On today’s podcast we invite Moneysense’s Jonathon Chevreau to join us and chat a little about the value of a generalized education. I’ve been known to take kind of an extreme position on generalized study (re: Bachelor of Arts) in the new world and have summed up my stance as the: “Will Hunting Argument”. It basically consists of the idea that you can get 90% of the benefits of a BA or generalized university degree with a cheap library pass and a free online book group. Truthfully, the more I think about it the more 90% seems like a low figure to me…
Nonetheless Mr. Chevreau makes a good case for why going to school to learn critical thinking and do some growing up makes a lot of sense. We talk a little about his daughter’s post-secondary journey and the lessons they learned together, as well as some good advice for parents out there.
Eventually we get around to looking at why young people should be starting a blog in order to maximize their skill sets and to act as an employer showcase. Jon even gives us a few tips from a hirer’s perspective (many of us Gen Yers forget that people from other generations with different value systems than most of us have will likely determine if we get jobs or not).
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
If you stick around until the end you’ll here Jon and I discuss what a valuable and underused too the TFSA is right now. He makes the great point that I had never thought about before: if you are planning to leave money for your children or even grandchildren it makes no sense to leave it in RRSPs or non-tax-advantaged accounts and sacrifice a ton of money to the government in taxes.
Instead, put it in their TFSAs and maximize that nice little protective shell. The usage rates on TFSAs remain incredible low and there are many reasons to look into it. Really, if a person maximizes their RRSP and TFSA for several years when they are in their late twenties and early thirties (admittedly, not at all easy for many young people) I think that bodes very well for their long-term net worth (duh…).
Oh, and you’ll also hear me talk about how great routines are. I promise it’s four minutes that is more exciting than it looks. By far the most productive and low-stress times of my life have been when I have a solid routine in place that I can work off of. That part might not surprise you, but I’m being equally honest when I say those times are also the happiest and most fun as well (something not usually associated with “routine”).
As always, your support is thoroughly appreciated. Once again, please free to send us any comments or suggestions through the blog or over at iTunes. If you can spare 30 seconds PLEASE PLEASE help us out by going and giving the podcast an honest ranking over there, the more dap you toss our way the easier it is to keep getting high-ranking talent to come on and pass along their wisdom.
Until next time, more beers more cheers that’s it that’s all!
I was thinking the same thing as you when he was pushing the idea of a four-year general studies degree before going to a trade school. That works great if you are a findependent couple with one child but that’s hardly the cast for the vast majority of people. It’s a nice idea but not realistic or smart for people who are struggling to pay off debt or save for retirement or for students who would need loans. I have four children and I am making it clear to them that any secondary education that I’m helping to fund has… Read more »
Thanks for listening and commenting Jon!
I think post-secondary education is a great thing and kudos to Jon for being proactive in helping send his daughter to university. It becomes a slightly different cost-benefit analysis for people like yourself in other situation. Manageable student debt that gives you access to a great career is one thing, I don’t believe 30K worth of student debt in order to simply get smarter and broaden your horizons is an equivalent outcome.