Quote:
Originally Posted by SkyHigh
My point is that you might make incredible sum of money in aviation, but most likely will not. If you were to buy a home instead at least you would have a roof over your head and a growing asset to sell later. The odds are significantly against being able to earn back the price of training.
This has to be the first point I agree with SkyHigh on in a long time. I also did not take out a loan for my flight training. I paid for every cent of it with money I had saved from highschool/college jobs and investing in the stock market. And I trained at an FBO. But, instead of having a $40,000 nest egg, I have just a few thousand. I could have bought a house (well, I don't know if 40k would even be a reasonable down payment in CA, but...). And yes, it probably would be a better return on my investment.
But there is a reason why I chose to fly. I love it. I'd rather fly 20hrs a week instead of work 40hrs a week.
"If you truly do something you enjoy, you'll never work a day in your life."
So back to how this relates to loans, I would say go for the flight training if its something you truly enjoy. Here's what I recommend.
Work your butt off for about 6 months. Save every penny you can. Then start flight training. Keep a full time job (try for hours like 6am-2pm or 2pm-10pm). That way you can either do flight training in the morning or afternoon. 9 to 5 is tough, especially in the winter. You will have maybe $25k a year coming in from your job, and you will probably spend $35k on flight training. Not bad. Add the money you saved from the 6 months, and now you only have to take out a small loan.
Avoid debt at all cost. Do not get a 100k loan!! Do not go to an aviation academy!!