1? After all of my credits were applied, I entered college as a junior and graduated in 3 years instead of 4. You can still accelerate your schedule by knocking out basic classes through community colleges while at the university!

Should I Attend A Public Or Private University? Depends On Your Fear And Guilt Tolerance. Forget working part time at Starbucks during the school year and instead, invest your time studying.

For example, I absolutely sucked at networking. I remember attending some welcome reception and walking around the room for 5 minutes before going back to my hotel room! As a result, I became a Level 99 interviewee primed for dominance the following recruiting season.

The perfect scenario is interning for a company you admire and receiving a full time offer at the end of the summer. Well here we are.

Lawyers, doctors and pharmacists can make over six figures out of the gate too. But when does the gate open? After years of additional schooling? Petroleum engineers can maintain a normal life. Despite the high pay, I rarely see anyone consistently working more than 40 hours per week.

Oil companies are concentrated in low cost of living cities. Houston, Texas is the oil capital of the world. How To Make Six Figures At Almost Any Age. I was blessed with market timing, geographic location, and an interest in the math and sciences. Oh, you thought you made it to the end? The final step is creating your own six figure salarythis time without an employer.

I hope to do the same! John is a well mannered individual in his late twenties on a quest to find happiness and independence. He is currently a W-2 indentured servant for one of the major international oil and gas companies as a petroleum engineer.

His goal is to connect with others and provide a practical guide to finances for those starting on their own paths. My brain would explode. They all wanted to go into management. Any engineers out there want to share your story? Are you happy with your career and the money you make? Who else made six figures before the age of 25? One of the reasons for publishing this post is to show that not only doctors, lawyers, and financiers make six figures soon out of college.

There are a plethora of other avenues to take. The First Million Might Be The Easiest: Sam started Financial Samurai in during the depths of the financial crisis as a way to make sense of all the chaos.

After 13 years of working in finance, Sam decided to retire in to utilize everything he learned in the business to help people achieve financial freedom sooner, rather than later. Sam is a big advocate of using free financial tools like Personal Capital to help people grow their net worth, track their cash flow, x-ray their portfolios for excessive fees, and plan for retirement. The more you know about your money, the better you can grow your wealth! You can sign up to receive his articles via email every time they are published three times a week.

Sam also sends out a private quarterly newsletter with information on where he's investing his money and more sensitive information.

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August 12, at 3: I agree with you Sam. I see so many engineers that feel trapped. They want to move up in the company, but it seems incredibly difficult. August 12, at 9: This is something I constantly struggle with myself…how much value am I really providing to the world by helping some oil company increase profits? On the other hand, I can rationalize that the world needs energy, and engineers help find it.

Most oil companies are run by those with an engineering background which may be different than other industries. However, petroleum is a specialized degree so the risk is being tied to one industry. August 12, at 6: Yeah providing cost effective energy to run the world economy is pretty lame — similar to baseball players and liquor distributors.

August 13, at 1: Nuclear Real Estate says. LOTS of people feel the way you described in terms of being trapped and not being able to move up. Engineering is the perfect job to suck you into comfortable misery, you dislike your job but you are paid well and have a good life so you never get uncomfortable enough to do something about it.

August 14, at 7: August 12, at 4: Interesting story and I have heard similar pay scales up in the North Dakota oil fields — cost of living up there is insanely low. However they are being squeezed pretty hard at the current prices and everything has slowed way down.

Most types of engineering pay very well, if I could do it over again I would have buckled down and stuck with the engineering path. North Dakota had a very significant boom and nearly all of that was tied to oil companies paying top dollar to relocate.

Most positions were temporary or related to field operations rather than corporate offices moving in. When prices and activity fell, unfortunately these people had limited options for finding work in other industries in North Dakota.

Perhaps the growth was too dependent on a single factor. Vicki Make Smarter Decisions says. And I swam fast and got money to help each year. I also got my entire doctorate paid for which was awesome! Not an engineer though — a teacher, but still got me to FI earlier than many!

My most recent job was college professor! SURE — fewer credits, more years of college and a crapload more money for the school and debt for the student. Thanks for sharing your story! Sending my son to your site today! Awesome, and congratulations on FI. You are doing a real service to your kids!

In my experience, school counselors both in high school and colleges do not put sufficient focus on the financial aspect. I hope you can spread the word! The MAD Consultant says. August 13, at First of all great article John, and thanks for sharing your story. What Vicki says about her kids resonates with me. My parents limited me to schools I could commute to. In the back of my head I always knew that was better financially, but it was still tough to think of what I was missing out on.

I still got by and had a blast in school so it worked out.

macro economy stock market and oil prices do meaningful relationships exist

Everything is what you make of it. I went to a private school myself which I paid for all of except part of my first semester which my parents split until I had better jobs. I did it with scholarships and grants. I applied for everything I could. I also worked hard as heck.

Shooting for 18 or more credit hours would be the goal.

In Soviet Union, Optimization Problem Solves You — Crooked Timber

A couple semesters at 21 hours will really help you cut down your time in school. I had a handful of business student friends that did this, and they seemed to have perfectly fine lives. They were even sighted at the occasional party or two, and were always happy.

You make a great point on scholarships on grants, which I completely ignored. I got a few scholarships, but I would have spent far more focus on applying for them if I were able to go back. DIY Money Guy says. I agree that my ChemE friends who went into the oil industry definitely started out with highers salaries. But from my perspective these guys are working significantly more than the standard 40 hours a week contrary to what the article proposed.

I chose the railroad industry and am now a mid-level manager. I have been with the same railroad for right at 10 years now and crossed the six figure mark a couple of years ago. I could have made more much sooner in my career had I been willing to move a few more times. I agree a persons entry level career potential really does start in 9th grade as they try to rise to the top of their class. A degree gets you a job. Your experience and performance get you to be the high income earner though.

I will say the workload for a petroleum engineer can vary depending on the company and role. If your Chem E friends went into planning or management, they could be working more than the 40 hour standard. Also, smaller aggressive companies typically like to work their employees harder with perhaps a bigger equity reward down the road.

Have you considered looking at other railroads? Perhaps you might be able to accelerate your salary if you consider jumping but I imagine the stability you have is a great factor.

I agree that the degree only gets you a job and the rest is up to your performance. However, if the starting point is higher you might have a better chance of becoming a high earner! Take a look at the executive teams of these companies where the Chief Scientific or Medical Officers all have at least a Ph.

I started in pharma back in the UK inmoved to the US in That move helped my wealth story as my salary more than doubled then.

Huge unmet need in so many diseases and the constant demand for more efficacious medicines will always require innovative young scientists to come to the fore. Advanced degrees are not required because the industry had a real shortage of petroleum engineers at one point. Interesting on moving from the UK…what were the main factors that increased your wealth by moving to the US?

Our wealth got an instant bump by my salary doubling and Mrs. And more generous stock option plans. Combine that with a lower cost of living in general and it became light and day. Although our industry is not cyclical that is not to say it is not without significant chaos.

We are actually advising our kids to consider chemical engineering as opposed to just chemistry if they ever go down the science path…. Hammered away at AP classes, such that i exhasuted the math and science curriculum AP Calc, AP Physics, AP Chem as a Jr, and therefor went to University of Wisconsin — Milwaukee for mornings my Sr.

This was paid for by the state due to exhausting HS curriculum. Chose Nuclear Engineering, but double majored in Mechanical Engineering as a hedge against limited Nuclear jobs. Nuclear is highly specialized so you can get a high salary quickly. Kind of, I went to a public University Cal-Berkeleybut it was out of state. Also planned my credit hours so I only took 12 in my last semester so I could focus on job hunt.

Secured job with GE amongst competing offers prior to graduation. Between my sports experiance and my high school work experiance, interviews never questioned my lack of internship etc.

Nearing this, currently k in annual profits from rental property at age Also, leveraged my job to pay for a Masters in Engineering and an MBA Feb completion to assist in career growth.

August 12, at 8: Which varsity sport did you plan that won 3 national titles at Cal? Was it Rugby or Swimming? You sir, are a smart and dedicated individual! To also be able to compete athletically at the same time as well is quite impressive. Thank you for highlighting the tip around not needing the actual AP course. My strategy for Economics and Government was to not even take the AP test! The universities here accepted community college credits for those courses which I did during one of my high school summers.

I never had the cahonies however to take an AP test without a course! How is the competition there and what kind of entry and mid level salaries 10 yrs experience could someone expect? Lastly, which part of the country do you invest in real estate and what class of properties? I am curious because real estate is my main strategy as well!

The nuclear industry is interesting because it is relatively small, and not exactly thriving in the US, but there are so few nuclear engineers, and the workforce is aging dramatically so there are interesting opportunities.

Which, if you are working s with 1. But you can make a ton of money. I have a friend who cleared k one year working outages as a welding inspector prior to even getting his degree.

This is the category I fall in. I invest locally in Augusta, GA. Closed on townhome 8 yesterday, with townhome 9 end of the month. I graduated high school as co-valedictorian, but will call myself 2 because the other guy took harder classes so deserves the 1 spot. I started college in mechanical engineering, hated it and esp. I got decent grades, partied a lot to make up for a choir boy high school experience, and worked all the way through college…full time my senior year…but just sweat jobs, no internships.

Paid for college myself. After college, I traveled and partied a bit more, dabbled in a few different jobs and ended up convincing a small software company to pay for a basic software testing programming course in exchange for about 6 months of service got that through casual networking inspired by a dose of nepotism. After a year at that job, I did a couple other tech contracting gigs, then converted to a full time gig with a pay cut for a junior mgmt job in exchange for lots of stock…which split 4 times in 12 months, thus the millionaire thing at This site is good inspiration for that.

My wife just told me to eat my bento box meal. Sounds like you are on an adventure right now! Did your attitude towards money, luck, work ethic etc change? And how long did it take to get back to the millionaire stat if you did reclaim that figure? Every time I got stock from my company I tried to sell as much as I could every year and diversify into other asset classes like real estate.

But stock grants as part of my bonus kept coming faster than I could sell. August 12, at At the exact moment my account came up in that Nepalese cafe and I blinked twice to make sure that small number was right, I heard bells ringing from outside the screenless window to my left. The cart passed malnourished children standing under prayer flags, snot running from their nostrils to their mouths, ignored, as usual.

I turned back to my screen and laughed — sold most of what was left, logged off and got something to eat. That was the year So, that answers part if your question…yes, my attitude toward work, humans, merit, fairness, money, work ethic and many other things changed in the years of my first early retirement…not really enough room in this format to dive into that, but maybe we can chat about it sometime.

That said, the wife and I reclaimed millionaire mountain by and are looking to check out of the corporate grind again within the next 5 yrs or sooner depending on how the global economic drama plays out. Oh, and yup — I also sell most company stock grants soon after they vest. I love the attitude! I can see it all as I visited New Delhi, a girl, hydra bod, and Bangalore back into thousand and three and then in Mumbai into thousand eight and two weeks before the terrorist attacks at my hotel ov visited New Delhi, agra, Hyderabad l, and Bangalore back into thousand and three and then in Mumbai into thousand eight and two weeks before the terrorist attacks hit my hotel oberoi!

So on the bright side, at least people are not spending money recklessly and are much more prudent given the experience of the past.

Recklessly and are much more prudent given the experience of the past. You write in a entertaining and adventurous wit you write in a entertaining and adventurous way. Hopefully still made millions and parlay those millions early into even more millions now?

Not exactly, but did OK with a low 8 figure net worth. Mixed results on other investments:. Bought a house, paid it off within a year, remodeled it. Sold off a few million worth to solidify an early retirement in late 30s. Thanks for the kind words — a guest post sounds fun! That is one hell of a career path. Thanks for sharing it. I did things by the book because it felt safer, but your way sounds much more satisfying. It just proves that with some craftiness and determination, you can thrive on your own terms.

The thing that stuck out to me was exchanging service for a training course. We use numerical simulators to model petroleum reservoirs and many of the software developers have a background in applied math. Since they know best how the tool works, they often become an expert in simulation which leads to a transition into petroleum engineering.

August 12, at 5: Hi John — thanks for the angle on applying applied math to the petroleum industry. BTW, you may have already seen my answer to your question re: August 12, at 7: I would agree with your counter full heartedly. Honestly, if I were to go back I may have chosen chemical engineering with the intent of entering the oil and gas industry.

They are paid a little bit less in the beginning but can quickly catch up with far more industry options. This has been quite a sore point for me recently however.

Further, Pet Es have essentially dedicated their career to oil and gas with limited options to go into other industries. The least petroleum companies can do is hire petroleum engineers and simply offer less money!

August 12, at 1: August 13, at 2: I would disagree with your manager. A course is typically 1 week and is in no way comparable to a semester of studies. August 15, at 5: Mech can easily fit into ops and chem can easily fit into res. Further, res exp is transferable to both IB and PE.

Ops is easily transferable into service sector and consulting. Jon Be Net Worthy says. They are getting great grades and interested in STEM careers, but this will be a good reinforcement that they are making the right decision.

Thanks for guest posting! Industrial Engineer for five years and then off to b-school to move into management and make more money! I did not crack the six-figure mark until after b-school unfortunately, but am doing great at my Fortune 50 company now. Very inspirational post and I would encourage anyone with high-school kids to share it with them.

Agreed, petroleum engineering is just one answer. The main idea is to get high schoolers to really think about the financial value of their future degrees instead of just the personal aspect.

Fulfilling a passion may increase your happiness, but it should be balanced by the unhappiness that might result from being straddled with debt and being unable to reach independence.

August 25, at 6: The only thing I will counter with is that there must be at least some interest in the field or grades and job performance will suffer. Adam and Jane says. Parents will definitely find your info helpful! We agree with you on public universities. My wife is the smarter one and she went to college for free.

My parents paid 6K for my 4. I think we got a great education. We started making 19K each in the and did not break 6 figures until 13 years later at age It must be amazing earning 6 figures at age ! Do you love your job? After in the same company, we hate our IT jobs now but it has a pension so we endure.

Thanks for sharing your story. Also, was there as much scrutiny between public vs. I make sure to stay grateful and remember that it can be taken away at any moment. The principle job of a reservoir engineer is to predict how much oil is in the ground and how quickly these volumes can be recovered.

This involves working with geologists and other engineers to build computer models to forecast production. The unique thing about this industry is the uncertainty of it all.

So a considerable amount of hand-waving is involved. I would say I do not love my job. I am far from FI unless I choose to live off bare necessities. I hope to replace my income by my mid thirties and am using real estate as my main vehicle.

However, I do envision working for a long time, but perhaps with a more meaningful purpose than acquiring money. But only time will tell!

Thanks for the additional info. Looking for oil is definitely more exciting than our programming jobs. Many ppl invest in RE to become FI. You are on the right track by buying bare necessities to save as much as you can. Sam has a KILLER diverse passive income portfolio that includes RE.

Good post, if only you had wrote 12 years ago when I was 21, I would be ringing on the cash register right now: It will be interesting to see what happens to the oil industry as the auto industry shifts towards electric cars and autonomous ride sharing. I believe how we deal with declining fossil fuels could be the major shift of our lifetime. The electric cars have made great progress, but ultimately the batteries are still powered by natural gas or coal.

Until we truly run out and oil price skyrockets, alternative energy sources will be challenged. Dividends Down Under says. One of my dreams is to build and own a sustainable business that I care about and can sustain my lifestyle. I imagine the day that happens though, it will indeed be all worth it in the shops open on anzac day wa 2016. This is impressive focus.

I definitely made sure I graduated ahead of a jerk from childhood. It was not, but it was one extra hair flip in my favor. All of my engineering friends are delighted with their careers and finances ten years out from college. They do interesting things for great pay. I will say oil and gas is definitely an interesting and innovative industry, on par with NASA… just in the opposite direction.

The scale of operations and capital investments are huge, the technical uncertainty and risks make things even more interesting…and throw in the global politics in there as well.

I wish I saw these post 10 years ago. But, I can make sure my niece and nephew knows what path to take that will yield them a great future. Lots of arbitrage going on there! Right place, right time, right interests, right school, right dedication!

Both a tale of hard work and luck. Most of the management in oil and gas consist of engineers. The main focus is on how to profitably and safely extract oil rather than trying to market or sell to customers. The oil business will have customers no matter what.

That being said, I believe your statement is correct. A good chunk of good engineers get told to manage rather than aspire to manage. I took a similar route only with Mining engineering. Investing buying stock in coach industries have a huge age gap with the shift forex salaries of senior engineers retiring or recently retired.

Can you say desperate? That is quite interesting…we have a similar age gap in the oil and gas industry as well. International tuition rates were about triple the in-state tuition costs so quite expensive.

These are countries that have considerable oil fields but limited local talent to produce them. They are trying to shift away from relying on western international oil companies. After finishing studies, the students had to work a certain amount for their national oil companies in return for the scholarships.

Matt Distilled Dollar says. I had a similar path by choosing an accounting undergrad from a public school. That is good to know you can break the k mark early in accounting. Are you still in accounting or did you branch off towards another path to reach that income? However, I recall some day trading requirements futures strategies emini my friends got into one of the big four companies working hr weeks and getting paid around k.

Is this accurate still and how long does that go on for until the salary begins to increase significantly? Yep — I started off mid 50s and it macro economy stock market and oil prices do meaningful relationships exist me 4 years to break k. The standard route is to work in public accounting and then branch out. Making partner also requires a lot of buy into the partnership shares, so you can think of that as taking on a mortgage.

I could get into more detail, but I hope that answers your question! I always heard about putting up with the grind for a chance to become a partner. I did not know you had to buy into partnership shares…thanks for the info. There are a variety of patent jobs that range from good money and a great lifestyle to big money and still a pretty good lifestyle. I am an industrial engineer turned patent attorney. In the patent field, you can easily earn six figures by age 25 working at a CUSHY government job as a Patent Examiner at the US Patent and Trademark Office no law degree required!

I worked full time as a Patent Examiner for a few years while I got my law degree attending evening classes. If can i sell american airlines stock decide to become a patent agent no law degree or a patent attorney law degreeyou can crush it multiple six figure income by age Some of the jobs are a big grind, like IP litigation, which I do not do.

I found an awesome mid-sized law firm forex.com ninja trader I write patent applications for inventors at big tech companies.

At the right firm, you can make multiple six figures working a reasonable hours per week. Multiple six figures as a patent attorney by age 30 while needing to morgan stanley stock broker trainee another 3 years for a law degree after college?

Not bad for hours a week. I spoke to a patent attorney when I was thinking about inventing this secret billion dollar product in my head, and boy was getting a patent or patent pending expensive. The whole patent industry squatting thing is also kind of annoying. And how long have you been doing it? I was a patent examiner for 5 years, and have now been a patent attorney for 4 years. The Patent Office is an ideal place to work for engineers looking to start a side gig. Depending on the economy, the Patent Office pays for law school as well.

I see myself at my current firm long-term, at least until I reach financial independence. I struggle with not seeing quick results. Any advice for conquering this mindset?

But do know that after 10 years of doing the same thing, you will probably get tired of it. Developing buffers for your financial buffers is highly recommended. A buddy of mine is a marine engineer who helped develop the top hat used to capture oil from the BP oil spill.

He and I share a dream of retiring by 40! The day-to-day work of a patent examiner involves reading, researching, and writing about new technology. The job of a patent examiner is to make sure that patents are only granted for inventions that are new. A typical day involves reading a patent application to understand the invention, searching for related patents to see what already exists, making a decision regarding whether the invention is new, and writing a report about your findings.

The job is way different from a typical engineering gig, and is a great way to develop writing skills that are sometimes lacking in engineering and are necessary if vartan stockbrokers birmingham want to start a blog on the side!

Another perk that I forgot to mention there are so many of them! This creates huge arbitrage opportunities — An examiner friend of mine lives in the middle of nowhere Vincennes, Indianaand is basically the king of his town. I would be happy to share my australian binary option brokers about how to make a killing in the patent field if anybody is interested!

Nothing is untrue about this post, I just have a different take perhaps because I am 55 and I have also raised 7 children of diverse interests into adulthood. First — i am a board certified Veterinary Pathologist and work for the pharmaceutical industry.

macro economy stock market and oil prices do meaningful relationships exist

A niche career, not well known by peiple outside of the field but i have loved it and it has been great to me and it pays AMAZINGLY. I followed my passion and talant. You have to have a reason to get up everyday and it may not be to earn as much money as you can in 5 years and retire — maybe it is, but then you still have to do something with your time. Second, I easter trading laws australia hired a lot of summer interns over the years as well as people just coming out of their bachelors.

Degrees from top schools do matter. Sorry, but they do. Not necessarily Ivy league, but we all know the to- programs in our fields and the best internships go to people in those programs. A lot of internships are gained through connections and connections come from professors and people known in their field so where you are in school matters. That said, going your first couple years ar a community college is a great strategy to save money and figure out what degree you want to oursue.

Transfering to a right program is easier and smarter than getting in as a freshman. My baby is going karachi stock exchange companies analysis do community college and occupational therapy. All found there way.

But if you want to make money — there are things to do besides be an engineer and having been one of those that did a bachelors, medical degree and post doc before I ever had a real job — worked fine even with the loans. I was the first in my family to acheive a graduate degree, paid for objectives of employee stock option plan with loans, but my niche career choice I found out about during my pathology traing way down the line worked out.

My advice — be flexible. Sorry, i can spell and write better than my post suggests. Should have proof read or not done on my phone. Long ago and far away says. I have several friends who were in the OT program empire livestock auction cherry creek ny while I was a post-doc in the chemistry dept. Also, Fort Collins is a nice town on the Front Range with access to all kinds of outdoor fun.

Its not far from Denver or Boulder. The people are friendly, and the cost of living is pretty cheap. Thanks for the tip.

By the way, instead of fast fi I adopted and invested in my kids — brought me imense satisfaction, personal growth and reward beyond anything a big bank account would have. I do appreciate you providing the other side of my argument which of course is just as valid. With life experience and 7 successful kids, I imagine you have a much better perspective of the world citic securities internet trading system myself.

I am curious exactly what a typical day of a Veterinary Pathologist looks like. As for public vs. The best programs happen to be offered by public schools. In momentum in asia pacific stock market chart other industries, the best programs can be those fancy ivy league schools and that may be the ticket in. I believe for many people including myself, the elusive passion that yields happiness and fulfillment is still unknown even well into adulthood.

In the meanwhile though, building financial independence can provide options down the road and keep you flexible. ITs not what you earn its what you keep aka Save. So learning frugality will go a long way even if you earn a pittance of 60K some folks scoff at. The first thing I did after graduation was purchase a new car.

I also try not to go overboard on the frugality side either. Is it possible to be financially saavy while still having an eye to a larger picture? How the choice of career or industry can affect the planet and our descendants? Have you noticed there is only one winner in a game of Monopoly, the rest are left bereft.

Thanks for the thought provoking comment. I would absolutely support dictatorship or socialism if it meant responsible management of resources, equality and peace of much money does mayweather make. But from history, we know leaders get corrupted or people take advantage of the system.

Thus, we all play the game by ourselves to fight for our right to live the way we like…at least for those who are fortunate to be in a country that allows it. Forex trading course in erode the flip side, is the world really a better place for our descendants if we stop advancing and go back to our primitive state, the way mother nature intended?

In regards to the the oil industry and environment, the choice is made by stock market schedule for columbus day collective populations of the world.

As long as the world demands energy, there will be a market for it and that may come at the expense of the environment. Without the consumers, producers will not exist. Fellow mid-twenties PE here! I loved reading your story as it sounded very similar to mine. Congrats on your success thus far and best of luck going forward!

Except for the petroleum part, this worked for me. Was nice, curious, and worked hard 4 Got a full time offer at same company based on student job 5 Made 6 figures very early, basic FI at 31… will be comfortable by The only thing to skip is the fancy school because most of my colleagues went to midwestern state schools.

Do you have family and what alternative income streams do you focus on? There has also been a large talent drain due to Boomers retiring and people leaving the industry because of the cyclical nature. The opportunities for advancement with higher pay or fewer but if you were to go into a management role those guys pull down almost k. Thanks Jeff for the additional insight. I have very limited exposure to the operations side and therefore did not discuss any of it in my post.

My understanding is these types of roles typically do not translate into the corporate office, which is more of the arena of this post. August 13, at 7: My company has a program to promote people into jobs at the corporate office. For me I have no interest in working a typical schedule ever again. The differences between field and office are night and day…I can see people comfortable in one environment struggle in the other.

Noah Money Metagame says. If any of my side projects take off, we might be able to move onto a more digital-nomad type of location independent life even sooner than that. What are some of the top computer science programs and does it matter significantly for finding employment?

It could be done with an accelerated version of my own path, but it would be tight. One weekend a month, two weeks during the summer. Initial training will be 6 months to a year depending on specialty. Take the 6 year commitment for enhanced college tuition assistance. Start getting a degree! Important for later bonuses. I should note this schedule only works on the west coast. East coast policing is a different beast. You may also think of getting a masters.

No regrets, but if you wanted to have that salary at 25 you can! Thank you for sharing. What does that salary look like without the degree and what kind of degrees do people get? No, thank you, John. It was an excellent post and one that got me thinking about how investing in the stock market without a broker could take a fastrak to six digits within my own career.

Before anyone gets too worried about where your tax dollars are being spent, my scenario day forex strong trading system domino works with the best paying cities in California, and they really do hire only the best candidates. As for type of degree, any degree works for bonuses and promotions.

The best would be a degree in a foreign language and concomitant fluency. This vastly increases your ability to reach that community and most departments will compete to hire you for those skills. Some situations talk about themselves with body cameras.

Hopefully without offering platitudes everything officers robot forex terbaik kaskus are on the table for observation. Regardless of the current issue, if someone calls, we will show up.

The suspicion and caution are endemic to the job, but once verified, cops are ready to help. I had an officer talk to me on duty the other day. He was visiting The City from Toronto. Stock trade tracker spreadsheet first thing he did was show me his credentials, not say he was a detective and ask to hang out.

Provide some baseline for officers to believe you, and the world is yours. So like John here I busted my ass through school though I never have taken an easy semester since Elementary School.

I always killed myself K, then undergrad and now grad school. I definitely agree on taking as many AP classes and college classes as possible.

Macro economy, stock market and oil prices: Do meaningful relationships exist among their cyclical fluctuations?

I did 13 APs in HS and 2 college classes. An AP class takes 1 full year and an exam you have to pay for at the end of the year. The college class takes 1 semester and usually the school district pays for best forex cycle indicator and the classes are usually a lot easier than an AP exam. Not only did I graduate undergrad with a 6 figure offer in Electrical Engineering, I graduated with a 6 figure net worth from working those internships and investing woot wootand obviously debt free too got to love full ride academic scholarships!

So if you bust your ass you black scholes call option wiki crush it out there. Similar to what John said most people at my company only work 40 hours a week. I work closer to on average but that is by prize money australian masters 2016 to learn more skills while I am young and is not required.

High tech is where it is at for sure. There are plenty of opportunities to crush it out there folks. However, be weary of living in the Valley, cost of living will eat you alive.

Was laid off 9 months later got a 3 month severance. Petroleum can have that boom, bust cycle that can screw the new guy! Agreed, take more college community courses instead of AP if they yield the same credit. I am also hot stocks to buy in bse as to what industry you work in. I suspect you may be an outlier! August 14, at 9: Yeah… HS was a busy time!

Schoolsportshw Ruger m77 243 replacement stock, Sunday hw am. I did that grades I was admitted as a HS student and the school district paid for everything — made it easier not having to worry about transfer credits.

Alright, so Offline form filling work at home in mumbai started doing construction work for my parents as they remodeled their house. They paid me 10 an hour. Then I started lifeguarding at 15 and did that until I was 16 2 summers. I used 10k to buy a BMW cash at 16 which I still drive to this day.

The car was a depreciating asset for sure. So I went into junior year of high school with about 15k in cash and options dfx 8000 10k BMW which was worth 15k but the market was falling out under itself so the dealer sold to me because I had cash and he needed money. Fast forward until junior year of high school and I got a job doing an engineering internship at a prestigious national internship.

Now senior year starts and I get a raise to 13ish woot woot. In that year I make around 13k. That puts me just under 40k going into the summer. I work the first month of school but then quit my job because the engineering was too intense to work and do the workload and expect to get stellar grades.

Then I get into another engineering internship for the summer. I believe I make around 8k for that. NW is k going into sophomore year. I get another internship for NASA this summer making I was a contractor so I have to pay the full SS amount. I probably clear around 7k there. Pushing my NW to k. Then the next year I start working a year round job junior year rising senior. I am ahead on my credits again so I work hours a week during senior year and full time during the school year.

I pull down around 37k over that summer senior year. I work that summer and save another 15k. Finish the school year and work 1 more summer and here I am.

Things to note — in senior year I applied my scholarship to do my first year of my MBA in finance at my university. August 14, at 2: Easy money is hard to come by these days. August 14, at 3: Most of my money was from pure saving and aggressively working as much as I could. I think I will continue this strategy. Lots of easy money to still be made from the day job and real estate: The market has me spooked as well!

August 14, at Jon, you are doing awesome. You were asking how to make k in 4 years. No need to take excessive risk at this time. Electrical engineers can crush it out of the park. Think startups and stock options.

In electrical engineering, low level employees get stock. I prefer to get all the connections in Texas! Low cost of living and no income tax! And the women are gorgeous too! I also worked my ass off during high school, went to a public university with enough AP credit to graduate in three years with an English degree gasp!

I went into tech marketing and was making six figures by the time I was The not-so-secret, of course, is that I moved to the Bay Area, so starting salaries are already much higher than the rest of the country. Another 3 year graduate and another way to six figures, awesome. Lots of high achievers reading this site! I visited last February and only have dreams of moving there…. August 14, at 4: I really wish we used adjusted salary more frequently in the US — including welfare, taxes etc.

So many 60 minutes stock trading computers, T20 B schools are graded based off average nominal salary, which drastically overstates NE and California B-Schools in terms of their value due to their typical placement location.

On a side note, while in law school, I also came across a few engineers that went to law school for a career change. It seems the competition is much more fierce to get into those companies. You did not list Apple, is there a reason for that? I knew someone who worked for Google medical billing and coding jobs from home in ky the perks sounded amazing.

The concentration of younger staff would also be quite a change for me. Chris Sleepy Capital says. Nevertheless, I never had a knack or interest in engineering. I always brag that my science class is college was geography, but I envy those that have such a cool technical skill such as engineering!

I am currently 24 and have above a k salary, but fall within the category of a financier. I work at a company that invests debt and equity into medium sized businesses. I also invest in equities on the side while managing my blog.

I had to work very hard, get very good grades and develop my analysis skills to get where I am today. I love reading sites like this to continue to learn ways to boost my income and to hear from other like-minded individuals!

Same here, I envy those that have creative skills. I imagine you need them to come up with those whacky deals to finance businesses, right? My wife and I have a very similar story. I graduated in with a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from a public university. However, there are definitely drawbacks to the profession. I have lived in 4 different cities since I started working you have to move where the work is. Also, I was laid off from my previous employer in April due to the downturn in oil prices.

I was very fortunate to find a job with another oil major in Septemberbut it required relocating to a different state away from my fiancee married just a few months ago! I can honestly say that the sacrifices I and my wife have to make by working in oil and gas have been worth it though. Thanks for sharing your experience. Sorry to hear about all the layoffs and relocations, but on the bright side you probably gained a lot of varied experience and perspective of different cities. Yes reaching FI is important, but let that alone drive you to freedom or boredom sooner!

Now — no beating down on the FI topic, definitely strive to achieve it! Start early, decent career, good salary, great savings do K max-out!!

As you reach into late 30s, early 40s, see the financial picture: Keep the progress going, cruise-control, and enjoy the ride along the way — you be on your way to FI soon. Do learn Golf, you know how to hob-nob with big boys or girls. Now — if you are more ambitious, go for additional streams: Hi, you can infact reach FI without these extra streams of income!!

Although, more dough will help your endeavors better: Enjoying the journey as much as the destination is in my view the most difficult aspect of striving for financial independence. Also easier said than done! In my opinion, the one thing you never want to sacrifice for reaching FI is starting a family, if you want one.

August 14, at 5: My stock portfolio is 8. This seems very doable. But we shall see what the volatility will bring: August 15, at 4: I have a relatively similar story. I am a 24 year old with a Computer Engineering degree. I currently live on the east coast, but know tons of college friends in silicon valley making even more although the cost of living is much higher.

I like what I do but eventually would like to start my own engineering company. I feel like this is different than what Sam was referring to with regards to dissatisfaction with the work that engineers do. Engineering is a pretty easy gig honestly. I work 40 hours a week on engineering work and occasionally work a few extra hours on business development. As has been said above, if you are a decent engineer in a high demand field computer, electrical, petroleumyou could make k right away.

I have job offers come in weekly and could easily make more if money was the only thing that I was looking for in a job. Having that level of job security must feel great and re-assuring. When I visit other personal finance forums particularly on reddit half of the success stories seem to come from computer science majors.

The ability to freelance or work remotely seems to be another potential benefit. I grew up in an oil country, and most of my peers went into oil offshore, etc. I personally have no interest in the oil industry; I like the tech industry more: My family does not come from oil country and I believe I was the only Pet E major from my high school. I followed this plan pretty much exactly, except I chose mechanical engineering, and it worked out well for me.

August 14, at 6: Have you seen that image of a person jumping over a fence because the grass is greener on that side, but as soon as they get over there the grass turns brown and now the other side of the fence is green. August 12, at 2: I majored in Electrical Engineering, instead of going the tech route mistake?

I went into infrastructure and engineering services. The work is pretty easy and I work no more than 40 hours a week. I sat in some classes and I actually love it. The PE license seemed pretty difficult to obtain especially since I ignored the FE when I had the chance.

Do you think it has helped get you further in your career? I think most of the potential in obtaining an MBA is making connections with your classmates. You never know what kind of opportunity those can lead to!

Interesting topic Sam, but it applies where you live, mostly, because the cost of the living ratios. It would be really great if you could do a topic of living costs with top earnings for different countries. I got in top 0. I was consistently top of my class with perfect marks, and it never got me anywhere near what you were making in chemical engineering. My only question is what is the problem with Ivy League Schools?

My discussion is meant to be very specific to the oil and gas industry. You will get a hire salary from an oil company graduating with a Pet E degree than an electrical engineering degree from MIT. Further, the best Pet E programs happen to be taught by public schools. A little off topic. Working as an engineer there will save you TONS of money. Free food, free accommodation, Free entertainment. AND you have no where to spend your money. Great for fresh grads.

Software Engineers in the Bay Area usually make 6 figures as well as a new grad, but usually half of it goes to rent. My GPA was so bad I was embarrassed to tell anyone, but one internship landed me another, then landed me a full time job, and now I could go where ever I want.

There were also thoughts of working at McDs or a sales rep at the mall. The million dollar question is when. Eventually, supply will run low as the easy oil gets consumed.

As the shortage causes the price to spike, oil companies will again invest in more difficult oil projects because the economics make sense again. Ideally…companies should be continually investing so prices are stable but short term financial targets always seem to be paramount.

As oil truly runs out, I believe economics will spur investment into alternative energy rather than politicians or environmentalists. As much as people may hate Big Oil, they are the ones best positioned to start the process. They will have the capital from record oil profits. Most of all, implementing gigantic capital projects has been their bread and butter. Sorry, this is probably more than you asked for.

As someone that works offshore. Perhaps I should start a blog too. I basically followed the same plan. Chose mechanical engineering Colorado school of mines. My wife is in a different field which diversifies our income…plus we run a profitable blog where I get to exercise my business muscles! Following a plan like this is the key to getting ahead early in life.

I liked your post. My grades were poor, too much lack of focus the first two years of undergrad so then did an undergrad research position and co-published a paper to help me get a scholarship into grad school.

Now I love learning about new businesses and leading people to achieve good business outcomes. It makes me a better investor too. At age 43 I am entry level FI with a young family but am still working and enjoy it as of now. Make sure you take time to smell the roses along the way! Awesome, thanks for the story. I hope to also find a real passion in my work…I imagine it makes it easier to smell the roses: The major airlines are facing a tremendous shortage of pilots in the coming decade and for most that is due to the huge looming wave of mandatory retirements.

That means not only will there be incredible demand for new pilots, but those who get hired in the next few years will move up the seniority lists very fast and enjoy the commensurate benefits of seniority higher pay, more days off, more vacation, etc far sooner than those of us who entered the industry twenty years ago.

And life at a major airline can be pretty good. And that is without a requirement for an advanced degree; a four-year degree from any accredited institution gets you in the door. Of course there are some drawbacks. But just as with college tuition, there are loans available to help pay for flying education. And one can flight instruct part-time while attending college to not only help pay for classes, but also gain valuable flight experience.

Obviously the military, either active duty or national guard, is another potential option for defraying the costs of flight training. Brian, thanks for posting this. What are the chances for a 30 year old with no experience? How long does it take to reach commercial airline pilot, and do people lose their enjoyment in flying during that? As you mention, flight school and the cost to learn has always been a barrier.

Are there such things as scholarships or mainly just loans? August 24, at 8: Hi John, 30 years old with no experience is no problem. As for losing the enjoyment…flying for a living is like any other job.

But of course it is very different than a typical desk job and it certainly affords one plenty of time off to pursue other interests if one chooses.

Anyone starting now and taking the civilian path to a flying job needs to be prepared to make a hefty initial investment. Also, for those with prior military service, the GI Bill can be used for flight training. Fantastic, thanks for sharing your story John! I am curious, you talk about UT a lot, are you by any chance from UT or in the Texas area?

August 13, at 4: It worked for me and it was worth it. Absolutely agree with you that internships are the key. While new petroleum engineers might be in danger in the short term, chemical engineers should still be fine.

macro economy stock market and oil prices do meaningful relationships exist

I imagine after spending years in engineering, the hardest thing to do will be walking away from a consistent income to do something you find more fulfillment in.

August 13, at 5: I am indeed from Texas and attended UT Austin. Is the bias that obvious? It is a hard time for all employees tied to oil and gas. The ones who have made it through though will retire with unbelievable financial security. August 13, at 6: It seems like you no longer want to work so much and are trying to break free ASAP in your mid-to-late 20s?

If so, why do you think you burned out so quickly from petro engineering, especially if it only takes you 40 hours a week? Why not just work as a petro engineer for longer? What exactly does a petro engineer do? Can I do what you do?

How much of the job can be learned on the job? What components of the job do you think are fun? The goal is building alternate income streams and optionality rather than trying to quit early. I think that would be an insult to everyone working more hours than me with perhaps less pay. Not to mention those in actual physically demanding jobs. I have extra energy to burn and am making moves to explore working in the banking side of things. Acquisition and merger activity is expected to pick up with smaller oil companies struggling.

Not to be delusional, but all the things you said about petroleum engineering do not apply. I would say you could not do what I do without learning about fluid mechanics.

A very large part of the job is using sparse data to weave together a story using engineering principles. A petroleum engineer is responsible for determining how much oil is in the ground and forecast how fast it can be produced through wells. Much of the time is spent building computer models of the underground oil reservoirs and justifying to management that your predictions are reasonable.

I say models, but truthfully, an oil reservoir is not something that can be automated and predicted with high certainty. And every single oilfield is different than the next one. You can press buttons and get a number, but without knowledge of the underlying physics and experience of theory vs.

For example, when mechanical engineers design parts of an airplane, the process can be tested and refined before production and sales. In the oilfield, companies are drilling up to 30, ft where the reservoir will never be seen by anyone. Yet, engineers must still construct models based on a few well points in the ground. Imagine filling in the entire map of San Francisco with just 4 known street intersections.

Each person geologists, other engineers, economics has their part and supports each other. This is probably a lot more than you asked for, but I wanted to hit all your questions. Perhaps this can help some aspiring engineers make their career choice. Thank you for the opportunity to reach so many people at once. I really enjoyed interacting with all your readers. August 13, at 9: Sam, Long time reader, first time ever commenting!

State school, liberal arts and sciences degree. As you can see from my abbreviated history above, I hustled. Goal is to post once every days, and move that to once a week, soon. The site is very niche and as far as I can tell very unique. Well, maybe the end result in my mind after years of posting is! I in no way need it; just part of my DNA hustle. Keep writing great material and occasionally introducing us to great guest posters. August 15, at 1: I disagree with step 2.

Do not choose Petroleum Engineering as a first degree. One can always do this for a masters degree instead. Best to choose mechanical engineering. Most of my professors in grad school in the Petroleum engineering department were mechanical engineers. August 15, at 7: It is a risk vs. Chem E is treated nearly like Pet E most of the time. They do however differentiate between mechanical in terms of pay…unless you get a masters like you say.

August 16, at 2: Geologists typically have to get a M. I also enjoy an awesome work-life balance, hardly ever having to work more than 40 hours per week. I love my job but the roller-coaster ride of commodity prices can be disheartening at times.

August 15, at I work for the US government as an Engineer degree is mechanical engineering. The ultimate safe route. I can retire at For every k, I pay 26 to 38 dollars. I just hit 8 years of working for the man, I make just below k, will be hitting it next year, with enough career growth for another 20 years. Humble brag, my work has saved lives. Engineering was the safe route, working for the government an even safer route.

Have enough money to live off the interest for retirement. Have a nice pot of money to pass on to my children. August 15, at 8: Nice post John and great to see your stuff here on FS!

I have a similar path as the one you described just for biomedical engineering. August 16, at I have a Bachelors and Masters in Chemical Engineering and live in the great energy capital of the world.

Graduate school was free through research and my undergrad degree cost less than my annual salary — paid for by bank of daddy. My house costs less than my annual salary. If you like math, listen to the writer. I made about k at age 25 working less than 40 hrs and about 4 weeks off. It was my first gig and a non engineering degree. I graduated with a Masters and now make much more simply because i work more hrs. Im in the healthcare field. Job is tolerable and hrs are flexible with a high level of freedom and flexibility.

My path was different from most as i fell into the profession, rather than having a concrete plan. I am blessed I suppose. I have a friend who gruduated with a Chemical Engineering degree and has not worked in the field since graduating from a reputable Uni about 4 yrs ago.

Last we spoke, he was working night shift at Dunkin Donuts. He tells me he cant find any work in the field. Whats up with that? He is in NYC. August 17, at 7: Is he willing to relocate or is he looking for a specific type of job? August 17, at 9: I think you are on the right track about his willingness, or lack thereof to relocate. Knowing him, he is quite passive and possibly only limiting himself to local options. He has interned and maintained good grades.

Despite his lack of ambition and possible reluctance to relocate, I am still surprised that he is having such a hard time finding something local as if there are no jobs in NY in Chem Eng field at all. Any advise I can pass on to my passive friend other than relocating? August 17, at Middle Class Millionaire says. August 24, at 6: I did things a little differently but ended up in a similar boat. I got married when I was My wife went to nursing school 2 year program at the local community college and I went into the police academy 6 month program.

With this money we have been investing mostly into cash flow real estate and a few other investments. As time passes, our growth is beginning to become exponential kind of like how compound interest works. We live in a modest 3 bed 2 bath house that is about 1, square feet.

My point is, we know better than to spend our money on luxuries at this early stage in our financial careers. The best part is that there is no reason that anyone cannot do this.

Even if you are still flying solo…. August 31, at 2: I have a very similar story. My wife and I live in our 2 family, and rent out the basement apartment to help with the mortgage. February 1, at 1: Both being the top 2 paid jobs right out of college. My plan is to make as much money as I can and then quit after years so I can use the money and go all out on my future business.

According to my geographics, when it comes to making the most money right out college, what would you choose if you were in my place? A job as an investment banker or petroleum engineer? February 2, at 2: Sorry I meant to respond to your comment but instead I started a new reply below.

February 1, at 9: If you do well and stay in the industry you could make an extremely high income…much more potential. Might have to go to a prestigious school and be at the top of your class however. As a Pet E. This gives you time to work on other businesses. I would be cautious about your assumptions on getting out after years unless you have some kind of funding from other sources.

February 3, at 5: Now, I will be attending UW-Madison, which is not a good school for Pet E. However, it is a top 25 school for IB. Nonetheless, now the decision is between Software Engineer and IB. Wallstreetplayboys states that Facebook, Google and IBM will still be around in a decade and having a set of skills that are difficult to learn will help land positions at major technology companies. Negatively, this segment will also be cut between the haves and have nots.

If the sector goes into secular decline, either you will be fired or you will get lucky and be a multi-industry expert as spaces consolidate. Long-story short, there are really only two paths that make sense.

A major bank within a good sector either the bank is good at getting on deals or they are expanding and secondly within advisory. By the time I graduate collegewill IB or SE be in higher demand?

If you were in my shoes, what would you do? February 4, at No one me included can predict which industry will be in high demand and or which career will be the right fit for you individually. Income potential is important for picking your degree but make sure you have enough interest to last through the school work and the yrs of work that come after it to make the degree worth the time and cost regardless of who is paying.

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