Everywhere we look today, financial gurus are telling us where to invest. The experts advise us to buy blue chip stocks for the long haul and remind us that “paying yourself back” means to take 10 percent of our paychecks out first and allocate that money to an investment portfolio.
If a financial professional were to tell you that an investment of approximately $20,000 could yield returns between $1 million to $3 million over a 39-year maturation period, would you invest? Who wouldn’t?! Now, the question is, where can someone actually earn such a high return rate? The answer is simple. Even though “paying yourself back" with 10 percent off the top is crucial in a long term plan, we often forget that the most basic way to really give ourselves the added boost financially: investing in our own education.
Based on national averages, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that high school graduates who continue their education will earn between $1 million to $3 million more in salary over their lifetime depending on how far they go in their education. The bureau provides the following employment earning statistics based on an individual’s education and their lifetime salary earnings that are calculated within the period an individual would work full-time between the ages of 25 and 64:
While considering stocks, bonds, or real estate as options for our investment strategy, let’s also remember that our decision to return back to school and invest in our education may actually result in one of the highest returns of all.
© 2017 California Southern University
