How did you become financially successful without going to college?

33 comments

  6. 1.Have a job that actually pays good and it’s on demand

    2.Sacrifice your time for a bigger benefit, for me I joined the military and now I enjoy the benefits I earned and they help me.

    3. Don’t spend your money on stupid things when you’re really young, trust me bro you don’t need that hellcat at 19 years old

    4. Invest your money, save your money. I have a TSP and I’m opening more retirement plans, I also invest in rental properties and stocks.

    5. Educate yourself and live different life experiences, like traveling, other cultures, food etc.. this will make you a more knowledgeable and interesting man

    6. Trust the process, nothing happens from one night to another

  7. Using my parents money to build a business, and I will do the same for my sons.

    I have a master in Philosophy.

  10. Worked hard, built up a great reputation in my field in my local area. Lived below my means and never went into debt.

  11. The first guy I graduated high school with to become a millionaire, drove a truck. But here’s the kicker, you can make a decent dollar being a trucker but you can’t make a great dollar, unless you acquire certifications. The reason he made so much money is that he carried munitions and explosives and did so across the border. He would make five to ten times per kilometer with a regular trucker would make. So whatever you do, acquiring skill in that trade is the key. If you’re a welder, learn how to weld pipelines. If you’re a construction worker learn how to do high steel.

    You make money above average by making your skill set above average.

  13. Real Estate. I borrowed against my equity and bought a rental. After a year, I borrowed against the equity of the rental to buy another rental.. and so on..

  14. I didn’t fall into student debt, I budgeted my money with minimal wasteful spending, and I invested in a shit ton of gold and silver during 2020 and sold for a $8000 profit when the lockdowns lifted and economy stabilized.

  15. Pick a trade, and go to trade school or start apprenticing under a craftsman.

    Otherwise, you need to do what the boomers said and go to college. But just make sure you actually look at the salaries for the career path you are choosing. That way you can start out ahead of the curve by choosing something that fits your favorite subjects and skills AND it’s going to also pay well.

    I wanted to be a teacher until I found out what they got paid. I’m a rocket scientist now.

  17. Learned how to do useful stuff with technology. Outworked the people around me. Acted like I was an owner and not an employee. Never said “that’s not my job”. Learned enough about the non-tech stuff that goes into a business (sales, marketing, general business acumen)

    Got promoted over and over. Still not where I want to be but I make low six-figures at 28, have no debt, and have equity in the company I work for and a side-busisnesses that will hopefully be a steady cash stream in the next year or so.

    That’s the income side of things. For most people, how you spend money will be more important than how much you make. I know people who make less than me and have more assets because they were much better at saving and investing than I was in their first few years in the workforce. I also know people who earn more than me, but are deeply in debt and have much less free cashflow because of all the payments they’ve gotten themselves stuck with.

  18. My uncle had to drop out of school after like 7th grade to support his family. Apprenticed with an electrical company, became an electrician, started his own company, got sent to Vietnam, came home, fast forward to his 30’s and he was making 6-figures doing commercial electrical work—which was pretty huge money in the 80’s.

    He only actually worked about 25-30 hours a week, took 3 vacations a year, would travel around to watch NASCAR and pro wrestling events all year, and spent the most of his time restoring classic cars and reselling them.

    He retired in his early 50’s and passed away in 2001…left my aunt with no debt and enough to where she hasn’t had to work since.

    Not a bad life for a kid who started out dirt poor in rural Georgia.

  19. Learned a trade in high-school. Took vocational classes as an electrician. Graduated with my journeyman license then in 4 years got my masters and my contractors license. Now at 29 I’m a licensed General Cobtractor, Electrical Contractor, Master Electrician, and run my own company. I come from 4 generations of carpenters but we were dirt poor, all dad had to offer me was his old tool belt and some antiquated knowledge.

    I started out without enough money to pack a lunch and some tools that were worn out before I was born. Got a little under $200 for graduation from everyone and bought myself a new pair of work boots and a new hammer. Drove an old beat to hell chevy blazer to work on gas the first week I’d had to borrow money to get. Now a decade later I own a fleet of 6 new one ton chevy trucks and employ a dozen guys.

    Edit: I still drove the beat to hell blazer myself until a year ago when the frame snapped.

  20. I can tell you how I became financially unsuccessful from staying at college (for ten years 🙃)

  24. Found a job with advancement opportunities. Showed up early, worked 120 percent everyday. Stayed on management about future growth opportunities. Never call in sick. Now I handle almost 200 of our accounts, great salary, company car, etc. Started at 19 years old for $12 an hour. I’m 26 now. Bought my first house 3 years ago. Other recommendation would be to go learn a trade. spend less than you need to, on literally everything, and get your own place. If it ain’t a car or a house, don’t finance it. Credit cards are a scam.

  25. I’m a writer and therefore an artist, but i can tell you something about being an artist: **It is not (!) about your work.**

    Like you see paintings in the art gallery that have only 3 black lines on a white background and you think “I can do that too!”. And yes, you can do it too. The problem is: You need contacts and a network to get your art to the art gallery. You need to know the people that can help you with this, you need the contacts. That is what you get there, not how good you are as a painter or drawer. I saw a lot of drawings by reddit users that have a veeery high quality, but without the network, these people can unfortunately never make a living out of their skills.

    So for me, i write manuals and other stuff, but also novels: For getting a novel published, you need to know the people there. They will only read through your stuff, when they know you.

    This means, you have to get into the local scene, get to know the people, attend parties and meetings, you have to talk to the people, show yourself in the best way you can and basically sell your art just like you’d sell a product as a salesman. For this, you’ll need speech skills and you need charisma. You have to motivate others to join your cause, to give you the chance to present your art to a big audience.

    You also have to adjust your things to the job, like when i write a manual, i can’t write with poems and have a complex structure, i need to write simple so even the most stupid idiot can still understand how to use that machine. You have to think, what they can do wrong and how to prevent this, even when you know, they won’t give a shit about your warnings to not stick their dicks into a meat grinder.

  26. I wouldn’t say I’m unsuccessful but comfortable. Lived with parents as long as I could. Start working and saving early. Don’t buy things that you don’t need. Be frugal.

  27. Started my own IT business, mostly installing Ethernet cable, connecting all their PCs into a network, then giving them an ongoing support contact.

    Used that experience to land an Enterprise level position, and made a career of it.

    Lots of classes and certifications along the way. But no degree like most of my peers

  30. Im a Piping Designer

    I went from turning wrenches as a pipe fitter to designing chemical plants using cad software.

    I learned how to do things that my coworkers couldn’t to make myself more versatile and valuable.

    Then, I started to find problems that had no solutions, and solve them, creating new job descriptions for myself and became irreplaceable.

    I earn as much or more than many of my colleagues with engineering degrees.

  32. I picked up a trade, schooling was shorter, cheaper, and I was earning before I graduated. Turns out it’s way easier to build wealth when you’re not paying of massive student loan debt.

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