Tag / debt-free

by Nathan Coumbe

No effect, no opinion

Everyone seems eager to tell others that what they’re doing is wrong. 

“Don’t you know that it’s better to pay the minimums on your debt and invest the rest?”

“Why are you still renting? You should have bought a house by now… You’re just throwing your money away!”

“You can’t possibly know what you’re talking about because it’s not your job.”

“You can’t marry that person—it’s totally immoral!”

Well, maybe there’s a method to the madness…

Maybe you want those payments gone so you have total control over your income.

Maybe you’re still renting because you don’t know where you want to live yet. Or you don’t have enough money to cover repairs if something major happened. Or—GASP— you want to pay cash for a house! And renting is just buying you time until you’re ready. How crazy is that?

Or maybe you know exactly what you’re talking about, and you understand THEIR point of view too. You simply don’t want to live the same way as them. 

Here’s a rule I think more of us should live by: 

Unless my behavior affects you, you don’t get to have an opinion about it.

And the magic of it? This works for everything.

If you don’t approve of gay marriage, then don’t do gay marriage yourself. But that doesn’t give you the right to dictate someone else’s lifestyle. Because their behavior doesn’t affect you.

If you want to live a debt-free lifestyle, other people don’t get to tell you you’re an idiot because “that’s just not normal.”

And if you don’t want to wear a helmet when driving on your motorcycle, you do you. Your behavior is only going to kill you…

On the other hand, you can’t smoke in a restaurant or movie theater. Because your behavior affects my health, safety, and well-being.

You can’t dump your toxic waste in our waterways… Because by definition, it’s communal—it belongs to (and affects) everyone.

And you can’t text and drive. “Well that’s just my behavior – you can’t tell me what to do.” Actually, yes I can. Because while you’re texting and driving, you might smash into me at 70 miles an hour. 

You might be fine, but I’d still be dead.

So, the next time you feel the need to tell someone how wrong they are, ask yourself:

Does their behavior affect me?

If it does, say something. 

If it doesn’t, keep your mouth shut.

(Unless they’re asking for your opinion, of course). 

by Nathan Coumbe

6 reasons why you should and should not go back to school

I wrote recently about why taking action is more important to your work and career goals than going back to school for more degrees. Today I’m going to give you 6 reasons why you should and should not go back to school.

Why Not?

  1. DON’T go back to school if you cannot afford it. No education, not even a medical or law degree is worth massive amounts of debt. You won’t make as much money as you think you will, and you may not even get the degree. Don’t go to school if you can’t afford it.
  2. DON’T go back to school if you don’t have a plan for what you want to try to do. No plan is full-proof anyway–you may change your mind halfway through and decide the field is not for you. Also, you may be able to get the knowledge and education you need without spending a fortune on a degree (which may be irrelevant by the time you finish).
  3. DON’T go back to school because you think the degree will get a job for you. It will not: your skills, abilities, projects, portfolio of work, and ability to sell yourself are the only things that will do that.

Why You Should

  1. DO go back to school if the field you’re entering is highly specialized and requires certain education or certifications, e.g., medicine, law, engineering, public school teaching or administration, etc. This also applies to those of you who wish to become higher education professors.
    • Keep in mind that the opportunities in higher education are limited. You will most likely spend years as an adjunct, competing with hundreds of other candidates who have the same credentials and publications as you, and there is no guarantee that college will be as it was when this pandemic is all said and done. Check out this video by Adam Grant on graduate education.
  2. DO go back to school because you love education and simply want to further develop yourself with an advanced degree (but only if you can pay for it. DO NOT GO INTO DEBT FOR EDUCATION).
  3. DO go to school if it is the only way to obtain the knowledge you seek. It is highly unlikely this reason is valid: with all the options available to you online, it’s easy to get an unoffical master’s degree in just about any field imaginable. It’s also easy and free to take real college classes online from Ivy League universities and other top institutions all over the country. (Click here if you want tips on how to get a useful education for almost no money. Dan Miller has another great article on the subject here.)

Learning is important. Well-educated individuals are in demand and in short supply in every industry in the United States and abroad. But well-educated does not mean letters behind your name or fancy degrees from famous colleges.

Well-educated means you have the real and practical knowledge, skills, abilities, and most importantly, the will and the desire to take initiative and execute on the work put in front of you.

You don’t have to go back to school, but you do have to continue your education.

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