@will,

>I have a ton of respect for Doctors and Lawyers - they are just not the unique high-paying stalwart positions that they used to be.

I agree, today there is more liquidity in the job market. A good software developer can do just as well as a good doctor. But that doesn't discredit the reward structure that still exists for traditionally respected careers. Keep in mind i'm simply arguing againt your point that Doctors and Lawyers are the next "second rate income-producing jobs".

In terms of financial gain, i'm mostly considering salary and bonus, not stock options and getting in on the ground floor. Partially because I see it as the luck of the draw, not something everyone in the tech industry will get to experience (in 2001 could most people predict google's success?).

>it's not uncommon for a star programmer to be less than 25, making over $100k. 

Its also not uncommon for a star lawyers at 25 to make over 100k.

I think we're comparing apples to apples. If someone is successful they most likely are like to be financially reward regardless of their actual job.

Yes, in software, a big win can bear a REALLY BIG WIN, but at a certain is 100mil really that much better than 15mil? You and your family is not starving either way.

You really dont pay houses off, you never actually own houses, even if you think you do.  Uncle Sam owns your house and if you dont think so then try not paying your property tax for a couple years.  You will see who really owns your house.

If you renovate to make your house worth more, the tax man wants a bigger cut.  If you dont renovate your neighbors get pissed off because you are dragging down their house values.  Lose lose situation.  Not to mention 99% of people lose money long term on their houses and dont even know it because they are forgetting to figure in the hidden costs of home ownership.

Sure you could show a buy figure of 200k and a sell figure of 250k and call it 50k to the plus, but if during the time you lived there you probably paid 35k in property taxes (at least), you probably spent 10k trying to fix it up how you want it, such as new carpeting or paint on the walls different from the color that was there when you bought it.  You probably spent a significant number of hours fixing holes in the wall and things like that if you have kids.  All that stuff adds up and usually it doesnt add up to a profit.

Heck, if most people counted back their house value to their purchase date and just subtracted off inflation they would be in the negative even without counting property tax.

For the record, at moderate to low 3% inflation rate a 200k house will be 232k in 5 years.  Thats today's dollars.  That 32k difference goes away entirely during profit calculations, its not profit thats just what it has to be worth for you to break even dollar for dollar in purchasing power based on buy and sell prices.

Counting property taxes and inflation together, nobody wins in real estate.

As far as going to college, getting an education, and getting a degree.  There is a big difference between those.  The most important in my mind is the second one.  The people who are really going to make money out there are the ones with the right knowledge, not the ones with the right credentials.

Degrees matter most as employees, and being an employee is hardly a good way to get ahead in life.

For the record, I agree with the three initial statements.  I think college can be useful, but only to the extent that it makes you learn.  If you are going to learn on your own at a faster rate than what you would in college, or if you are going to go to college and do additional learning on the side, or whatever you do to learn faster than your peers then you will get ahead faster than they will.

Secondly, steady jobs suck.  Being an employee is not the fast track to success, the real success is in the entrepreneurial field.  Get a job that lets you work off comission or salary plus commission bonuses.  Spend some years early on learning sales, marketing, customer service, and things like that as a consultant for a company. 

After that break off and take what you know and start a business from scratch based on an already successful plan and a list of clients that you built up over the years.  Afterward go hire some people and train them to do what you got trained to do.  If you follow this path correctly then there is no reason you should not be worth many millions and to be able to retire early if you want.

As for needing to save for retirement, its still important.  More important however is knowing how to invest in your future.  Those that understand investing just plain have better futures than those that dont.

Take Warren Buffett for example, he understands investing very well, and he never made more than 100k a year salary in the last 50 years.  His knowledge of investing has allowed him to invest properly and he has turned his stocks that were originally worth $100 or less into stocks that are worth $100k or more - each -, thats a yearly mid 20s per year growth rate - sustained.  Now he is worth 15 billion, he had 50 billion but committed 35b of it to charity.

Most people making 500k a year will not come close to 50 bil by the time they die, much less while they are still alive and well.

There are only two ways to get that much money, one is by owning businesses and the other is by investing correctly aka owning businesses (buying a stock means you are part owner of the company).

Note, you cant just buy any stock and hope for those results, if you want mid 20s percent per year sustained you absolutely must be able to do value investing.  In other words you must be able to judge when $1 of value is selling for 50 cents in the market place and you must be willing to go all in on that singular opportunity.

Diversifying will not allow you to sustain mid 20s percent every year for more than about a 2 year stretch, nowhere near a 60 year investment career.

Raiddinn

Wow!  This article hit a lot of nerves.  I'm a boomer... here's my take:
1. college (any type of higher learning) will always be important.  Grassroots research is the basis of many businesses, and can only be done with a college degree.
2. steady jobs are gone... the technology turns over very quickly now... life long jobs no longer exist (except in the government  :^)

3. people need to save for a rainy day... you never know when it will come (or go)

4. my car is 11 years old (but, again, I'm a boomer)

5. my house is paid off (but, again, I'm a boomer)

6. retirement... I hear ya, I actually like my work (software)... I may work until I croak... I also enjoy interacting with others, etc.

7. software is a blue collar job... I work in a cubby...

8. my salary is reaching an asymptote  (but my taxes and expenses aren't!!)

9. doctors (and lawyers) are technicians... we need to chop their pay to increase competitiveness and lower medical costs
10. a skill shelf life of 15 years may actually be long...

K

Let's not be quite so quick to write off rules that have been around for so long.  Thinking outside the box is a good idea, but to do so, you probably need to at least understand the box first.

1.  College may not be important for everyone, but it is for most.  When you start hearing a lot of people saying "I was a fool to go to college.  I should have spent that time doing something else." let me know.  Just because it worked for you to not go to college doesn't mean the rule is invalid.  It's like putting all your money on a single number in roulette.  Then when you win, you go around advising everyone else to do the same.  For most people, it's bad advice.

2.  Your job and finances combined need to be steady enough to pay the bills.  If they aren't, you go bankrupt.  Not everyone has a huge risk tolerance.  Steadiness does have its advantages, as does risk taking.  It's risk versus reward.  The startup is high on risk and high on reward if the risk doesn't get you, but it doesn't work to make the rule say "Ditch the steady job for a startup" because that risk half of the risk-reward equation is entirely legitimate, and sometimes it will get you.  Sometimes the startup wins, but other times the steady job wins.  Choose based on your risk tolerance, because no one is going cry for you regardless of the outcome.

3.  You need to save money for retirement.  Maybe you won't retire when you're 65, but if you think your sharp mind and fresh skills are going to be in demand when you're 80, you're an idiot.  If you don't save any money throughout your life, the day will come when you will wish you had.  You rarely if ever hear anyone say "Gee, I wish I'd spent more money when I was in my 20's and 30's instead of saving."  Look at the old people you know and tell me they can all still hack it enough to bring in a paycheck to cover the bills.  Like Marcellus  Wallace said "This world is filled to the brim with unrealistic motherf*ckers  ...motherf*ckers who though they' a** would age like wine.  If you mean it turns to vinegar, it does.  If you mean it gets better with age, it don't."  That was good advice about saving when you have a chance.  "When you kickin' it in the Carribean, you're gonna say to yourself 'Marcellus Wallace was right.'"

My proposed rule would be this:
If you see the lessons of life rewritten by someone under the age of 40, take them with a grain of salt.