be business/profession/career goal oriented....not object oriented.Many wealthy people I know strived to succeed at what they were doing sacrificing alot of material things early on to achieve success.Luck certainly plays a part. Personally looking back on all my years of schooling/training I did not think about what slick car or fancy watch I could afford after I was done..Then at some point in your life( varies a lot) you don't have to worry about scraping pennies together,to afford all the trappings of life....so my point is be less worried about toys now and concentrate on diving into one or two of your choices.
Agree with this point. Just focus on being successful, the money and toys end up coming later. With that said, it sucks not buying them for a decade but it is better in the end...
To your point on what to do next, find something that you are good at and enjoy at least a bit, then focus on building that knowledge. In your list you mention Auto Body and Mechanical Engineering (ME), that is quite a split and requires significantly different educational needs. One is a trade school and an apprenticeship while the other needs a four year college with associated costs. In my opinion, neither is better or worse, just different but they will take you down diverging paths.
There are a lot of great trade careers (e.g. auto body) that can make a decent coin, these could enable a cheaper school phase and quicker to earning but may have a ceiling for the average person.
On the other hand, a college degree can open up greater earning potential 10 years down the road but will require a high up-front cost and/or school loans that will be around for a while.
If it were me, I would evaluate what I wanted to do, factor in the cost of entry (school) and decide from there. Be realistic (meaning use the average) and do some research on what the salary is for the different career options. As an example, I have a lot of good friends that graduated with me 10 years ago in ME that make around 60-70K. They have good jobs and do interesting work but they are hitting their ceiling while still paying down 100K in school loans. I am not being negative about their career choices, simply providing a couple of data points to factor in.
Once you know what each career option makes, take your school costs and figure out what it will take to pay down and go from there.
Whatever you decide, make sure you put a lot of effort into it. You will end up much happier and healthier by succeeding (at least in my opinion) and success is usually driven by effort.
Kevin
