Just to add to that some more- You hit the point I was trying to make square on the head. It's not about being in the military, ANYTHING that pushes you to the utmost limits of humanity will forge you into a strong human being. Steel is forged in fire. That can be a different thing for each individual, it was the military for me. It could be college for some, or a time you found yourself on the brink of the abyss. Nearly dying over in the asshole of the Earth was what made me see the light.
To WallNBroad and anybody else in your shoes: Just finish the damn degree! I did school when I was young and again in my 30's with a family and job, it was a lot easier the first time. Some people get more out of school than others but all else equal it's better to have a degree than not. And no offense but unlike Bill Gates it doesn't sound like you would be giving up any great opportunity to go back and finish - the stuff you are thinking about doing now you can always do a year later. You don't have to be into it. In most places I would think you can pretty much slack off in your last few classes and still squeak by with a degree. Just hold your nose and do it before you end up married w/ kids.
This is 100% the wrong attitude to have towards finishing you degree ... sorry, but if you don't give it (or anything else in your life 100%), just don't bother to do it. Speaking of giving something 100%, what is up with the married with children comment , you make it sound like a chore ... boy oh boy do I hope not! I
I was debating whether to drop out after my junior year to trade full time. I decided not to. It would be too much of a hassle to redo the whole college thing. I chose to give 25% to my classes, just enough to survive while I spend most of my senior year in college trading and making a nice nest egg.
You can make lots of money without a formal education - but then in order to keep it you will need people with degrees to manage it for you or rather they will screw you and you wont know because you are illiterate - so why not get the damn degree or maybe you might wind up like Mike Tyson blowing $300mil in 5 years
Its probably like anything else in life..its about who you know. I've been offered a few good jobs with prominent firms, and I flunked out (was asked nicely to leave) of the Unv of Iowa.
Undergraduate and advanced degrees require a lot of hard work. Lots of people are successful without degrees, but if you put yourself in the shoes of the hiring manager who has to screen through maybe hundreds of applications who are you going to select? Someone who has the discipline and commitment to make it through a program or someone who claims to have superior knowledge through experience, and who possibly got lucky. Training people to work in a skilled position is costly and hiring managers are adverse to too much risk when it comes to making their selections. PS. I am not a hiring manager. Jen
Imagine if one had bought Preciuos metals (gold,silver,platinum)instead of having gone to college. If one was now up +250k instead of owing -50k. Look at our society, totall failure.
Nice thread going on here. I will be graduating high school next year so its given me some good advice on what to do after high school. I honestly think college is by far the biggest scam in the world! Although I do think it is important to have that "piece of paper" I don't think it is at all necesary to being successful, especially in trading. There are more and more people in this world that have more degrees than a thermometor but can't make it a week in the working world we live in.