MAKE A PLAN, SAM! (Part III)

(AKA Reality Rears Its Head!)

No prerequisite

1/8 credit in English

    Some families have a hard time talking about the "birds and the bees." Some have an equally tough time talking about money, so you may not know just how much it takes to live like you want to live.

    Here's the first dose of reality regarding money:

In 1994, the US Census Bureau put out the average salary of people 18 and older by education. You should know the differences.

NO HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA?        $13,697.00 per year

HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA?             $20,248.00 per year

SOME COLLEGE OR

    ASSOCIATES DEGREE?             $22,226.00 per year

BACHELORS DEGREE?                  $37,224.00 per year

ADVANCED DEGREE?                    $56,105.00 per year

ASSIGNMENT #1.

Let's assume you will work until age 65 (even though many people work longer than that).

With either no high school diploma or a high school diploma, you will start working at age 18. An associate's degree generally takes two years, so you would start working at age 20. A bachelor's degree usually takes 4 years, so you would start working at age 22. For an advanced degree, assume 6 years, so you'd start working at age 24.

1.  Figure out how much money you would make over your lifetime for each one.

2.  I have a pet peeve. I hear students say, "We're not paid to go to school" to which I want to screech, "Wanna guess?" So you tell me. How much, over a lifetime, will it pay you to graduate?

Now let's look at average expenses. These will require some research on your part. Figure out the total amount for each per year. Some of the costs can be figured in newspapers, others on the Internet, still others by asking your family. You will need to give me the yearly costs AND the source of your information for each one. I've put my guesses in small type. If you can't find any better information AND prove it, use mine!

1. You live alone in a one-bedroom apartment. ($4800.00)

2. Basic utilities including phone, electricity, gas, water, and sewer service. ($1200.00)

3. You buy and drive a used, mid-size car. ($5600.00)

4.  You will need gasoline, maintenance, and insurance for your vehicle. ($2400.00)

5.  You buy your own groceries and cook all your own meals. ($2400.00)

6.  Your only entertainment is a cable TV. ($360.00)

7.  You wash all your clothes in a laundromat. ($360.00)

8.  You have health insurance through work, but they deduct from your check each month. ($500.00)

9.  You buy all your clothes from discount stores or off the sales rack. ($600.00)

10.  You must pay taxes and social security. ($6750.00)

11. You have one joy in life! Maybe you want to eat at McDonald's once a week; maybe you want to go to two movies a month; maybe you want to be connected to the Internet at home. What is your "joy" and how much will it cost you for a year?

12.  Now total all those up. This is how much money you propose to spend in a year.

13.  Now figure out how much minimum wage, 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year will pay you over the course of a year.

14.  To afford being a single person with just the "getting by" life we've described, how does it compare to the education table in assignment one?

Now it's time for you to design your own life. Let's see a dose of reality here! When I was in high school, I fully figured I'd be married, raising kids, living in a "nice" house, wearing "nice" clothes, and vacationing somewhere cool at least once a year! I knew I'd have to go to college and make some of the money to reach those goals, but I fully expected my future husband to be the main breadwinner. Yeah, right...some of the above are true, but not all! What are your assumptions about your reality?

benchmarks: 76, 79, 81, 87, 141, 143, 146, 148, 157, 158, 163, 164, 177, 178, 179, 180, 182, 185, 186, 189, 193, 399

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