As the title says, what should I do?
Going on 16. Decently smart : 1530 SAT, if the chips fall right 4.0 unweighted gpa this semester, taking moderately difficult classes (AP chem/us this year, calc BC, AP eng/bio, physics C next). Will compete in AMC (nation wide, not national level math comp). Speaks near fluent mandarin , taking spanish although not that good at it (might go abroad senior year to learn)
As I see it 4 main options for college: premed (end result ortho surgeon), law, wall street/business, engineering. Any suggestions?
I donât really have any experience with any of them - planning to go volunteer at the er to see if I like the med route. No real idea how to gauge âlikenessâ of anything else
Less useful things
lift, wrestle, track (not very good)
-science olympiad, math team
-piano
Youâre a smart kid, young. Learn about stocks and investing now. Take it up as a hobby. Learn it over the summer. Itâs a great way to generate passive income/build wealth and become financially independent. Start now. Straight up. Open up a dummy account and experiment (most online brokers/platforms offer this as an option when you open an account, in which you donât need to maintain any balance and youâre just âpaper tradingâ so youâre not risking any real money. However, when/if you do decide to build a personal portfolio, itâs a different animal with skin in the game - the fundamentals and technicals are all the same, but youâre playing for keeps when its your real money)
Also, go and try to build a business. Learn what goes into it. Doesnât matter what it is - just do it. Even if itâs on paper. Figure it out - all the nooks and crannies. Itâll help build perspective regardless of what field you decide to go into. Again, youâll have time between now and college. Donât be a lazy twat (youâve always struck me as a motivated and industrious young man) - I was a lazy twat for far too long and I regret that shit. I wish I wouldâve had the advice Iâm giving you now when I was your age and in your position (smart and seemingly hard working).
Well, my suggestion above will help with the wall-street/business route. Probably with engineering too - half of the C-suite execs at my company have engineering backgroundsâŠ
If you like math, youâll get the technical aspects/quantitative aspects of investing. Again, learn about it, experiment with it, etc.
Ultimately, though, always keep in mind that no matter what you do, add value to those who seek you out (in whatever profession you land in). And read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
OP, you should talk to family members, they know you best. The older ones will only offer advice thats intended to help you. It may not be useful but their intentions will be good. The internet isnât a place to take seriously.
As for the stock market well thatâs gambling really. It used to be that stocks were sold in companies to finance some deal or expansion. You could take a company, reconcile its assets, liabilities and stocks and obtain value even if it folded. Its how Warren Buffet started off, intrinsic value.
Nowadays thereâs no value. You just buy bits of paper that are worth next to nothing and gamble that those bits of paper rise in value. Basically there is one big pot of money, some pay in and others take out. If you are not one of the ones living in a penthouse with a supermodel girlfriend and $50k watch then you are paying for it. Thread carefully. There will be examples of some fellas uncle who is a janitor and made gazillions on his lunch break but they are not the norm. The money comes from somewhere, the losers.
Having said that I recommend learning some skills whilst you are âfinding yourselfâ. Learn how to ride a mountain bike properly, ride a horse, dive and swim properly, advanced driving, read lots. You get the gist.
Do what you like to do. If you donât like anything, well still work your ass off and finish one of these degrees or else youâll ask yourself the same question at 29 but with no money or parents
Whichever of these you enjoy the most, go for that one. Trust me, getting into a field simply for the prospect of monetary gain is absolutely stupid and will leave you burned out and bitter. A few of my friends went that route and itâs sad to watch.
I would highly, highly suggest taking a gap year after you graduate and focus on building work experience wherever you can. Take random jobs that you never would think to. Go on a couple trips to countries youâve always wanted to visit for a couple weeks. Contact companies in a field youâre considering for school, explain that youâre considering going into that field, and ask if you can intern/shadow someone for a week or two to see what itâs like.
Basically, build some life experience. Itâll go a long way to making you a better person, which I think is so much more important than what you do or how much money youâll make.
Youâre 16 so that makes you a sophomore? You have lots of time. Be a kid for a while longer, youâll miss it when youâre older. At 54, I can pretty much guarantee you that you will change your mind on whatever you decide to do at this point.
Not sure how you feel about it but, the military is a good way to make some money, get college money, see someplace new, and get exposed to various jobs and a huge variety of people (both with degrees and without). There are some very technical positions in the military worth researching.
I went to college at 18, even had a pretty good scholarship but I wasnât ready and blew it and flunked out after 3 semesters. Went into the Air Force, got married, and had a kid. All that made me a much better student when I separated. Got my BS and MS back to back without a break. Good luck.
Go premed - business double major. Premed is not that difficult, neither is business. Feel free to drop either and focus on the other at any point. Aceing the MCAT is more important than getting a 3.8 vs a 3.4.
Most importantly, go to a school which gives you financial aid. Minimizing debt is far more important than the name of your undergrad alma mater (which ONLY matters for getting new grad interviews).
Dude, live cheap throughout college as much as possible. Live at home, live off-campus in a cheap apartment, eat well but shop at Aldi or the equivalent. Graduating without or with minimal debt is one of the best things you could ever do for yourself.
Personally, engineering has a hell of a lot of post-college flexibility. You can combine it with an MBA and essentially do anything you want outside of being a medical doctor.
Learn some financial responsibility - learn about stocks, but also learn about tax basics and credit.
Work a part-time or weekend job if you can.
Learn basic skills like operating tools, changing tires, etc. I recommended habitiat for humanity.
School will teach you mostly everything else you need to learn about your chosen subject. I like that PreMed/Business Double Major thing. You can always go into the business side of medicine if med school doesnât work out.
I donât think you understand how the stock market works.
What do you mean that there is no value? A stock represents you owning a portion of the company. Unless you are buying stock in the green bay packers, there is certainly value.
The money generally comes from growth, but also reinvested dividends. Not from winning and losing in a gambling sense.
Additionally, of the rich people I know, none of them are flashy. They are driving old used cars and wearing non name brand clothing. They would rather have their money in assets vs liabilities. Warren Buffet is a good example of this. He lives in a house that he purchased for $30K.
A stock can only be sold for as much as someone else is willing to pay for it, regardless of how much you know or think you know.
When stocks are traded, it does nothing for the company. If I buy 1 share of Tesla stock, it does not help Tesla corporation bring the future - it just means that now I own a tiny part of the company that someone else used to
People at times sell stocks for less than they payed to buy them, in a gambling sense
Why are you asking a bunch of people online who donât actually know anything about you?
If youâre interested in making money then EECS is probably the only one worth pursuing. Itâs not lawyers or doctors who are buying 3-4+ million dollar houses in Silicon Valley.
If I was a 16 year old I might study programming and artificial intelligence on the side from whatever else I studied, with the possibility of combining them at some point
But that is beside the point. The point is that itâs competitive AF in any industry if you want to make a lot of money. You need to be very smart and very motivated, with at least decent people skills. A specific major garauntees nothing. Or, find what you enjoy doing that pays decently and pursue outside hobbies while finding âbalanceâ. Then again, the most successful people I know treat their work as a hobbyâŠthey love finance/business/UI/etc. They look forward to working on weekends. They make millions, retire for a year but inevitably go back to work because they miss it and love doing that stuff.
Ok you hit a road block. Examine what was working what wasnât. How could you structure the venture to produce better results? You have one iteration of an idea which is good as it gives you information to work with. Learn from it and try again ⊠you obviously thought you could tutor kids and you wanted to ⊠now you need to review and adjust
I think I understand very well how the stock market works. It used to be about raising finance for expansion or to fund a special project etc. Not any longer, now its wagering. You could break any of the listed companies up and the bit of paper you hold will be worthless. Thatâs the thing about intrinsic value and thatâs how Buffet started off, learned under Ben Graham. They find companies whose assets are greater than their liabilities and hold a greater value than their share issue. If youâre not doing that then you are gambling. You are wagering money on an uncertain outcome in the hope of making a profit. Paint it to yourself any which way you like but thatâs how it is.
The hyperbole about those at the top is just an exaggerated example to highlight a point, if you are not at the top then you are paying for those who are.
In your example, are you investing in a shell company or something? I donât think those companies generally make it onto a big index anyways. Also, if you are buying a broad array of stocks, you should be shielded from a single company going under.
Short term investing is in a way closer to wagering, but still your expected value is much higher than what most would call gambling. Putting all your money into single stocks is also closer to gambling, but I still think that it is a better move than spending your money at the track.
BTW, Warren Buffet is still an investor. I donât see him as doing stupid things.
Additionally, you could keep all your money in the bank, and if something like the DOW or S&P500 were to completely fold, and loose all value, I really donât think it would matter. Your money in the bank will not be worth much (if anything), because the economy of the US / World would be completely destroyed.