Student debt bubble popping

[Athan]

Time to whip out the Ron Paul warnings so we can wave them all over the statists faces and say "HE TOLD YOU SO MOTHAFUCKA!"

 

[Zippyjuan]

curious, what happened to cause the turn around?
would that be Volker's rate rise?

Pretty much. Inflation had been persistant and high. To fight that, interest rates were raised to as high as 20%. The cost was higher unemployment which hit 10% but as the rate of inflation declined, stocks rose and the price of gold fell. Lasted 20 years.

 

[Tpoints]

No, everything else degrades over time. Gold does not rust and degrade. It holds many physical properties that make it an exceptional choice for storing of value.

No, that's not my question. You look to all recorded history to back up your claim that "gold is the best store of value", do you ever look to all history for any other kind of advice? Such as "for all of history home ownership, tv ownership, internet usage was either rare or non existent, therefore these all be non-necessities"?

 

[dannno]

No, that's not my question. You look to all recorded history to back up your claim that "gold is the best store of value", do you ever look to all history for any other kind of advice? Such as "for all of history home ownership, tv ownership, internet usage was either rare or non existent, therefore these all be non-necessities"?

No, I don't expect to have my tv in 100 years, but I might want to store my wealth for my grandchildren to have in 100 years.

 

[Machiavelli]

Is going to college necessary to land programming/developing jobs or can getting certificates cut it? Wondering if going to school is worth it.

 

[Tpoints]

Is going to college necessary to land programming/developing jobs or can getting certificates cut it? Wondering if going to school is worth it.

for a minute I thought you meant land developer, but no, I don't think programming and coding jobs require a college degree, here's why :

The recent rise in demand of programmers and coders are for UX/UI, Objective C (iPhone apps), Java (Android apps), so if you can find a way to learn it, secure a few gigs, build your portfolio, you're more employable than a person with a degree but no experience. The experience is the hard part, getting somebody to trust, and pay you. Paying to get a college degree is easier, in that you can control your time and money if you're willing to do it.

 

[newbitech]

where is the option to use my social security funds to pay off other federal debts?

 

[Zippyjuan]

where is the option to use my social security funds to pay off other federal debts?

You don't really have "your" social security funds (and neither do "they"). There is no "trust fund" where the money you pay in is kept safe and invested until you are elgible to collect on it. Taxes taken in this year pay expenses for this year.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

You don't really have "your" social security funds (and neither do "they"). There is no "trust fund" where the money you pay in is kept safe and invested until you are elgible to collect on it. Taxes taken in this year pay expenses for this year.

qft. Calling it a Ponzi Scheme is being polite.

 

[Elwar]

Is going to college necessary to land programming/developing jobs or can getting certificates cut it? Wondering if going to school is worth it.

There are a few options for programmers.

If you are smart and a whiz kid, you should take a bunch of online tutorials and learn how to program on your own. Then go on freelancers.com and find jobs and make money on your own (go check out what is in demand and what pays the most to determine what languages to learn).

Also, if you are a whiz kid you can get your foot in the door helping out at a small company learning and programming from the ground up and you will gain the experience you need and you can stay in the private sector and grow easily. You may need to go get a cert just to get your foot in the door as a temp or something along those lines.

Then there are your two options of being an independent contractor or having a salary. An independent contractor gets paid more per hour but you are constantly looking for your next job so you have the job of acquiring contracts and the job of a programmer. If you can do both, more power to you and if you are steadily employed you will do well. But companies have people working full time to get the next contracts so it is no minor task.

On the salary end you will likely need a college degree. The degree is usually a lazy way for a manager to weed out the applicants and matching degree and experience they will determine your salary.

If you just want something stable with a steady paycheck (and you are a good kid, no trouble), you can go work for a defense contractor and make a decent salary. The biggest thing in that arena is your degree. The government actually pays the contractor based on your degree, so having one and perhaps going for your Masters is beneficial (even if you do not learn much in college, the degree is all that matters). Also, this comes with getting a security clearance. If you can get a clearance, you bump up your salary and job stability significantly. It makes it so that you will not lose your job to foreigners and kids like you fresh out of college that can probably do everything you can do, having the latest tools and work for half your salary.

I chose the latter route...my income is steady. I have also stepped that up a bit and worked in a war zone which bumps up your salary significantly (almost 3 times).

But I am now learning the hard fact that there is a salary ceiling for programmers. Above that ceiling is management where there is no ceiling. It also comes with a lot more stress, responsibility and you do not get the small joy of creating something from your own work (though a manager may argue that by telling the programmers what to code, they have created it).

Hope that helps.

 

[VBRonPaulFan]

Is going to college necessary to land programming/developing jobs or can getting certificates cut it? Wondering if going to school is worth it.

Just learn a language and learn it well. When you go into an interview for a job using a particular language and set of tools - if you show you are competent and can talk about the tools/language, their pros/cons, and show solid problem solving skills... the degree doesn't matter at all. Experience is a big factor for programming jobs. I've interviewed folks with CS degrees and resumes that looked amazing, who were dumb asses in the interview who obviously bullshitted on their resume. A couple of the smartest programmers i've ever worked with were self-taught guys with no CS degree who just loved programming and had an aptitude for it. Why would a guy who knows say, C++, inside and out, go spend 4 years of their life and tons of money taking classes that they could themselves be teaching?

 

[torchbearer]

Pretty much. Inflation had been persistant and high. To fight that, interest rates were raised to as high as 20%. The cost was higher unemployment which hit 10% but as the rate of inflation declined, stocks rose and the price of gold fell. Lasted 20 years.

and what are the odds helicopter ben and company are going to raise rates as much as Volker did?
do we want the 80's/90's or do we want japan?

 

[Zippyjuan]

If inflation takes off due to all the stimulus they have tried to put out there (with very limited successs in my opinion), they won't be able to pull it back fast enough by selling off all the assets they have purchased so yes, I would expect them to try to raise interest rates in an attempt to slow things down again. I do think we are quite aways from that happening at this time though. As inflation rises, interest rates will also rise on their own. Bernanke said he does not want another term as Fed Chairman (the current one ends in 2014) so he will not likely be in charge when that hits. Question will be if whoever is in charge would be willing to take the hit on unemployment as a tradeoff for taming inflation like Volker did.

 

[angelatc]

July 12, 1976 1011 Highest point between Jan '73 and Oct. '82

Gold was around $130

See, let's play these stupid games all day long.

Oh no, March 6, 2009 6,626.94
Gold Price Close That day : 922.60

so do the math.

which is higher now...GOLD!

WHich is why I suggest a diverse portfolio.

 

[torchbearer]

If inflation takes off due to all the stimulus they have tried to put out there (with very limited successs in my opinion), they won't be able to pull it back fast enough by selling off all the assets they have purchased so yes, I would expect them to try to raise interest rates in an attempt to slow things down again. I do think we are quite aways from that happening at this time though. As inflation rises, interest rates will also rise on their own. Bernanke said he does not want another term as Fed Chairman (the current one ends in 2014) so he will not likely be in charge when that hits. Question will be if whoever is in charge would be willing to take the hit on unemployment as a tradeoff for taming inflation like Volker did.

you must be sitting on a solid flow of government stimulus, because the people I know are hurting and are feeling the squeeze now... I don't see how the system endures anymore.

 

[Zippyjuan]

As I said- I did not think it was very effective.

 

[TheTexan]

Just learn a language and learn it well. When you go into an interview for a job using a particular language and set of tools - if you show you are competent and can talk about the tools/language, their pros/cons, and show solid problem solving skills... the degree doesn't matter at all. Experience is a big factor for programming jobs. I've interviewed folks with CS degrees and resumes that looked amazing, who were dumb asses in the interview who obviously bullshitted on their resume. A couple of the smartest programmers i've ever worked with were self-taught guys with no CS degree who just loved programming and had an aptitude for it. Why would a guy who knows say, C++, inside and out, go spend 4 years of their life and tons of money taking classes that they could themselves be teaching?

Indeed. It's ridiculous how much people lie on resumes sometimes, I barely even read it anymore. It's all about the interview. When it comes to programming, know your shit, and get the job.

In larger companies the degree may help you get an interview, though. I don't know about other small companies, but in mine I pretty much interview anyone who applies.

 

[torchbearer]

As I said- I did not think it was very effective.

how do you also see Ben getting out before the brakes need to be applied?

 

[torchbearer]

Indeed. It's ridiculous how much people lie on resumes sometimes, I barely even read it anymore. It's all about the interview. When it comes to programming, know your shit, and get the job.

In larger companies the degree may help you get an interview, though. I don't know about other small companies, but in mine I pretty much interview anyone who applies.

it always kinda pissed me off that employers never asked to see proof of my degrees and certs...
the other person applying could lie about being a PhD with an MCSE and get the job.
Con artist could be great interviewers, while brainiacs could be horrible interviewers.

 

[Zippyjuan]

how do you also see Ben getting out before the brakes need to be applied?

His term is up January 31st, 2014 which is actually just over a year from now (14 months). I expect the economy to still be limping along at that time and not into overdrive with soaring inflation.