Do you wonder whether you need college to become a successful person?

The short answer is no, not necessarily. Let’s talk about why this is true.

I want to outline to you some of the best self-education tools out there, and also stress the importance of college at the same time.

Self Education

There are pros and cons to pretty much every decision you make in life. Let’s examine the pros and cons of self education.

Pros:

• Learn the information you find relevant. Learn what pertains to you, not all the fluff. Learning relevant information will improve performance in that niche.
• Work at your own pace. You don’t have to blaze through a chapter of material in one week. This allows you to truly absorb the material.
• You can learn as much or as little as you want. This allows you to focus your learning on Quality over Quantity.
• The cost of self education can be extremely cheap. Most self-education resources are free, and some are much cheaper than a tuition payment.

Cons:

• You have to stay self-motivated. For some people this is easy to manage, but for many, it is easy to ignore your educational responsibilities.
• No structure. The lack of structure or planning in self-education can be a huge deterrent. Often times you will find yourself jumping from topic to topic with no rhyme or reason.
• Filtering quality resources. Sometimes you can’t tell whether or not a resource is a quality resource. Everyone can learn from Wikipedia, but that doesn’t mean that it is providing you with true and correct information.
• Opinions over facts. Most self-education systems are put in place to learn about things that you don’t really learn about in college. This can mean that there is a large amount of opinion associated with your learning.

College

Just as there are pros and cons with self-education, the same applies to college.

Pros:

• Structured learning process. You will be learning within a program that has been well established and is structured in order to propel you to the next level of learning.
• Networking. Networking in college can be one of the biggest benefits of attending. Building a system of peers and colleagues can lead to job opportunities or growth opportunities in a particular industry.
• Proven track record. Usually a university or college is accredited. Therefore there coursework is proven.
• A degree helps. Higher paying jobs generally require some sort of specialization. This is true even in a manual labor sense. If you attend college you are likely to find a higher paying day job.
• Entertainment value. You can’t deny that college is usually a blast. If you don’t attend a commuter school there are tons of opportunities to get involved in your college community and truly make it a well-rounded experience.

Cons:

• Cost. Colleges and Universities are steadily increasing tuition. Often times many cannot afford to attend prestigious universities. This causes less likelihood of your degree paying off in the future.
• Time to learn. Usually with structured programs, there is a designated amount of time you are stuck there. While this can be good, the pace isn’t left up to you. This forces you to learn at their pace, and can actually waste time or cause poor performance.
• This isn’t the environment for the entrepreneur. If you want to learn how to be an entrepreneur you have to be self-taught to an extent. College doesn’t generally teach you the stuff behind being dedicated to your own business.

The Best Option For You?

I have personal experience with both self-education and college. I have attended a 4-year university and obtained my undergraduate degree in engineering. In addition, I am completing my graduate degree in mechanical engineering in the near future.

 

I can tell you, college will set you up for success when you self-educate post college. 

I learned a lot in college, and everyone’s experience is different. However, I do know the most important thing I learned. I do understand what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur and I have to say college did contribute to this.

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills… The absolute most important thing I ever learned at a university was how to think critically and solve problems.

Setting up problems takes structure, and self-education may not direct you down the path of structure. This is why I find a university education to be extremely important.

Granted…you can learn structure on your own, and how to solve problems, or at least methods to solving problems. The problem with this path though, is that you are not faced with the same complicated variety of problems that you face in college.

Self-Education still has its place…

In order to get the most out of your college education, you must continue to learn. Ian Leslie’s book Curious is one of my favorites. He relates success to your desire to know.

If you are pushing yourself down a path of self education then you obviously have the desire to learn and know more. This is the desire that will make you a successful entrepreneur.

What you want to learn is completely up to you. Whether you want to learn a specific trade, how to market to a particular audience online, how to build your own successful brick and mortar business…whatever your passion may be, there are resources out there for you.

My personal favorite resource is one that I use daily. My self-education is perpetuated by the drive to understand everything there is about online digital marketing.

I learn more every day about catering to audiences and building the best possible site available to users. Digital marketing is nothing like what I studied in college, so I am forced to use the skills developed in college to educate myself on the tricks of the trade.

My Conclusion

I think the best option for you… is a combination of college and self-education. Both have their benefits as outlined above, and when combined these two forms of education become a force like no other.

You are taught how to learn, study, and develop skills in college that will allow you to make a living. However, you must further your education after learning these skills in order to make a fortune.

I personally create passive income through Affiliate Marketing. You can too.

If you’re interested in Affiliate Marketing, I have the resources that you need right now.

The BEST Resource For Self-Education

I have written a review about my favorite online marketplace for education. Here you can learn about everything ranging from optimizing your keyword usage online, to attracting users, and converting your websites to money machines.

If you want to know the secrets to how I make money online, check out My Wealthy Affiliate Review and go sign up for free.

If you have any of your own ideas, share them in the comments below! I really want to hear about your experiences with self-education. 

Tis’ the season of Tax Returns! For some this season brings joy (those of us who don’t have to fork over the dough), for others, immense amounts of pain in their wallet region.

As much as it is a chore to go in and have someone prepare your taxes for you or take care of your own tax forms at home, we all enjoy that big fat check that comes a couple weeks later. You may be wondering, however, what should I do with MY TAX RETURN?

Well first, let’s talk about what people usually do with their tax return.

Generally Speaking, They Blow It

When most people receive their federal or state tax return they usually have in mind that one special item that they’ve been eyeing for months. Whether this be a brand new article of clothing, a motorcycle, a jet ski, a boat…who knows, maybe gambling? While all of these things may seem like the best use of your money, are they really?

Let’s talk about what you’re gaining from the purchase of that shiny new watch at your local department store, or online at your favorite retailer.

Essentially you are paying for a fashion statement here, correct? Most everyone these days has a smartphone or at least a flip phone that can tell you what time it is. Don’t get me wrong, I wear watches every day, it is quick and convenient to check your watch over pulling out your iPhone and I really like the way that they set off some of the other things I’m wearing. I’m a firm believer in the wristwatch as a staple accessory of your wardrobe.

But is this really where you need to be spending that money that you’ve already given to the government and had no expectations of seeing again? Usually people have no idea how much they are going to receive on their returns when heading into these tax appointments, so why not pretend like that money doesn’t even exist?

I’ve been in your position, I’ve received hefty sums back on my returns, and to be honest, I’ve spent it on some really stupid crap. Quite frankly, I wish I had that money back to contribute to things that will make me MORE money.

You might be wondering then what I suggest you do with this cash. I’m going to tell you right now.

3 Ways to Turn Your Tax Return Into More Money

1. Save it and invest in real estate in the future. Did you know that recently the percentage of people who own the home they live in has dropped to around 64%? This is lower than home ownership in 1994, and with the increasing population you would thing that this rate would be increasing.

So why would you go blow your hard earned tax return when realistically this could be a small down payment on a home, if you save your return for 2-3 years, depending on how much you receive back each year, and combine this with additional savings you generate throughout the year, you could easily be a home owner in 2-3 years!

I understand that the housing market crash of 2008 was a serious setback for many people. If you haven’t seen The Big Short I highly suggest you watch it, especially if you already have a general understanding of markets and the way they operate. But, this is really no reason to be scared of buying.

Ideally, you want to make sure you can pay your mortgage in case your home is not rented (if an investment property), and if this remains true, then renting it out will essentially pay for the investment property overtime, and after your mortgage is paid off this is money in your pocket every single month.

The average price of a home in the US is down to around $188k, this means that if you are receiving a $5-10k tax return, you could easily be putting down 5-10% after two years. This is especially great if you are a first time home buyer.

2. Invest in the Stock Market. Many are scared of the stock market because they don’t understand the trends and way things operate. There are multiple types of investments you can make, and very generally speaking, you can either go after a stock for the short term or the long term.

Now there are other options, ETF’s, Options, Bonds, CD, but personally I’m a fan of investing in particular companies. For those who plan to go after the short term trading ideal I highly suggest looking into the teachings of Tim Sykes. This guy turned $12,000 into over $4million and is still going strong.

His story is quite fascinating, he runs a couple penny stocking chatrooms, and really provides a ton of great training on day trading as long as some free YouTube video lessons. Check out his site for free and see what you think. I personally pay for Tim’s Alerts and I make back the cost of the membership in 1 or 2 good trades.

Investing long term is a bit different story. Not everyone can play the market at particular times of day (morning spikes, afternoon power hour) so that’s where long term investing comes in. For long term stock plays I hold true to the teachings of Warren Buffet and Benjamin Graham.

I know I mentioned before that millionaires have around 7 forms of income, if you want to achieve this goal, then you need to diversify your income now. Stop wasting money, start investing money.

3. The third option…and my personal favorite…is to buy something classic or antique that will only appreciate in value rather than depreciate. If you run out and buy a brand new car off the lot, usually you will end up in debt, and quickly become upside down on the car as it’s value immediately depreciates just because you drove it off the lot

The difference between buying mid-tier new vehicles and high tear used vehicles is extreme. I’ve personally purchased a number of classic vehicles, and all are now worth more than what I paid for them. The value of classics goes up every year as less and less of these remain in good driving condition.

If I ever NEEDED to sell these vehicles, my Return on Investment (ROI) would be substantial, in addition, I got to cruise around in a nice classic on the weekends for a few years. As long as you take care of your nice things you’ll see a positive impact on these types of purchases.

However, be careful not to sink your money into something with mechanical troubles, etc.

In addition to cars, classic or antique jewelry is also a quality investment. Granted, many things fluctuate with the price of gold which is extremely unpredictable. I personally would invest in a classic Rolex limited edition or something that will only become more rare and valued as time goes on.




My motto is essentially: “Only spend money on things that will make you money.”

Now this isn’t necessarily 100% true as I do like to have nice things, but definitely look for opportunities to turn investments into profits.

FACT: The number one goal of any business is to earn a profit. Treat your finances like a business, make your number 1 goal earning a profit.

I hope that I provided you with some quality ideas on what to do with your tax return this tax season. If you have any more clever ideas on where to invest your money please leave me a comment below! I’d love to hear your input.