How to Get The Most Out of College to Set Yourself Up For Financial Success

I’ve been noticing an uptick lately of college kids coming to shoot me emails/ask me about starting the climb to wealth. Which, by the way, is exactly what I love to see. I plan to write more about setting yourself up for financial success while still in college, but before that happens I’ll defer to the experts who’ve written about this for ages. I asked Martin from Studenomics to come to the blog and offer his perspective, as he’s been writing about exactly this since 2008(!)

The following is a guest post from Martin of Studenomics, where he tries to make personal finance fun since you have enough to stress about. You can click here to check out the wide range of content on everything from student loans to getting paid to drink coffee.

I wish I was young again. I would do it differently.

Most people over 30

The best part about being young is that you don’t have to make the same mistakes that generations before you did. I was lucky enough to start reading and researching personal finance as a greedy teenager so I was able to learn from the mistakes made by others. I want you to learn from my mistakes and accomplishments.

If I were around 18 and about to start college, here’s how I would do it with the benefit of hindsight. This is how you can get the most out of the college experience to set yourself up for financial success as an adult so that you’re not broke until you’re 40.

Trust me, there’s nothing like having money in the bank when you’re 30. When you have financial success, especially in college, you have options. At 30 years old, I went on an epic trip that I had been planning for years. I visited Thailand, Australia, and Hawaii. The entire time I was away, my rental properties and investments brought in money.

I’m not sharing this to brag. I just want you to know that you can set yourself for financial success while still partying in college. The sooner that you start taking care of your finances, the better off you’ll be in the future.

Here’s the advice that I have for all college students who want to set themselves up for financial success…

Take something highly specific in school.

It’s important that you study something specific so that you have job prospects for life after college. Try to study something specialized in school so that you become a master at one thing instead of dabbling in everything and leaving college more confused than when you started.

I’m not against studying something that you enjoy or a general topic. There’s also nothing wrong with going to school to find independence and to grow as a person. I just want you to know that it’s an expensive journey if you discover that you hate school and you drop out with loans or if you graduate with a degree that won’t land any work at all.

If you’re going to rack up student loans, it’s important that you can at least get a job upon graduation to start making some moves.

How specific should you be with what you study in college?

• Look for job opportunities. Take a few minutes to see what kind of work your field leads to. You don’t want to be left frustrated at 23 after racking up $50,000 worth of debt with no job prospects.
• Try to at least know roughly what you’re into. There’s nobody forcing you to attend college at 17. You can wait a year or you can learn a trade. Try to know what your interests are and what field you want to work in.
• Don’t be afraid to go for a shorter period of time. You don’t have to attend a four-year program. You can attend community college first.

There’s nothing wrong with studying something general, but there are cheaper and easier ways to figure out what you want to do next with your life. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to “discover yourself.”

Find a part-time job.

Working in college will set you up for future success. I recommend that all students work so that they aren’t entirely new to the workforce when they graduate.

As a broke college student, there are two guarantees:

1. You have energy.
2. You need money BADLY.

This is why I suggest that you work some hours. I always worked in college because I wanted financial success and because I knew that I would’ve just wasted this time if I wasn’t working (let’s be honest).

Working in college will do the following for you:

• Show you how rough life can be if you work a minimum wage job that you hate.
• Teach you about time management.
• Give you money that you desperately need.
• Force you to work on your social skills.
• Turn you into a decent employee who shows up on time and puts in the effort.

I worked throughout college and I also started Studenomics. I wouldn’t change anything. There was plenty of time for my studies and I focused in class because I knew that I couldn’t mess around.

While studying I worked a job that wasn’t very exciting. Everyone at the place was miserable, but the job paid enough that nobody could leave. Most of the staff didn’t have any other options. I went from hating school to studying on my breaks to ensure that I got good grades because I didn’t want to be stuck at the job that I was at.

College is the best time to test out different jobs. You can use your summers and weekends to try out different gigs to see what field you enjoy and to make some money. My cousin worked in a company throughout college and was then hired for an advanced role after graduating.

Here are three quick options for finding work in college:Here are three quick options for finding work in college:

1. Take a program that offers work terms.
2. Apply for work on campus.
3. Find any random job that pays you.

Start a business.

College is the best time to start some sort of business or to test the waters with freelancing. I started my blog as a student because I was sick of studying business without having an actual business.

You don’t want to be scrambling at 23 to try to figure out what you’re going to do. You want to have some money coming in and something to work towards.

What kind of business can you start as a student?

• Tutoring. This is the easiest way to see what entrepreneurship is like. Offer tutoring on campus to make some money. You can master one subject and then teach everyone who takes it after.
• Anything online. You can easily start a blog, grow an Instagram page, or work on some sort of a freelance service since you’re always on your phone/laptop anyways.
• A service that’s needed around campus. Could you be a DJ? Could you offer writing help?

Get involved in a community/group.

I’ve come to believe that connecting is one of the most important business—and life—skill sets you’ll ever learn. Why? Because, flat out, people do business with people they know and like. Careers—in every imaginable field—work the same.

Keith Ferrazzi, Never Eat Alone

I did zero of this kind of stuff when I was in college; I didn’t get involved in any groups or communities. I didn’t really make any friends in relevant groups. I hung out with my old high school friends.

As a result I didn’t really start building my social circle out until my mid-20s. I wasn’t anti-social or anything, I just didn’t get involved around campus. I attended classes and left. I barely lingered around. Now I regret not becoming more involved in the community.

If you want options after college, it’s important that you join relevant groups so that you’re part of established networks. This will pay dividends in the years after college as everyone goes into different directions. Many of my friends have found work through old college friends who put in a good word for them.

Make real friends and connections

Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone.

Margaret Wheatley

It’s noble to get good grades. Here’s the thing: that doesn’t really matter as much as you think it does. You have to know people, be able to work with people, and establish some sort of a network.

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

Have you heard that quote? It’s annoying but it’s true. The best jobs don’t always go to the best candidates.

This is why it’s important that you make friends, connect with your professors, and make connections so that you’re not all on your own when you leave college.

Drink water and try to stay healthy-ish.

Chug lots of water. Stay hydrated. Get your sleep. Take care of your health.

There’s no sense in walking around campus like a zombie. There’s no benefit to always being tired. I know that it’s easier than ever to give in to distraction. With all of the dating apps and video games, there’s always something to keep you up and keep you away from your studies.

That’s how you can set yourself up for success as an adult when you’re a student. You can make some awesome memories if you play sports, meet some cool people, and work interesting jobs.

I know what you’re going through. I only got into saving money because I wanted to have fun in my 20s. Then I got to travel the world at 30. I never had to get a real job because I saved up in college.

Photo credit: Michael Marsh via Unsplash and Martin from Studenomics