Time Value of Money
 

If you were to invest the cost of your education and flight training (150K) instead in 35 years invested at 7% it would be worth $1,680,939.71

SkyHigh

You still have to pay tuition, room and board, and other expenses whether you study ecomonics, biology, history, or engineering. So that arguement doesn't hold true. It's almost as if you are promoting not going to college because it's a waste of money.

Another angle
 

If you were to purchase a home with the cost of training and education instead in 30 years you would have an asset that has doubled in value three times, provides excellent write-offs and is producing a monthly rental income that is equivalent of first year FO pay. Most likely by then it will be equivalent to captain pay.

Oh, and lets not forget that you can also live in it.

SkyHigh

College
 

Increasingly it seems to be.

SkyHigh

Opportunity cost
 

In any case you will need to earn far more that what the average pilot career can afford to be worth the opportunity costs.


You would be better off to put the money into savings.


SkyHigh

yada yada yada

And this money comes from where? Poof! I have 200,000 dollars to buy a house. Wrong, nobody will just give that to you. You have to earn it with payments plus a 20% down payment. And there are very few professions that will allow you to live plus afford morgage payment. Not too many high school graduates plunk down for a home the day after they graduate

I hope nobody spends 150K on flight training. I will agree with the military as an option if your personality agrees with it. Plus, I think there is a way to enlist and then go to college to get a degree paid for by the military. I'm not opposed to this option either but I believe you are committed to a certain number of years after.

Money
 

The money must come from someplace. Lets assume it is from a student loan. I am not fully briefed upon the particulars but lets figure %8.9 over 20 years.

The student loan payments would be $1340/mo.

At $6.0 per hour a person could earn 11,520 in a year.

As a CFI a good average is 15K per year minus $16080 per year for debt service is a negative 1080 before you have even subtraced for taxes and living expenses. The loss continues until the hire date at a regional and then for more years until upgrade. Even then you would have to live in poverty for more than a decade to catch up with all the losses.

Buy a house instead.

SkyHigh

I have to go and make breakfast for four sons now.

Later when I have more time I will write a longer post detailing how you will loose money over simply buying a house or investing the money VS a typical airline career.

So...we'll actually assume 8 dollars an hour. 15,360 a year minus rent...~600 a month, plus a car...(we will assume you bought it in HS with some hard earned money), plus utilities...~120 dollars, plus insurance for that car....~ 80 dollar a month and finally food...~250 a month and we aren't adding clothes, health insurance, or other unforseen expenses and entertainment whatever that may be. Minimum = ~1050 per month. That is a lot for 8 dollars an hour. 15,360-12,600=2760 This is the maximum you are able to save per year. Nobody would be able to save that. You would have to save that for at least 7 to 8 years for the down payment and then after that you would have to be able to make the morgage payments. Now maybe your making 12 an hour after working so hard for that company after 7-8 years. You are now making 23,060 a year. That still won't cover the morgage plus everything else. Furthermore, I forgot that your beater car you saved so much for in High School decided not to run one day and you have to go get a loan for a newer used car. Now you have to either a. use all that money you saved up or b. go get a loan that will be about 400 a month.

End result = go to college and study something you love to do. Yeah, those first couple of years might be rough but it will eventually pay off.

Now I have go back to the couch and watch ESPN on my day off.