Was it worth it? Getting a degree

amother

DarkGreen

Mon, Nov 28 2022, 2:28 pm

Chayalle wrote:

I have a Bachelors in Computer Science, and it has definitely been worth it. It is not a field that you necessarily need a masters in. I think that's another reason why it can be very lucrative.

As I say above I have three degrees I am not using. One is a Masters in Computer Science. 😂 Nothing is a given.

Amarante

Mon, Nov 28 2022, 2:30 pm

amother Royalblue wrote:

I think that the government takes so much of your money, especially if you are self employed! Who gives them the right?! They take so much money. . . and give it other people through programs.. Robinhood full steam!!! I think that people who are are self employed should not have to report all their money. (I am not saying that they should go on programs, but just report less.)

OKAY - this is a rational strategy - advising criminal behavior. In a democracy you elect a government who then determines a budget which has to be funded by taxes.

And "programs" actually don't use a huge amount of taxes. And given the really huge percentage of imamothers who are on one form of program or another including CHIPS, WIC, Medicaid etc. did you want to cut them off.

Also in terms of actual tax liability, the only taxes that are higher for self employed people are FICA taxes because you pay the "employer's share".

However if you are self employed, the tax deductions you can LEGALLY take more than offset the FICA taxes because self employed people can deduct various expenses LEGALLY than people who work for a company can't.

Also to the extent FICA is unfair it is disproportionately unfair to lower paid wage earners because unlike income taxes, there is no graduated rate so a low paid worker pays FICA from first dollar earned.

Chayalle

Mon, Nov 28 2022, 3:05 pm

amother DarkGreen wrote:

This is hilarious to me as I have three degrees that I am not using at all. My degree fields are Psychology, Computer Science, Law.

The yentish part of me is wondering what made you pursue 3 degrees that you are not using. (I found it hard enough to complete one, and BH I have been using it for over 25 years.)

amother

Oleander

Mon, Nov 28 2022, 3:51 pm

You're hitting on a very important discussion. I think there is a huge problem in the frum community and in America with people getting expensive degrees and not being able to pay off their debt / job salary not "worth it." There are lots of masters degrees that would fall into this category IMO. Whereas many higher or comparable salary jobs, don't need an advanced (if any) degree.

On the other hand, some masters degrees are practical and worthwhile. Such as the therapies, NP, etc. Where you end up getting more "bank for your buck." Lots of bachelor's degrees too (engineering, computer science, etc,.)

I think this should be carefully evaluated when people are choosing a program.

amother

Canary

Mon, Nov 28 2022, 4:25 pm

amother DarkGreen wrote:

I have used them in the past. Not all of life is about money. Personal family circumstances don’t make using them viable right now.

100% agree it’s not all about money. But this thread questioned if a degree is worthwhile. If a person has to work anyway, some of these dressers are great options. Psychologists are charging $300+ for 45 minutes in some places!

amother

DarkGreen

Mon, Nov 28 2022, 4:27 pm

Chayalle wrote:

The yentish part of me is wondering what made you pursue 3 degrees that you are not using. (I found it hard enough to complete one, and BH I have been using it for over 25 years.)

Well the yentish part of you is not going to get much more personal/identifying info from me. The first two degrees were done when I was younger. I did use the second for work for a while. My career took me in a different direction and I ended up doing the JD as a career change when I was still relatively young in my 30s. Then life happened and I am in my 50s now. That is all you’re getting from me I’m afraid.

amother

DarkGreen

Mon, Nov 28 2022, 4:30 pm

amother Canary wrote:

Yes I have a psych degree but I would be terrible in that field. Based on the numerous “my therapist doesn’t understand me” threads on here. choosing not to go into an ill-suited career, even a well-paid one is also meritorious.

amother

NeonPink

Mon, Nov 28 2022, 4:31 pm

amother DarkGreen wrote:

At the moment I am a SAHM. I work in the picking up towels from the floor department.

Then this changes up your previous comments. Your earlier comments made it sound like you were working but in a field that doesn't line up with your degrees. That gave the impression that you found a non-degree job that pays better than any of those fields.

That is not true apparently. You're not using your degrees because you're not working at the moment at all (outside of a SAHM). So your comments doesn't offer any value to the question if degrees are valuable or not. If anything it misleads the reader. The comment around computer science, law and psych were to point out that it's a lucrative field. You comments implied that it's not a lucrative field because you're not using them. That is misleading. The reason you're not using your degrees is because you've made a choice (and a good choice at that) to be a SAHM - and not because it's not lucrative.

Its not fair to lead people astray.

amother

DarkGreen

Mon, Nov 28 2022, 4:37 pm

amother NeonPink wrote:

I am curious which comment of mine made it sound like I am working in a different field to my degrees? I just said I had three that I am not currently using which is true. 🤔

Those fields are all not necessarily lucrative. While Big Law pays big money, many public interest jobs don’t.

My point wasn’t to mislead. My point was to say that even if you go to all the bother and expense of getting degrees, you may end up in a life where you don’t use them. From that perspective, they aren’t lucrative. Also, being a SAHM for me wasn’t necessarily a choice more a result of my particular family circumstances which I will not elaborate on here.

amother

Iris

Mon, Nov 28 2022, 4:43 pm

amother DarkGreen wrote:

I agree, the original post implied you didn't use them because you found a better paying job. Maybe your intention wasn't to mislead, but it did.
At the end of the day, with those degrees, you have quite a lot of options should you choose to work outside the home, some of which potentially could be quite lucrative. How many posts have we seen here lately about SAHMs desperate to get a job, but they have little training or viable skills, certainly no degree that would at least get a foot in the door.
BTW what some people are discounting is a job where one spouse gets good benefits (not to mention a retirement package) even if not a great paycheck. Often it's worth holding onto the job just for that.

amother

NeonPink

Mon, Nov 28 2022, 4:47 pm

amother DarkGreen wrote:

This comment:

amother DarkGreen wrote:

This is hilarious to me as I have three degrees that I am not using at all. My degree fields are Psychology, Computer Science, Law.

which was replying to this comment:

amother Canary wrote:

Degrees that do pay: computer science, law, np, Pa, psychology

In context of this conversation, where people are discussing if a degree pays more than a standard job, your comment misleads the reader. It reads as you not using degrees as evidence that these fields to do not pay well.

If you wanted to go off on a tangent to bring up the point that sometimes we don't get to use our degrees because of life circumstances, then that point should have specifically been made to provide full context. But just dropping those two sentences in the midst of this discussion did not serve to make that point at all.

amother

DarkGreen

Mon, Nov 28 2022, 4:51 pm

amother NeonPink wrote:

In context of this conversation, where people are discussing if a degree pays more than a standard job, this comment misleads the reader. It reads as you not using degrees as evidence that these fields to do not pay well.

If you wanted to go off on a tangent to bring up the point that sometimes we don't get to use our degrees because of life circumstances, then that point should have specifically been made to provide full context. But just dropping those two sentences in the midst of this discussion did not serve to make that point at all.

I personally think my “hilarious” comment just points out I am not using my degrees now. I didn’t say “I am not using my degrees and work in a totally different field.” That to me is an assumption made by readers. That said, I apologize again if you and others felt misled. I have clarified my position now anyway.