Graduations

This weekend launches many high school graduations throughout the U.S. I remember graduating and thinking that we now owned the world. Boy what a dose of reality that turned out to be!

I know a bunch of teens who think getting a real job and making money is going to lead to riches and huge wealth. In reality, this happens very rarely. I know of one person from my high school who became very wealthy--of course, years of "doing business" down in Jamaica helped to make him wealthy--dealing drugs is NOT something to be proud of, so he's kind of the laughing stock among my friends and I now. But, I digress.

In the real world, this is something that not all teens think about--the state and federal government take a good chunk of your money away in taxes. 35% is what I pay as a self-employed person. They take away money for electricity, computer/internet if you have it, auto loans, auto insurance, mortgage/rent, homeowner's insurance, water bills if you have town water, heating costs, phone bills, etc. Then a good chunk of your money goes to upkeep of your home, your car, yourself.

These are things that they didn't teach back in the late 80's when I was in high school. Hopefully, they do now! Enjoy your graduation, but also don't let the real world overwhelm you when you really enter into it!