Maggie's Farm

This is a copy of a comment I made over at Captain Capitalism on the same topic.

I worked for over 40 years as a design engineer (degree in Mechanical Engineering with an emphasis on heat transfer and thermogodamnics), with the last 27 years for the same division of the same company (although in 3 or 4 different positions within that division). I routinely put away the maximum-allowed 17% into a 401(k), and my wife and I lived for over 25 years in a tiny house in the heart of the MN hive (S. Mpls.) since it was equidistant between our jobs. Because she was working we paid off a 30 year mortgage in 11 years and started saving like crazy. She retired a dozen years ago, and I retired at age 60 a few years ago. We almost instantly moved to a much freer (and income tax free) state, bought a much larger house (with cash), and are living very comfortably on very little. That's just background.

With regard to "what to study", I have to vehemently disagree with your suggestion that people move into STEM careers. It has become a dead-end, with the collectivist left-wing of the DemoPublican flooding the country with H1B visa holders. Engineering jobs are being occupied by low-cost visa holders. They are also being outsourced to foreign countries at an increasing pace. The company for which I worked attempted to use design drafters from India to get around having to pay Americans for the work; the problem was that the utter incompetence of those "designers" was such that everything had to be re-done, corrected, sent back, re-re-done, until the cost ended up being much higher than if they'd just used competent (American) designers to begin with. Did that teach management? No, of course not. It was obviously our fault for not training them well enough.

What can smart, technically savvy people go into?

My suggestion is to go to a trade school. Yes, I know it's not as glamorous as some high-buck "college", but learning a trade that will allow you to earn a decent living will pay off almost instantly when you graduate. One excellent example is learning HVAC systems and repair (furnaces, air conditioners, etc.). These systems have become increasingly complex and difficult to repair, yet every house in the country has one or more such systems. And with the frequency of repair and replacement skyrocketing due to the manufacturers cutting costs by using the cheapest components it will remain lucrative.

Most importantly these kinds of jobs CANNOT be outsourced to a low-cost person in Mumbai. It's really difficult for somebody in India to turn a wrench or vacuum-pump down an A/C condensing unit.

Another huge advantage is that once you've gotten some years of practical experience working for someone else's company and paid off your (very minimal) school debts, it's relatively simple to start your own business and go into competition. If you develop a reputation as being prompt, accurate in your estimates, and of doing good work, you will have a never-ending flow of references for new work. If your beginning employer is looking to retire and you are the shining star of his employees (yup, lots of hard work, showing up on time, having initiative, etc.) they may even sell the company to you, wanting to leave their legacy in good hands.

This is only one example of this kind of career choice. Plumbing, electrical, appliance repair...all of these require a physical presence which cannot be outsourced overseas. And as the inevitable hyper-inflation starts to hit the country people will be more interested in repairing and maintaining their (poorly built) homes than in replacing them.