What would you tell your kids..?
I often get asked “What would you tell your kids?”
Well, our daughter is 18 and just started a Business degree at Uni but doesn’t know if Uni is for her.
My advice: if the Uni is getting more out of her (fees) than she is getting out of it (value), try something else at least until she can see benefit in a Degree.
My reasoning is
- Tertiary education is expensive. Starting adulthood with a HELP debt for an unfinished Degree which she’s not actually sure she wants to do is a trap.
- AI disruption will have completely changed the educational dynamic and workforce opportunities by the time she finishes in 4 years; let the initial seismic shift play out and give the Academics time to adapt.
Fortunately she’s an active, motivated person who loves the outdoors and works two jobs. Our suggestion is to focus on developing her other life skills; courage, interpersonal confidence, adaptability, the value of money and perseverance. We as a nation still reward those who are willing to have a go, work hard and show initiative. In a world of sliding productivity, it’s even easier to stand up and create opportunities.
She wants to follow dad’s footsteps by getting into property asap and she’s saving towards a minimum deposit pretty quickly. It won’t be located where she’ll want to live and it’ll be a shoebox renovator’s delight but it’s a start.
Property websites help to identify types of properties (i.e. a unit in a group) and layouts that might suit her but they also create heavy competition for buyers, most of them older and better resourced.
My reminder was that websites are not the only market; what if she doesn’t have to buy it through an agent because someone may offer it to her? Not all vendors want to sell through an agent and not all want to do the legwork to dress it for sale.
Then I explained that with some courage and courtesy, she can introduce herself to neighbouring properties, or drop a handwritten letter in their mailbox and make it known that she’d love a chat. It’ll take many cups of tea and most importantly hearing about different people’s lives plus sharing her own story, but when someone decides to sell, they’ll remember that respectful young lady who had the gusto to knock on their door.
It’s not about getting a great deal (does help!) but rather creating the opportunity and thriving on her own terms. The same process works for buying a business, a car or finding a job. Eventually, the yearn to learn may lead her back to Tertiary education ( and I hope it does) but it will be when she’s ready. By then she would have worked out that finishing a Business Degree is actually less frustrating than retro-fitting an Ikea kitchen…
Will Chapman Dip FS(FP)
Authorised Representative (No 311745)
