  We, my wife and I, have recently come under the acquaintance of a couple through similar hobbies and interests. It happened that tonight we were collected together with a few of our other friends and my wife had an opportunity to get to know the wife. In the process she discovered that she was working and the husband was staying at home to tend to their 11 month old child. Without being to intrusive with her questioning my wife found out about their previous situation which had them both working impossible hours at back breaking jobs, but the wife found this job. Later while driving home I asked my wife what she found out about their plans for the future, which happened to be nothing.
Lately there has been a lot of evaluation on our current position and what we are trying to accomplish, especially with the recent advent of 2 kids and a loss of my job. Not surprising is the fact that I am back in school and pursuing both a MBA and a CPA in order to give myself a valuable station in society. But why? What is the purpose of expending money (blessed tax-payer money) and time instead of trying to find a decent corporate ladder to climb?
When I get around to finishing my list of wishes, the first thing is to run my own company. Is going to school accomplishing this? Nearly 50% of companies are owned by people without a degree and those with degrees rarely possess a MBA or a degree in Business. So what is the purpose of my going to school in this field? The other part to the question is what will I get when I'm done. A doctor can guarantee a minimum income, at least until their reputations are built. A engineer of any type can predict a certain amount and also can see the extent of their field. Other degrees are less and less more assured, but none are as bland and unpredictable as a business major. With the seemingly sole goal of all corporate America to pay the least for the most, the degree is in direct conflict with the acquisition of large wealth.
In two articles I just read in Business Week I can see that MBA's are valued less and companies run by Harvard MBAs have almost in every case gone down, either less revenue, filed for bankruptcy, or disappeared from the map. It is scary to base an education on an unpredictable and unsuccessful formula. So with my purpose being stripped from me I find myself at a crossroads I was totally unprepared to handle at this time.
I am now registered for 15 credits in the fall and currently taking 9 this summer. School is paid for already (government assistance is a blessed gift) but time is against me. Am I really gaining a valuable understanding of business structures and processes in this institution? I have been applying for swing shift jobs and have passed up much more profitable jobs because of this.
With 35,000 I can survive and support my family well and with the incentive to always make more as well as a plethora of real world experience I could easily accelerate my income and even find a way to be the rich bastard I always wished I was. And yet 2 years from now I could graduate and be given a residency at some accounting firm for 10 bucks an hour (works out to over 20,000 a year) forcing my wife to still be working. Then after 2 years I can qualify for the CPA (while getting my MBA at night) and for what? A job of maybe 40 to 50K to build up more real world experience. And then maybe end up in the same place as the other path. My choice has been made before I even came to this fork in the road of life (see previous blog). I can't keep from just being distracted by the possibility of being highly educated and poor just for the sake of having chosen the wrong profession. There are plenty of these people in the world, and some of them are teaching me about the business world right now, teaching me how to make money. This brings me back to the couple at the beginning. Is it so bad that they probably don't have a plan for the future or an idea of how to improve on their current situation?
They could be the next Warren Buffet or Sam Walton sitting across from me just waiting for the right opportunity to strike their talents on the world of finance. They also could be just finding a way to survive till the next paycheck. But how many of us, even with aspirations of financial glory, are just living until the next paycheck. Hoping that the heavens keep sending protective blessings down so we can survive until the day we die. I guess in the end, I won't be surprised if I end up living in the same retirement community as this couple and the only difference is a few plaques on the wall with the signature of some dean on them. 
