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Can you get a good paying job without a degree?
After recently writing about the debate of whether a college degree was still worth it or not, I have been doing a little bit more research on the topic. I found out about the growing FauxPloma industry and I recently stumbled on an article that talks about the top paying 25 jobs that you can get without a degree.
In the article, the author makes a couple encouraging statements for those without a college degree…
The belief that you need a college education to have a well-paying and rewarding job is quickly fading. A four-year degree definitely has its benefits in the business world, but it’s not the only path to a successful career.
and…
“…according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), eight of the 10 fastest-growing occupations through 2014 don’t require a bachelor’s degree. And these jobs, which include health technology, plumbing, firefighting and automotive repair, are less vulnerable to outsourcing. After all, if a fire breaks out, you need the fire department to be a few blocks away, not halfway around the world.”
As I mentioned in the previous posts I wrote about college degrees, regardless of whether or not you get a college degree, you have to be a learner. Success comes from learning. If you don’t have a college degree, but you are a lifelong learner devoted to developing yourself and learning new and relevant skills you will be successful. If you are under the assumption (that I was at an earlier point in my life) that you can get a degree, quit learning and coast through life, you are likely to be disappointed.
The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
Proverbs 18:15
25 top paying jobs that you can get without a degree
Here are 25 of the top-paying jobs that don’t require a four-year degree and their average salaries, based on data from the BLS and CBSalary.com.
1. Air traffic controller: $102,030
2. Funeral director: $79,517
3. Operations manager: $77,839
4. Industrial production manager: $73,000
5. Transportation manager: $72,662
6. Storage and distribution manager: $69,898
7. Computer technical support specialist: $67,689
8. Gaming manager: $64,880
9. First-line supervisor/manager of police and detective: $64,430
10. Nuclear power reactor operator: $64,090
11. Computer specialist: $59,480
12. First-line, non-retail supervisors/manager: $59,300
13. Nuclear technician: $59,200
14. First-line supervisor/manager of fire fighting and prevention worker: $58,920
15. Real estate broker: $58,720
16. Elevator installer and repairer: $58,710
17. Sales representative, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products: $58,580
18. Dental hygienist: $59,790
19. Radiation therapist: $57,700
20. Nuclear medicine technologist: $56,450
21. Power plant distributor and dispatcher: $57,330
22. Fashion designer: $55,840
23. Ship engineer: $54,950
24. Detective and criminal investigator: $53,990
25. Commercial pilot: $53,870
The author then goes on to make a couple more points worth mentioning…
“The thing to keep in mind is that there are something like 50 million jobs out there that don’t require a bachelor’s degree and pay upwards of $40,000 a year,” says Harlow Unger, author of “But What If I Don’t Want to Go to College? A Guide to Success Through Alternative Education.”
He goes on to say that according to the U.S. Department of Labor, by 2010, almost two-thirds of all projected job openings will require only on-the-job training
So while a college degree was de rigueur for the Baby Boom generation, that’s not necessarily the case now. In today’s highly technical and service-related market, workers are judged more on their skills than their sheepskins.”
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I have been selling stuff occasionally on Ebay over the last 5 years or so. I knew that a bunch of people had ebay businesses, but I didn’t realize how many. The last figure I heard was that there are over 1 million Ebay businesses. I am sure some of them are part time businesses, but that is just amazing to me that there is that much potential available.
Deciding to start an Ebay business
I decided to try it out and see if I could start a part-time ebay biz. The great thing about it to me was that I could essentially turn it on or off when I felt like it. If I needed some extra income for a vacation I was saving for I could sell some stuff for a month or so and then when the vacation rolled around I could temporarily shut it down just by not listing any items.
It is this freedom that makes it a lot more enticing than the traditional “brick-and-mortar” businesses. I thought to myself that maybe I could turn it into a full-time income as well - if it was what it was cracked up to be.
1. Starting the Ebay biz
As I mentioned in an article I wrote called 7 steps to selling on Ebay for beginners I started by selling junk around my house. This is the best way to get your feet wet with Ebay. Actually, I take that back. The best way to get your feet wet is to purchase something on Ebay. This will benefit you in two ways:
- It will help you to understand the Ebay community a bit better than you will if you just start selling. It is not the “virtual garage sale” that it once was and it is a rare case when you can imagine something that hasn’t been sold on Ebay.
- I mentioned that Ebay is a community. This is not a cause for worry, but you do need to be aware that since it is still lightly based on an “honor system” that you need to prove yourself. Buying a few items and proving that you are an upstanding member who pays for items will help you out when you start selling.
I won’t go over the basics of Ebay selling since you can read that in the previous article mentioned. From here on I will assume that you know the basics of selling on ebay. So, let’s get started on the steps I took to start my Ebay business.
2. Picking a product to sell on Ebay
It may sound easy or difficult. It is some of both actually. I set out to supplement my current income, not necessarily to generate a full time income from it. Because of this I was able to take more of a chance by NOT picking the right product. I felt comfortable that if I jumped into an over-saturated market I could jump ship and try a new product.
I wanted to find something that I at least knew something about, since in my previous experiences of selling some of my wife’s clothes made me very aware that I know nothing about women’s clothes. I would get questions from buyers asking me how many inches it was from this to that. I didn’t even know what areas they wanted measured, let alone know how to measure them. Do yourself a favor and know at least a little bit about what you are planning on selling.
I finally found a product that was related to something that I knew a decent amount about, since it was a hobby of mine. No, I am not going to tell you what it is, because I am sure I would see a surge in competition a week after this article gets posted 
My “biz” is currently turned off, but who knows when I may turn it back on?
3. Finding a supplier
Google “(Your product) + wholesale” and combinations similar to find a supplier who will sell to you at wholesale prices. I know some people run small ebay businesses by finding clearance items at retail stores and reselling them on Ebay, but your profit margins will probably be smaller than if you bought them wholesale.
Most suppliers are going to want to make sure you are legitimately interested in becoming a dealer for their products, rather than just trying to get a deal for yourself. This process is probably going to be slightly different for different products. For me, I found some suppliers on Google and I asked a friend who he used.
Once you have an account with the supplier you should ask for a catalog and a pricing guide. If they have a website for dealers available, that will work as well.
4. Testing your Ebay market
Once I got a price guide from the supplier I was then able to see exactly what my purchasing price would be for the items that I would be selling. This is a very important number to get, because without it you won’t be able to test the profitability of the item.
Once I knew the price I would be paying for my items, I went on over to Ebay and did a search for each item. As you can see in the image below there is an “advanced search” link next to the search box. You can type your product in the field and hit the advanced search link.
That will then pull up this screen…
Make sure you check the completed listings box. This will pull up all of the results for the item that you entered. You will probably see some listings that were completed without selling and some that did sell. Ideally, each listing of your product would show as sold, but realistically I wouldn’t expect that. But skim through and click on the items that did sell and start a list of what prices they sold for. Hopefully, there is a decent sized variation between what the items are selling for and what you can purchase them for. Even if there is, don’t get too excited yet, because there are still lots of other expenses to account for.
Knowing what the items sold for is going to be very helpful in deciding if you should move forward with the product you have in mind. But even if it looks good, keep in mind that you still don’t know how many times the seller had to list the item to get it to sell. Currently Ebay allows you to relist one time for free, but if the item doesn’t sell again then you need to pay them another listing fee to list the 3rd time.
The easier option to test your Ebay market
What I just showed you is what I did because I didn’t really know there was another option. But there is and it is easier and will provide much more information for you. Ebay actually has a research area on their site that will basically give you the information we just talked about and a lot more. They do charge for it, but currently it is only like $2.99 for a 2-day pass. This will be the best $3 you spend.
5. Estimating other expenses
Now that I had gotten some solid numbers about what my item had been sold for in the past I had a starting point. From here I tried to get a best guess estimate (or exact if possible) of how much other expenses would be. These were a few other expenses that I had…
- Shipping and handling from my supplier to me
- Shipping and handling from me to my buyers
- Boxes and packing material (styrofoam peanuts, tape, etc.). I bought in bulk from uline.com and got an average cost of about $1 per item.
- Gas and wear and tear on my car from driving to the post office or bank. The post office is very close to my house, so this wasn’t very much for me.
- Ebay Fees (mine averaged about 6% of my selling price. This figure can vary widely.)
- Paypal Fees (my average paypal fee was about 3% of my selling price.)
After adding up all these expenses I still saw that I would likely be able to make a decent profit assuming that I would be able to sell each item within a couple weeks. If I would have had to relist each item 10 times to sell it, the Ebay fees would have eaten up most of my profits.
I was estimating that I could make about $20-$50 for each of the products I was going to sell. This was good enough for me, so I decided to move forward with it.
6. Buying the products
This was actually the easiest part for me. I decided just to sell the exact products that I had seen sold in my research. I figured if someone bought it before, they would buy it again (This was not necessarily true - I will explain later). I then just called my supplier and gave them my order. Two days later the shipment had arrived.
7. The photo shoot
I could only find one picture of each of my items on the supplier’s website. Knowing how important pictures are to Ebay buyers I decided I was going to take the most detailed and best pictures I could with the tools I had to work with.
- I borrowed a higher quality camera from a family member.
- I found the cleanest and nicest looking background I could to shoot against.
- I grabbed about 5 bright lamps from around my house and placed them to get good lighting.
- I took about 10 pictures of each item. Some full shots and some detailed pictures.
I spent a good deal of time on this process knowing that it was work that would increase my chances of sales. But, the other motivation for investing a lot of time was that if I did it well the first time, I wouldn’t have to do it again later. Once I had good pictures for the items, I could always use the same pictures when I sold more later on.
8. Listing the items on Ebay
If you are looking to do this as a full time or even a part time gig, I suggest you use a listing tool. I used Auctiva which I was pleased with. The great thing is that they host all of the pictures of my items for me. So I could take the 10 pictures and have them all included in my Ebay listing for free. There are many time-saving features that they offer as well.
I knew the items didn’t have a huge demand so I listed them all only with a BIN (Buy It Now) price. If I would have been selling iPods or something I may have been able to get away with a straight auction, but since I was willing to wait to make the sale at the price I wanted, I did BIN.
9. Analyze the results
My test run of selling 6 different items went pretty well. I listed all of them BIN as mentioned before. One item sold in the first listing and three more sold in the relisting. The remaining two items had to be relisted again (incurring another ebay listing fee) and one sold very quickly. The last item taught me a good lesson that I mentioned I would get to earlier.
I had assumed that if someone had bought it before, they would buy it again. This did not appear to be the case with this item. I should have used a bit of common sense, it was a very specific and random thing that not many people would have wanted. It just so happened that it was one of the recently sold items that I saw. I ended up just listing it again as a straight auction with my starting price being my cost. It did quickly sell and actually fetched a decent price.
Selling quicker or more profits
I chose to take my time selling these items because I wanted to see if I could get the prices I was asking for each of them. I could have lowered my prices and probably sold them all in the first listing, but that wasn’t my goal for this test.
Here is a breakdown of how the test went…
As you can see, it is clear which items turned out to be more profitable. This is why I recommend doing a similar test if you can before jumping in head over heels after one product. Lucky for me, some of the products that yielded the most profit also sold the quickest!
What was exciting to me was to see that by selling just three products I could make $100. So, in theory if I could sell 30 products in a month, I was looking at $1000. That’s not a bad part-time income!
Final thoughts about starting an Ebay business
There is really a lot to learn and as you sell more you figure out more and better ways to minimize expenses. I have learned a lot from selling on ebay, but there is still a lot more to learn. Just don’t be intimidated or afraid to try it out if it is something you are interested in doing.
I’d love to hear from others about their successes or struggles (whatever the case may be) starting an Ebay biz. Feel free to share in the comments below!
This article was featured in the Carnival of Personal Finance
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I was recently tossing around some ideas to make money quick. I decided to tap the wisdom of the crowds so I asked some of the PF bloggers around to share what they would do if they had to find a way to come up with $200 in two weeks or less.
I noticed some trends…
- Selling stuff on Craigslist.org
- Selling stuff on Ebay
- Get a freelance job
There are many others listed, but the above 3 seem to be the most popular ways of coming up with extra cash.
How I would make $200 quick…
I would probably sell some more stuff on Ebay just like everyone else But I would also fill out a few surveys on CashCrate. Together it probably wouldn’t be too difficult to come up with $200.
Below is how everyone else would come up with the $200. Feel free to share how you would come up with the money in the comments!!
How to make money quick ($200 in 2 weeks)
If I had to make an extra $200, and it had to be quick I would probably end up selling some things on ebay and/or craigslist. When I’ve had to make money fast in the past I’ve sold old electronics, video games, or other things I don’t need on Ebay.
Peter @ Bible Money Matters
If we needed $200 and only had 2 weeks to do it, we would definitely have a garage sale. Not only can we quickly make some money by selling our things, we can quickly reduce some of the clutter in our home!
Tricia @ Blogging Away Debt
- Pray. We are often given unexpected, small sums of money by friends and family.
- Sell something on Craig’s List or Ebay. We only have a couple of items that are worth that much and that we would be willing to part with, but we could get most of the money in a pinch this way.
- Roll it over to the next month. Use part of our emergency fund to care for the immediate expense and then make sure that we cover it in a future month. Get it today and then figure out how to pay for it later.
- Find a freelance job. I have experience in painting, roofing and wood finishing. I am confident that if I needed to make extra money in the evenings or weekends, that I could pull it off.
- Qualify for a bank bonuses or credit card bonuses. I am trying to avoid this particular revenue stream right now, but this is how we solved our money problem last year.
Josh @ Rocket Finance
I would try to get a few extra hours at my part time job. If that didn’t work (or pay day wasn’t right), I would look for freelance work (cash pay) on craigslist or other sites like that.
Diva @ Saving Diva
I would immediately pick up my local yellow pages and make a list of temporary agencies. I would then find out which of them have weekend and weeknight work, and sign-up with those companies. Those jobs are not guaranteed, so while waiting for a call, I would look around my home to see if I have anything that could be sold on EBay or craigslist to raise some cash. Next I would see if I have any skills that others might pay me for – this could be yard work, sewing, painting, dog walking, cooking, running errands – just about anything. I would then craft an ad outlining my services and hourly rate and post that on craigslist.
Boston Gal @ Boston Gals Open Wallet
I would sell ad space on my sites or permanent links to raise money quickly. I would go to the garage and sell anything worth selling on ebay.
@ Cash The Checks
That’s easy. I’d sell my stuff. Have a garage sale. DVDs, CDs and books can sometimes go for a good price. Some used books, especially up to date statistics or economics textbooks can go for as much as $50 to $75 dollars when they are in good shape.
Another idea would be to sell your body to science. Many local universities and some companies are often hiring subjects to be in research studies. The best way to find these is to look on-line or to check the newspaper. Typically the ads are in the local weekly or neighborhood publications. While you won’t get rich participating in studies, you can definitely bring in a few hundred bucks if you find the right studies.
James @ Dinks Finance
- Sell a bunch of stuff (clothes, furniture, etc..) on CraigsList and at Half Priced Books (books, CDs).
- Return any recently purchased items I had a reciept for.
- Place an ad on CraigsList for Web Development Services ($50 for a small biz website setup, etc..)
- Ask all my neighbors if they needed any hired help for odd jobs (lawn care, handyman, car wash, etc..)
- Place an ad on CraigsList for hired help services.
- Rent my truck out (for movers) on CraigsList and other local community boards.
PT @ Prime Time Money
Ebay immediately comes to mind — selling some unused stuff. Also, I would look at changing my tax withholding for a pay period or two. I might offer to pet sit or baby sit. I would possibly get a second job that paid some tips such as waiting tables. I might consider selling blood plasma to the local blood bank. I might reduce my food expense by eating at the local Sam’s club (samples!)
Ron @ The Wisdom Journal
1. Have a garage sale
2. Take a consulting gig
3. Teach a college course or be a guest lecturer (only applicable if you have the proper credentials)
4. Teach private swimming lessons
5. Tutor
Heidi @ Banker Girl
If I only had 2 weeks to make $200, the first thing I would do would be to gather any and all DVD’s and CD’s and video games that I had in my house and sell them to a local store or on Craiglist. If that didn’t bring in enough money, I honestly would get a part-time job at night to cover the difference, and then quit as soon as I made the money!
David @ My Two Dollars
If I had two weeks to make $200, here’s what I would do:
First, I would clean out my basement and list anything worth more than $5 on Craigslist, eBay or Amazon. Then, I would have a garage sale that weekend for anything that doesn’t sell or isn’t worth more than $5. Of course, for the garage sale, I’d want to put a free ad on Craigslist and post signs around the neighborhood. If I didn’t have a lot of items to sell, or the selling wasn’t going so well, I would head down to the plasma donation center in my neighborhood, where I can make $20 for my first donation and $40 for my second donation in the same week. So, in two weeks, I could make $120 just from donating plasma! However, I’m pretty squeemish, so this would be my second choice.
Also, another idea is to call your local marketing research facility (a place that does focus groups, taste tests, etc.), and see if they have any opportunities for people of your age/gender/etc. to participate in. These studies typically pay between $20-$60 for 1-2 hours.
Finance Girl @ Finance Gets Personal
- Earning $200 extra income in two weeks is not hard, the most obvious way is selling stuff that you no longer use at places like eBay, Craigslist, or at thrift shops.
- Another method is to search for sign-up bonuses
- However, the more challenging task is figuring out how to earn $200 extra income regularly — i.e., monthly. This is not hard either, but it does require more time and commitment. Instead of trying to explain it all here you can read about the 7 Factors to Build Successful Alternative Income Streams
Pinyo @ Moolanomy
My number one way to make $200 in two weeks? My first choice would be to sell anything that I’m not using. My preferred method is to use eBay but a good old fashioned garage sale will work, too. Most of us have some things lying around that still have some value that could be sold. This stuff can easily add up to $200 for a weekend. Just go through your house, attic, garage, miscellaneous storage areas for anything that could be sold. Clean up a little and take a weekend to gather the items. Then the next weekend (Saturday probably works best) get up early and start putting out the stuff. The key to a successful garage sale is marketing. Roads signs always work great even if it’s written with a sharpie on a piece of cardboard. Consider putting in a small classified ad in the paper if it’s a large sale. You could also list it for free on craigslist. Enjoy your new found money and consider giving the unsold items to a local Salvation Army or Goodwill.
Henry @ Christian Finance Blog
Making $200 in 2 weeks can be incredibly easy or difficult, depending on your outlook and situation. If I absolutely needed $200, I would first try to sell some items via Craigslist. I prefer to sell them locally via Craigslist because you can get cash in hand more quickly than an on-line auction like Ebay because you don’t need to wait for the auction to close or to transfer the money. Pawn shops could be another option for selling items.
The other thing I would try is to get a job that would pay me that amount of money. Unfortunately, a lot of jobs only pay out every couple weeks, so you may miss the deadline. So you would need to look for a job that pays either weekly or in cash. Examples could be babysitting, landscaping, washing cars, etc.
Patrick @ Cash Money Life
Sell some books, dvds, baby clothes, etc. on eBay… Have a yard / garage sale…
If it was an emergency I’d drop my cable / cell phone / netflix / other subscriptions…
In a pinch, I’d get a second job or sell my golf clubs…
NCN @ No Credit Needed
If I needed $200 in two weeks, I’d sell some of my stuff. During my years of living on credit, I accumulated a lot of things I do not need or use. I’ve been purging these things gradually, but there’s still a lot of stuff around the house, and some of it is worth some money. If I needed quick cash, I’d get on Craigslist or eBay and sell CDs and comic books and board games. I might also consider a garage sale. Selling stuff serves two purposes: it clears the house of clutter, and it converts unused things into cash.
JD Roth @ Get Rich Slowly
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I got an interesting question from a reader (Jenny) the other day that I think is worth discussing.
Here is a quick run-down of her story…
“I’m in my mid 20’s and married with no kids. I have a college degree and a career in that field. I just started in a new position with my current company, and they’ve asked if I would be willing to work full-time in another city, instead of the 50% travel I was originally told the job would require. They’re asking me to fly out on Sunday nights and return home on Friday afternoons. Every. Single. Week.
I struggled with the answer, because I can’t find a biblical basis for refusing their request. I’ve always valued work/life balance, but I wonder if by refusing their request, I’m not being open to the idea that perhaps this is a season in my life in which I’m supposed to spend a lot of time at work. What’s your take? … I’d love to get your input from a Biblical perspective.”
Hmm… I know you are probably already doing this, but you need to pray for direction. When we don’t have specific scriptures instructing us one way or another on an issue, it needs to be a Spirit-led decision. I think it is great that you didn’t just say no because you didn’t want to - you are looking to do the right thing, even though it may not look very appealing to you. That is awesome.
Work/Life balance and the Bible
A scripture that has helped me out a lot recently has been:
Psalm 127:2
“It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.”
My tendency that I have to fight against is working too much. And what I was getting out of this verse was that being a work-a-holic is a waste of time. I have found in my own life that when I work hard to complete a normal days work that I actually accomplish more than if I get obsessed and work around the clock. God knew the importance of rest and how it actually improves efficiency.
So, I am not sure if that applies to your situation or not, but my suggestions would be:
- Keep praying and ask God to make it clear to you
- Talk to your Pastor and others you trust who know your situation and get their input as well. Proverbs says that there is safety in the multitude of counselors.
- Don’t be afraid to say no or yes. Be open to both possibilities. If you are not getting direction from God, I would default to wisdom (from #2).
Have you ever had this happen to you? Do you have any advice for Jenny?
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A friend of mine passed this article along to me which examines some of Tim Ferris’ ideas and principles in the “Four Hour Work Week.” The author goes on to state 5 main reasons that he disagrees with Tim Ferris.
Oh and by the way, I have read “the Four Hour Work Week.” Although I don’t agree with some of Tim’s tactics and many other things in the book, it is a very inspiring book. It is full of valuable and practical information from everything from time management to tips on building a business to details about how and where to travel. It is a book that just about anyone who reads it can take something useful away from it.
That said, lets get back to the debate. The excerpt from the article is below with the 5 points of disagreement the author had are listed below…
If you spend any time on the web, you probably have heard of Tim Ferris‘ book “The Four Hour Work Week.” In the book, Mr. Ferris sets out to show people how they can spend far less time working and thus have the freedom to design the lifestyle of their dreams.
Basically, what this entails is outsourcing as many menial tasks as you can to some person in India so you can have time to travel the world pursuing your passion. While I think Mr. Ferris makes some good points about being more effective during your time at work, his premise that people should seek to avoid work completely through lifestyle design never sat well with me. Here are five of my beefs with “The Four Hour Work Week:”
1. How can leisure have any meaning in the absence of work? Oftentimes I crave a break from work, and when it finally comes, the first week of relaxation is fantastic. The second week is also enjoyable, but after that it gets a bit old and boring; I start to feel antsy and once more want to be engaged in doing something useful. By being industrious, when you actually get a break, it feels fantastic. You can’t have the sweet without the bitter.
2. Who will do the work when everyone wants to live the “Four Hour Work Week?” The idea of avoiding work just isn’t tenable. Sure, right now it’s possible to outsource work to some worker in India, but what happens when that guy in India wants to outsource his work so he can “lifestyle design?” Perhaps he will outsource his work to someone in Vietnam. But what happens when that person in Vietnam reaches a level of prosperity that allows him to live the dream? And meanwhile here at home, who will be our teachers, doctors, and lawyers? Who will fly the plane when we want to go gallivanting around the world? Oh yes, those poor souls who never bought the book.
The whole idea of shifting all your work to someone else is elitist and undemocratic. The implication is that the only people who will work are those who are not clever enough to have escaped from it. Why is work beneath you, but okay for other people?
3. Hard, and sometimes unpleasant work refines your character. If you outsource every unpleasant job to someone else, how will you develop the virtues of persistence, endurance, and self-discipline? Every arduous task that you complete strengthens your ability to deal with hardships in the future. If someone close to you dies, you won’t be able to outsource your grieving, and if you become sick, you can’t outsource the will to get better. If you have spent your life avoiding hard work, will you have the mental and emotional strength to deal with a crisis you can’t pawn off on someone else?
4. Work encourages personal responsibility. When you choose to do things yourself, you take ownership of the task at hand and thus the results of that effort. If you outsource your work to someone else, you may avoid having to take the blame if something goes wrong, but you also rob yourself of the joy and pride of success when things go well.
5. “The Four Hour Work Week” sets a bad example for your children. What does it teach your kids if they see that every time dad has an unpleasant job to do, he makes someone else do it? Outsourcing your work sends the message to them that every time you are faced with an arduous task, you should give up and let someone else do it for you. If you’re running for class president, why bother coming up with a campaign and making posters? You can just get someone else to do it. Being harassed by a bully? Don’t face him down….just hire someone to kick his ass for you.
I think my personal opinion on the whole thing fall somewhere in between Tim Ferris and the author of the article. Lets look at each of the 5 points…
1. I agree that leisure is not worth much unless it follows hard work. Ecclesiastes 5:12 even states that, “the sleep of a working man is pleasant.” However, what I took from the book was that by breaking free from the slavery of trading hours for dollars frees you up to pursue (with much hard work) your passion.
Sure, Tim glamorized the life of luxury and ease, but what I got out of it was that I really could break from doing a job just to pay the bills to doing something that I am passionate about and getting paid for it. There aren’t many people who change the world doing something they are not passionate about.
2. I was actually thinking this myself as I was reading it. “I wonder if any of Tim’s contracted worker’s have read his book?” Realistically, just like anything else, most people will not follow through. Only the determined few will actually go for it, leaving many others to do the work. And, learning from my co-workers, there are probably quite a few people who would be fine with the work. Some people just aren’t willing to make the sacrifices to follow Tim’s plan.
3-5. I decided to lump these all into one. Hard work does refine your character. I heard a wise man say that, “you should do one thing you hate every day, just for the practice.” His point was that if you want to be successful in life, you are going to have to do things you hate. So, you might as well get used to it.
Looking at the whole outsourcing thing as a bad example or as something that would steal your sense of accomplishment doesn’t fit with me. A man or woman is only capable of so much without the help of others. So, whether it is hiring employees to delegate to or outsourcing the tasks to a contracted worker, either way more is accomplished with the help of others.
Many business owners get caught in the trap of focusing on the unimportant tasks that will yield little fruit rather than the important ones they should be focusing on. Tim is obviously quite the master of “letting go” of the menial tasks and is not afraid to ask for help.
For those who have read the book, what are your opinions?
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Considering Primerica?
I have been to quite a few multi-level marketing recruiting meetings over the years. I consider myself to be an open-minded person, so I don’t mind meeting with the recruiters and really learning what the company is all about. It helps that I don’t have much desire to follow the crowd and don’t have a problem saying no or leaving when I realize it is not what I was interested in.
I met with someone from Primerica a few months back, and just got a call from a different recruiter a few days ago. Since they seem to be growing, I figured I would share my thoughts and see what everyone else thinks.
Primerica Pros
I was intrigued by Primerica because, having worked in banking and currently working in the brokerage industry, I understood that they were offering a valuable service to their clients. Primerica is a divison of CITI, one of the largest banks in the world. Citi offers just about every financial product under the sun and they use Primerica as a sales force of their many products.
What I think is brilliant with Primerica is that their goal is to help their customers use their existing income and shift things around freeing up extra cash to fund retirement and other savings goals. In the example they showed (I am not sure if it was the average American’s financial situation) they refinanced the customers mortgage and switched them from a cash value life insurance policy to a term policy freeing up $500 a month. They then take this $500 and show them how to make good use of it by investing in mutual funds for retirement, saving for college, etc…
The reason they can hire anyone is because they have a computer program that does the advising for them. The Primerica rep gives the computer specific information about the customer’s financial situation and it spits out what they call an FNA (Financial Analysis). This analysis shows the rep and the customer how they can save money and what they should put that extra money towards.
Coincidentally or not, this seems to be somewhat of a win-win. CITI is willing to make a sacrifice and make a little bit less money on a few products in order to free up the client’s money that will likely be spent on other CITI products.
Primerica Cons
- They are still a high pressure multi-level marketing firm. The problem I find with a lot of these companies is that the coerce and pressure people to join - personally, nothing turns me off quicker than when I feel like I am being pressured into something.
- I did not sign up with them so I don’t have a full understanding of how they get paid. My rep rambled through some gibberish about there being four ways, but was obviously very vague with me about it. From what other Primerica reps have said, most money is made from recruiting people rather than selling products - and it is difficult to make much money if you don’t recruit a bunch of people.
- The commission payouts are a lot lower than other salespeople in the industry. I guess they figure they can get away with it, since most of their reps wouldn’t have the credentials to work many other places in the industry.
- If you do leave and stay in the industry, they have a non-compete clause for 2 years within a 50 mile radius of your address. If you leave, you must leave behind the clients that you worked so hard to get in the first place.
I am sure there are bunch more pros and cons, but honestly, since I never signed up I don’t know all of the details. I would love to hear your perspective if you heard of them, been recruited by them, worked for them, or currently work for them. I know a lot of people are very passionate about MLMs one way or another, so if you comment please keep it civil.
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Recently there was a survey completed by the Norwich Business School that suggests that, “Allowing staff to swear at work can benefit them and their employers,” and that, “regular use of profanity… (would) reinforce solidarity among staff, enabling them to express their feelings, such as frustration, and develop social relationships.”
I used to take pride in my extensive knowledge and creative use of swear words. I have since cleaned up my mouth because I believe God is pleased by it. After all, The bible says that we have to give an account for every idle word that we speak on the day of judgement (Matt 12:36).
However, from my early day of swearing I can understand what the study is referring to when it mentions “solidarity.” I used to feel bonded to others who swore a lot. It was, at the time, a means of determining whether or not I wanted to hang out with the person. People who didn’t swear seemed to be a bit lame and less interesting to me.
Growing out of that phase of my life, I realized that most often my expletives came as a result of having little self-control. It wasn’t necessarily that I wanted to use them as often as I did, but I did not have much self-control.
I ate whenever I wanted, spent whatever I wanted, said whatever I felt, and basically did whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Many people living this like of little or no self control argue that they are “free” to do whatever they want. The irony is that while I thought I was “free”, I was really bound to all these things I didn’t want to do. Because of my lack of self control, I was a slave to whatever my body felt like doing at the time.
I remember being seconds away from getting into a fistfight (in front of customers) with a co-worker at work. It was a small issue that had escalated into a bigger one, but anyone in their rational mind would say that it is not worth losing your job over. I knew that I would likely get fired if I took a swing at him, but it didn’t seem to matter. Although I thought I was free to do whatever I wanted, I really wasn’t very “free”, since I could barely control myself from doing something completely foolish. It took every ounce of strength I had to walk away.
Like a city that is broken into and without walls Is a man who has no control over his spirit. Proverbs 25:28
Reading what I just wrote, it seems I have gone off on a bit of a tangent, but hey, it’s a blog, why not?
Getting back to swearing at the workplace - I also found it interesting that, “Most of the cases were reported by employees at the lower levels of the organisational hierarchies and it was clear that executives use swearing language less frequently.”
Even within this study, it seems to suggest that if you want to get promoted, you need to cut back on swearing. Could it be that there is a correlation to the amount of self-control one has and his or her likelihood of being promoted?
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Well, I think everyone KNOWS what to do with a raise, but the challenge is DOING it (My definition of personal finance is DOING what you KNOW you should DO). Personal finance is 80% doing and 20% knowing. Just incase you don’t know what to do with a raise, here are a few ideas…
Don’t spend your raise…
until you get it. I can’t even count how many times I have received the news of getting a raise and started spending the extra money before I saw it on a paycheck. Inevitably I would spend more than I actually was getting and when it showed up on my paycheck I would be upset because I spent more than the raise was. By waiting until I actually saw the money in my paycheck, I could enjoy the raise, rather than just watching it go out the door to cover my purchases I made the 2 prior weeks.
Expenses rise to meet income, and naturally we find a way fill the gap between expenses and income. This is why you need to make a plan in advance on how you will…
Allocate your raise…
in a way that works for your financial situation. Personally, my allocation plan is:
- 10% Tithe
- 20% Pay down debt
- 20% Retirement savings
- 50% Spend!!
These percentages frequently change based on the needs of the family (i.e. if we are in desperate need of a vacation or if we are planning a large purchase). The point is to have some sort of plan for the increase, before it comes. I have tried it both ways, and I much prefer allocating the raise over spending it in advance. If you can resist the urge to SPEND immediately, allocate your raise wisely, and follow through, you will be nicely rewarded with the comfort of seeing your financial situation improve.
Just following this allocation over the course of a working life would yield a huge retirement nest egg and house that would be paid off many years earlier than scheduled.
Enjoy your raise…
after all, you earned it. Don’t be such a good saver that you can’t enjoy spending money. If you received a raise, you most likely earned it. As you can see with my 50% going to spending money that I am very generous with myself. I love rewarding myself for all the hard work I have put into organizing my financial life.
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