Pam Scott
Whats-Your-Major.com
College planning, either for children or grandchildren, is often a part of my clients’ financial plans.
But even if you’ve saved enough money, that’s not all there is to college planning.
With that in mind, I’d like to introduce you to Pam Scott, President of What’s Your Major. Pam is a friend and colleague focused on helping save students time and saving parents money.
Here’s Pam . . .
——-
The first fact you need to know is that 40% of college sophomores drop out. 40%.
Why? They don’t know what they want to do.
It happened to us. Our first-born, Christopher, went to Georgia State. He was going to major in business, like everybody else. This from a kid who hated math.
At 1 a.m. on October 10, first semester of his sophomore year, he called to tell us he was dropping out. “I don’t know what I want to do.”
You see, most kids go off to college with unrealistic expectations. First, they’re free of Mom and Dad. They’re on their own for possibly the first time in their life.
And college offers so many great things to do—“great things” that can distract them from the real purpose of being in school. There’s beer, lots of the opposite sex, sports, beer, non-stop video games, etc.
What happens the sophomore year is the kids who had so much fun their freshman year, now realize they are supposed to learn something. They are like deer in headlights: “I don’t know what I want to do.” So they drop out.
The kid who came home was disillusioned. Christopher’s self-esteem was in the toilet. He wondered what was wrong with him, that he couldn’t hack it, couldn’t handle college. Folks, you do not want to live with the kid who drops out.
Remember—40% of sophomores drop out. That’s a sizable risk you face. That could be your phone ringing at 1 a.m.
Fact No. 2: Students, on average, change their majors three times before they find one they can stick with. Each time they change majors, it usually involves at least another semester of school. In public schools, that one semester can cost about $10,000. It’s $20,000 or more for a semester in private schools.
——-
Something to think about, isn’t it? Thank you, Pam.
If you’d like to learn more about the work Pam is doing to help students save time and parents save money, please visit her website. You can also join Pam this Friday evening, March 29th, at 6pm where she’ll be sharing more details and stories about how to make the most of college after your student starts classes. And you can hear the happy ending to her son Christopher’s story and some of the other wonderful outcomes she’s facilitated in the lives of the families she’s worked with.
Please feel welcome to reach out to Pam directly or let me know if I can help you connect with her.
When I work with women, many of whom are widows or divorcees, they want to avoid costly “detours” that can negatively impact their own financial comfort and confidence. The challenges outlined above around education are just one example of how financial planning often goes beyond just the “financial.”
If you have questions, would like to be put in touch with Pam or would simply like to have a chat, please feel welcome to give me a call. I’d love to hear from you.
On another note, I recently had a conversation with another colleague, Dr. Mary Gresham. Mary is a psychologist who focuses on financial therapy and financial psychology for women. I hope you’ll check out our conversation and learn more about the work Mary is doing.
To better understand the nature and scope of the advisory services and business practices of Wealthcare Capital Management, Inc., please review our SEC Form ADV Part 2a, which is available here. Past performance is not a guide to future returns. Before acting on any analysis, advice or recommendation in the above content, you should seek the personalized advice of legal, tax or investment professionals. By selecting the links in the above email, you may be redirected to third party websites not under the supervision of Wealthcare who may have different privacy policies than Wealthcare.
