My D was a very strong musician. She was composing by age 9, taking composition classes at a college conservatory at 11 because she was outpacing her teacher (who was an Eastman grad), etc…
Throughout her middle school years musicians were telling her that if she had any other interests/strengths, she should do that instead. She saw first hand super talented adults really struggling. Her conservatory professor, who was amazing, was still living with his parents and he was in his early 30s.
She told us at the end of 8th grade that music would be a hobby and that she was going to be an engineer.
We would have certainly supported her decision to pursue music as a career but she got the message loud and clear about standard of living from others in the field.
I think it is important for students to understand the financial ramifications of their interests.
For the record, she still plays and performs regularly and it’s a big part of her life. She says that not having to do it to pay the bills makes it more enjoyable and a stress reducer.
That’s great! It’s good that she saw the compromises others had to make when they opted for a different choice and was able to make an informed decision.
Several of our kids’ friends are struggling and relying on their parents and even friends for support in order to make their art their career. A couple have become bitter at the ripe old age of 35.
Yes. I believe that any interest can have a career that pays. But sometimes you have to be flexible about the jobs in terms of approach, working at it only part-time or owning the business etc.
We raised our kids to want a career that pays enough to pay for their lifestyle.
Half our family is in the arts and there are definite considerations when working in a field that might not have consistent/high paying employment. I think it’s important to know about this and modify your objectives accordingly.
Our kids love the arts but have no interest in doing anything in their art fields professionally. I don’t think it’s about the pay but more about what interests them.
In terms of housing, I think our kids are likely to buy in an area with high pay and numerous jobs. We’ll see.
I’ve made an offer to pay for an MBA at a top university, my daughter turned it down. But she’s doing an excellent job for an artist kid. So I just leave them be. I have never had to subsidize her for anything, not even cell phone. However, occasionally my husband fills up her gas tank when she comes to visit us.
D was also a musician and at one time was fascinated by the idea of Musical Therapist as a career. she job shadowed one many years back to understand the profession and, indirectly, the lifestyle. She also then decided engineering was a better choice.
I’d you listen to Office Ladies, you’ve heard the discussions about following your passions, the fulfillment from doing what you love, the reality of average earnings (actors) earned in the profession, and the rarity of being the success that people see and dream about. There’s much to be said about doing what you love, but also much to be said about financial security. Everyone needs to make that personal decision.
Yes, I wish the future of rates, inflation, job security, etc., was foreseeable. We just make the best decisions based on history and forecasts.
The men I dated seriously were great musicians—one played the flute, the other the guitar. Both decided to keep music as a hobby and got degrees in other fields. One got phd in economics and teaches and is available as an expert witness. The other got masters in ecology and CS and is now assisting at a U.
There ARE music majors who are self supporting. No, they aren’t all rich and famous. But be grateful there are artists willing to work in these arts professions. Otherwise, folks with more means wouldn’t have as many arts options when they wanted to see a concert, play, etc.
Does this mean they can afford a $600,000 or more house? No…but then neither can a lot of other young professionals.
It never dawned on me to make the following suggestion:
Would any of you advise your adult child to consider a different career in order to be self-supporting? Would they consider pursuing their interests as hobbies in order to switch to more lucrative profession?
A boss and friend of mine was very musical. He had been a street musician in NYC for a time and loved that experience. He and a group of friends kept up their ‘wedding band’ and played 10 gigs a year - 9 weddings and each year in December played for the Christmas party for an adult Down syndrome group. He loved that ‘job.’ It was pretty funny as the name of the band was something like Color My World as that was the name on the drum set and they didn’t see the need to change it (for 10 gigs a year), they wore the same tuxedos for years, only played the songs they knew (no special requests). Take it or leave it - and they were always booked for the max number of weddings per year! I don’t think they made enough money to pay to have the tuxes cleaned.
Alas, when he wanted to get married and have a family and with it the trappings of a house, car, vacations, he needed a profession (he had 2, CPA and tax attorney) so he worked his day job and loved his music just the same.
Oh my goodness, yes!…extremely grateful we never had to!!
The part of the question that I’m focusing on is “in order to be self-supporting”. I wouldn’t discourage music or any major of study, as long as my son/daughter was counseled on the realistic implications of such a choice. From how it will affect where/how they may live and who will make up the difference.
I’ll even go a step further and say I think a parent does a disservice to a young person if they lead them to believe they don’t have to concern themselves with being self-supportive financially.
But back to the topic of affordable rent for recent grads. We’re in the Chicago area and while I felt the rent my kids were paying upon graduation was/is high, I sat and did a rough comparison of what I paid for rent when I graduated from college in the 80s. I was a teacher making $22K and my share for a nice 2 bedroom condo close to my school was $300/month. When I compared my kids’ share of the rent with friends in Lincoln Park as a percentage of their starting salary, it was a little higher, but not much.
Obviously, if my kids had chosen majors/careers with lower compensation then it would be a different story.
My knowledge of the Chicago area you could fit into a thimble, but from what VERY little I know, isn’t the Lincoln Park area one of, if not, the nicest areas in Chicago proper?
It is a very desirable area for a lot of reasons: Wrigley to the north, the bars and restaurants, access to downtown and the lakefront and in comparison to the south side, safer.
There’s a mixture of the very expensive and older walk-ups and apartments. DePaul University has a campus in the area and there are a lot of things that appeal to 20-somethings.
Edited to add: if you want new with amenities it can be quite expensive but my kids chose older walk-ups. Their only “must-have” choices were A/C and in-unit washer/dryer. Funny thing I’ll share is my DD’s first apt in the area was in a fantastic location BUT when you walked in the front door, if you were to put a ball on the hardwood floor, it would’ve rolled into the bathroom! Lol. Yep, it’s an example of choices and trade-offs.
@chaotiemom, I went to HS in that area, and still have family there. The housing market is a big attraction, and if you’re in the military, affiliated with the medical college, ASU or Savannah River Plant, you can live a great life. Otherwise, opportunities are limited.
One of my sisters lives an hour south of Louisville, KY (which is itself another affordable small city). House prices are extremely reasonable.
Location that has surprised me: Salt Lake City! I lived there with my grandparents as a young child and track their old house. Prices have gone up dramatically over the past four years.
S decided to work In his firm’s DC office rather than LA after graduation. Rents will be similar or slightly lower in DC (pay is the same) but for him the biggest difference is that living in the middle of DC he won’t need to buy a car.
S2 is living overseas in large part because the cost of living in the DC area is so ridiculous (and it has gotten worse since he moved). Our house has increased in value by about 50% in the past two years – and we are an entry-level neighborhood. (We still have formica counters.) Apartments near us (at the end of a Metro line, 1 hr+ commute into DC) are $2k. He still wants to go to grad school, and that’s darned near a pre-req for the kind of job he wants.
We haven’t had the “maybe you should retool so you can support yourself” conversation yet. OTOH, he’s living in a war zone with his GF, and they are contemplating future plans. Even before the war, he was self-supporting in the city where he lived. The topic may take care of itself. But moving 5,000 miles to get affordable housing is kind of nuts.
My youngest is on her 2nd home purchase. They first bought in a city half way between Sacramento and the east bay. They sold that and purchased a house with acreage and horse facilities. In order to afford this they both now have longer commute times. They paid around $750,000 a year ago in a tiny town about 40 miles northeast of Sacramento. One restaurant and not even a full sized grocery store. They both work in more populated areas so they shop on the way home from work. Closer to their jobs they would have had to spend 1.5 million for probably less land and not as nice a house.
My other kids are renting in more expensive parts of Ca and will not likely be able to afford to buy unless they get parental help.
As much as I support study your passion but the young people I know who graduated with a skill have had an easier time making a living wage.
Many of the kids I know look for the highest paying jobs without regard to rents because in the long run, those jobs end up leaving you with a larger networth than lower paying jobs in lower cost of living areas. Comp curve is steeper in these jobs.
Certain kinds of higher paying jobs are concentrated in a few geographical areas. There are, or at least used to be, advantages to be in those areas because of easier job-hopping and career advancement, and quicker dissemination of information relevant to those jobs. Do these advantages still exist, in the age of remote work and gigabit+ internet?
The highest paying jobs are also in the fastest growing parts of an industry. You expect your compensation to grow a few hundred percent in the first decade. So you ignore the initial high cost of living.