Thinking about going back to school
 

I am thinking about going back for a master's degree. Somebody is offering to pay me $22k/yr plus tuition to do research, and I am trying to figure out how to swing that.

What would you do/change in your life if you suddenly had to reduce your income by 65%?

and will your income increase by 200% once you get the degree?

Increase 200% over what it is now? Probably not, but it will increase a bit AND I will be an expert in a much better field than I am in now. Right now I am a very generic "mechanical engineer" with no special skills or experience. If I do this, I will be at the cutting edge of the carbon fiber industry, doing things that are impossible right now. I assume that would make me significantly more valuable to somebody. Especially the company funding this research.

If this is something that really interests you I would find a way to make it work. You are building a useful skill and making an investment in yourself. I am not saying it will be easy or even fun but it could change your entire life.

you suggested you make roughly 63K a year currently and it will decrease 65% to 22K.

I'm asking: Once you get your masters, will you make roughly 200% more than the 22K you'll be stuck at for the next few years (~66K)?

Basically I'm asking if you'll make money down the road with this venue and it's worth the loss of income now.

Who would you work for when you are done? "Cutting Edge" usually means more money, but the flip side to that is that there are fewer companies that are interested in your new skill set.

My senior project advisor is good buddies with some shoeless hippie who started a little business in Mojave called Scaled Composites.

My advisor's name is George Leone and he now teaches composites at Cal Poly SLO. I'm sure he could help you decide.

I have actually had to turn down 2 job offers that would force me to move because they are a paycut that I could not financially take without living in the projects eating ramen. The flipside, is the growth potential was much better than where I am.

So to answer your question, there is very little I could do to reduce my income by 65%.

That is pretty much my train of thought. I just cannot wrap my head around the money. I have written out a budget, and $22k covers rent, insurance, my one car payment, university fees, gas, and that is about it. The girlfriend has offered to buy all the food, and probably will pay more than half of the rent, but I do not know beyond that. I am proposing to her soon, and after that we will probably have "our money" instead of "my money" and "her money" and that might make it a little easier to fathom. After that, combined would be over $60k I think.

Oh. I rounded, but that is about right. I will absolutely make more than $66k when I am done, though I do not know exactly how much.

What means you? He sounds like he has relevant information to my scenario, though I'm not sure what specifically you're saying.

I'm saying he's got a lot of industry-specific experience as well as technical knowledge and he's a good networking source. He worked with Burt Rutan 20some odd years ago and is now an educator.

I'd find more dudes like that to chat with about how to move into your preferred technical area before committing one way or the other.

I can see if he's available to let you bend his ear.

I am pretty sure about the actual schooling part being worth it, I just don't know how to survive on such a huge pay cut. I know there are plenty of people in the world who make less than that, but I am honestly baffled and impressed that they do not starve. I made up a budget last night, and with the girlfriend paying 3/4 of the rent and all of the food, I still only have $50/mo left over after expenses.

Sometimes leveraging a manageable amount of debt is your best option. Contrary to popular belief, when handled correctly, debt is a powerful tool.

As true as that is, I am going to give it a shot living paycheck to paycheck first and only incur debt if I absolutely have to. Out of curiosity, what kind of debt would be best for a situation like this? Racking up credit card debt does not seem wise, and tuition is paid for so I can't imagine student loans are available (though I will be responsible for my own fees and books and stuff, so maybe).

except i can sell my house for more than i "bought" it for...

Student loans will still be an option as long as you're a student. Shop a rate and pick a good one. I've actually found, however, that taking out an auto loan is a lower rate than student loans. We took out a loan against our Jetta that's paid off. Problem, of course, is no deferred payments on an auto loan.

Anyway, take out some student loans to make it happen if you get in a bind. Problem solved.

Change your lifestyle live on 22k a month. Roll that other 40k per year into some financial plan and you probably couldn't make up that difference with your educational change.

At a really conservative ~5% you're doubling your investment every 5 years (after 5 years you'd be north of ~220k another 5 years and you're over 500 etc...). As you can see your money will start out performing your job changes even if your pay were to increase 50% or more.

Leveraging your manageable debt is not your best option when you make a substantial amount of money already. The financial loss is too great and is a considerable loss that can not be recovered. Obviously it's a difference in philosophy but that's how I operate. I've averaged more than 10% on my portfolio in the last 12 years.

I wish I could educate 18 year olds on a regular basis about saving and compound interest but I only ever get 40+ year olds and have to take bigger crappier risks when investing. Their results are nowhere near as good.

Someone making 30k a year out of high school could easily make more money then a Dr or a Lawyer by the time they retired (given all was equal). By the time they were 34 the high school graduate would have netted so much more (they now have money to grow instead of paying off debt). Anyway. Do it if you love it. From a financial stand point of pure numbers it doesn't make sense in my opinion.

On a different note some people have extreme passions and truly love what they do. I have never found that in my many jobs. I believe I've found a nice balance of my job being pretty good. It's not my dream job but i figure after 40 I can settle down and retire from normal work and work for my passions. I'm content.

That is where I am. I don't hate my job, but I am not passionate about it. I don't see any good way to get into something I am passionate about with my current education and skillset, so this masters program would put me there.