s/o College and employment

[wlillie]

Originally Posted by happysmileylady How on earth would you do that? If you didn't take the credit on your tax return and sent it in without it, the IRS would "correct" your return for you. I missed one of the extra child tax credits by accident one year and they "corrected" it for me and sent me more money.

There are multiple boxes you can check.

Mcp- not going to start the poopstorm. I guess we'll have to see what it is in 14 years. I'm sure it will change.

It is not an opinion: it's a fact that people with college degrees earn more as a whole.

[happysmileylady]

Actually it is an opinion because very few people with college degrees make more money than those who don't, the number are hugely skewed and overinflated by the top earners.

I wonder if there are accurate stats that exclude the Dave Ramseys and Bill Gates and such?

[happysmileylady]

Originally Posted by wlillie There are multiple boxes you can check.

I am for real curious now. How can you just not take a credit you are eligible for, without the IRS correcting it? I am pretty sure we won't qualify when we do next yr's taxes, so it's doesn't really matter, but isn't it considered doing your taxes wrong if you just don't put that credit in?

Off to google to see what I can find.

[hiding57]

Originally Posted by happysmileylady I wonder if there are accurate stats that exclude the Dave Ramseys and Bill Gates and such?

I'm pretty sure that bill gates doesn't have a bachelors. It's finance majors in particular that usually cause the problem.

[mcpforever]

Originally Posted by wlillie There are multiple boxes you can check. Mcp- not going to start the poopstorm. I guess we'll have to see what it is in 14 years. I'm sure it will change. It is not an opinion: it's a fact that people with college degrees earn more as a whole.

It didn't hurt to ask.

Nine years ago, when my ex left, I did my taxes for the first time as a single person again. I intentionally left something (I don't remember exactly, it was 9 years ago, but I'm thinking it was a Bush child tax credit?) unchecked since I was nervous about how my ex was filling out his tax forms. That summer I received a letter from the IRS addressed to me explaining that I had missed something or other and here was the check to go with it-made out to me.

I figured if they were going to take the time to hunt me down and send me a check, I should take it already. Only happened once. I think it was a one time thing.

[happysmileylady]

Originally Posted by hiding57 I'm pretty sure that bill gates doesn't have a bachelors. It's finance majors in particular that usually cause the problem.

You are right, he does not! I didn't know that. He is a college drop out. He did receive an honorary degree though.

[keonli]

I have a BA (graduated in 2006) and DH doesn't even have a GED. He makes more money than me, but I work for a non profit with decent benefits (my health insurance is paid for in full) and flexibility (ideal situation for a working mom, IMO). I could have gone the extra step and gotten a teaching job, but honestly, our economical situation in our state is in shambles. I would have been laid off within a year.

Both DH and I work out of state. We own a home and do not receive any aid at all. However, with rising taxes, it's getting a bit harder to make ends meet.

I didn't go to college to make a ton of money. In fact, I went just because I love to learn and I didn't know what else to do with myself, lol.

I want my son to go to college because I want him to explore his options. It's fine if he ends up like me, taking a job that pays less than a year's tuition at <name of fancy pants college>. I didn't rack up a ton of student loans to attend all 4 years (scholarships and grants came in handy) and I hope the same will be true for my child.

ETA: I also feel the OP's wording was a bit unfair. The economy is totally in the tanker right now. My local paper did an article about how a family with 5 kids was struggling because of increasing taxes, increased food prices, etc. Both parents were full time accountants.

[TalkinBoutMyGirl]

I'm ignoring the EIC part. I have a Bachelors and WILL be self-sufficient here soon. I just got my job a month ago so we still have food stamps for this month and DD will have Medicaid until her next recertification in December. I will report my income change at the beginning of next week (within 10 days of my first paycheck) and we will not get food stamps in June. After The recertification for DDs Medicaid she will get CHIP as my income will be too much for Medicaid. Yes, it's reduced insurance but if it were not available at my income level I could still afford to put her on my insurance. It would be very tight but doable....only doable because I work for the state. If it were through any other job there is no way I could afford it. I am choosing to our DD on CHIP so that I can use that $ elsewhere. My income will not allows be low enough for CHIP so I don't feel bad about accepting the help while I can. My plan is to go back for my masters degree in January. I'm slowly working my way out of assistance and an glad CHIP will be the only assistance we will be on after this month

[carriek38]

Originally Posted by happysmileylady I wonder if there are accurate stats that exclude the Dave Ramseys and Bill Gates and such?

This is a pretty close to real-time (March 2012) look at why it's a good idea to seriously consider higher education. Just the difference in the employment rate alone is significant.

That said, don't get me wrong; I've looked at the numbers, I know what the deal is...a Bachelor's in a STEM discipline is likely to create better earnings opportunities than a Master's in an education or human services field. There are Bachelor's & Master's degrees that are pretty much useless on their own, but they are absolutely necessary for the next professional or educational step, making them essentially "value added" degrees. And sure, my brother was making significantly more than me 5 yrs ago when he was doing manual labor w/ 1 yr of college & no degree & I had just gotten my Master's & was working as a mental health case manager...Now I make more in-hand than he does, we could squeak by on one income if we had to, my benefits nearly double my compensation package, and I'm in the pension system. He's still working the same kinds of unskilled jobs; he's not eligible for any supervisory positions b/c he doesn't have a degree, he's got lousy insurance, he can't really afford to support himself, let alone think about a family, and his body is already wrecked. He's 30. Over the course of his lifetime, he absolutely will not make as much as his peers who have some sort of degree. It's great that he feels fulfilled at 25 or 30...I wonder how fulfilled he's going to feel when his back can't take the work anymore & he's only 55, he doesn't qualify for medicaid, medicare, or social security, he's been turned down for disability, & he's got a kid almost ready to go to college. Educational advantage is not about a side-by-side comparison of what he & I make right now; it's about the big picture, the long-game. I know that this does not hold true in every case...there are plenty of you-all (& your spouses) on here who will out-earn DP & I...but as a general rule, across the country, across disciplines, over time, there are advantages to achieving more & more educationally. And that's not to take away from trade work. I come from a long line of laborers, carpenters & the like, as well as farmers. I think that those are great but largely dwindling fields & that there is a difference between a tradesperson who took the job b/c s/he didn't want to go to college & it was a decent wage at the time & someone who knowingly made the choice to become a carpenter, plumber, pipefitter, etc., & takes advantage of specialized trainings & continuing ed options that are available, being truly engaged in the trade as a profession, KWIM?

Of course, DP & I had a convo this morning about how we also are the dorks that enjoy school b/c we like learning...I told her I'd take college classes from now until forever b/c I like learning new things, but that I can't imagine looking at a PhD right now b/c I can't imagine a particular career I'd like to do enough or for a long enough period of time to invest that amount of time, energy, effort, and money into, nevermind that I can't see maintaining my attention long enough to research for & write a dissertation .

[isaacsmum]

Originally Posted by happysmileylady Now see, it's my opinion that this type of think is actually just a skewed vision of the "professional class" (for lack of a better term.) I think it completely discounts the massive amounts of "manual labor" type of jobs that for sure pay good money. I think it also completely discounts the wage earning aspects of experience. For example, car mechanics. You can start out making fairly good money (of course, depending on where you get your mechanic's job, which is really true for virtually any job) and get more on the job training and certifications, which very often come with additional raises and opportunities. And personally, I would much rather that the guy repairing my transmission have 10 yrs of experience working on transmissions than any 4 yr degree in the subject. There are also a LOT of front line/working with the public positions that might start out at only $10 to $12 an hour, but often use plenty of raises and incentives to try to keep people on because they are such high turn over positions. From years of personal experience in these types of jobs, degrees are rarely even considered, unless you are trying to move up to like managing an entire store or something. But there's still plenty of money to be had just putting on a headset and being the person to write things down when someone calls to complain about something. And, please, don't think I am picking on you specifically, I just think that particular sentiment, a common one, doesn't really look at the whole picture and is kinda limiting in terms of what a "good paying job" really is.

You may be right, that I am biased. I'll admit that. I guess my feeling is that while there are certainly lots of careers out there that do not require higher education, they can be harder to break into and to find a position where you can advance, get health insurance and benefits, etc. I think a college degree opens up a lot of opportunities. If my kids want to go a different route, I would be okay with that but I'd want them to have thought out how they're going to achieve their career aspirations. As I said in my last post, my mom is one who had no college degree and has worked her way up to a management position in the largest auto dealer in her state. She makes great money. Much better than DH and I right now. But I've also watched as I was growing up how much we struggled financially as she was gaining experience and working her way up. I don't think it's wrong for me to want to help my kids avoid those challenges if it is at all possible.