I was going to post something tomorrow about how most people don't end up using their degree anyway but tonight I will explore some of the option they left out.
While the list did include freelancing as a programmer and and freelancing in other specialties I would like to address some of the jobs/career paths they missed.
- I started a business in 2004 at the tender age of 21. I had help and investor capital. Within a year I was making upwards of $75 dollars an hour doing consulting for small businesses. What kind of consulting? IT. Yes that is right. That was one hell of a lot of cash coming my way. It wasn't freelance work in that it was through a company but it was through a company that I founded and was a part of. Big difference. Owning, operating and growing a business doesn't require a degree. That degree may help you wow investors but I have found that many of them prefer real world experience. Running a business is hard work but if you love what you do... you get the idea.
- They missed the recently popular Pro Blogger. Not many people can become pro bloggers, it takes massive amounts of time (so I hear) and dedication. Succeeding can be very very lucrative as Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net can tell you. Steve Pavlina is doing quite well with his blog as well. By quite well I mean $100k plus. Surprising that the NextPath article overlooked that.
- Winning the Lotto. Not exactly a 'traditional' career but certainly possible. Just like getting struck by lightening. Or spontaneous combustion. Actually I think that winning the lottery is really a bad idea for most people. Coming into money that quickly and without any understanding of basic investment principles can get you in trouble really quick.
- One of my uncles is a multi-millionaire. He retired at 40. Doing what? Investing in real estate. He is currently writing a book on how he does it and he is willing to help out his extended family members learn to invest. Score one for me. He started out just reading books, some of which I will cover later on in this blog. He took the time to learn to control his finances well and took that leap from learning to doing. Trust me when I say that putting up quite a lot of cash upfront can be scary. Four years ago he was making ~$70k/year from his investments. He now makes (from what I gather) ~$400k/year Passive Income plus his other active investments. From him I have learned that it can take a surprisingly small amount of money to get started investing.
Why did I go back to school if I was making that kind of dough from my business though?
A bastard of a partner and some fraud on his part.
I had a loyal group of customers who switched contracts to keep me on but I decided to take my cash and go back to school.
I did more freelancing after I moved but then took the job I have now.
Not nearly as much in the way of pay but it let me not seek out clients.
The time for that is over. I already started my third business.
Stay tuned.
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