I sat down with my niece's teenage son three weeks ago. I told him how he could make $45,000 this summer. Next summer, too. And the summer after that. Plus, he can make $7,500 during the school year.
He is finishing his sophomore year in high school. He wants to study engineering. He is good at math. He is involved in robotics competition. I told him that the starting salary for engineers is about $75,000 a year -- at the top of all college majors.
If he can graduate from college two years early, he will pull in an extra $150,000.
He can easily graduate two years early by taking three CLEP exams -- one a month -- in all three summers before college, plus one CLEP during each school year.
I told him that by taking a standard minimum wage job each summer, he will walk away from $45,000 per summer. Working less hard during the academic year will lose him another $15,000.
With interest rates close to zero, that $150,000, beginning five years from now, is worth close to $150,000 today -- no time discount. (Thanks, Ben! Thanks, Janet!)
Would your teenager understand this? Plus, you save two years of college costs. It will cost you under $2,000 for the CLEP exams.
© 2022 GaryNorth.com, Inc., 2005-2021 All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission prohibited.