Some Thoughts on Saver’s Remorse | brokeGIRLrich
I don’t know if any of you are reading She Picks Up Pennies, but it’s another fantastic personal finance blog and recently she wrote a great post on Saver’s Remorse.
Let me start with the disclaimer that this is the epitome of a first world problem. It’s a decent problem to have.
But it struck a chord with me because I’ve been mulling over a few ideas for the future and one in particular is really kind of expensive. And while I have the savings currently to fund about 50% of it, I’d probably wind up taking on some student loans before all is said and done.
I’m really thinking about getting a doctorate.
If you’ve been reading this blog since the get go, you probably know I’ve thought about it for years (like it was on my radar as a life goal as early as high school – my parents pushed the importance of education hard when I was growing up). Mostly because I like studying stuff and school, but also because it would be useful to teach – though higher education is clearly exactly as stable as the arts from what I’ve learned over the last year.
This would be my third time applying.
I applied to doctoral programs when I was 25. When I didn’t get in, I figured I should get a Masters degree first and wound up doing that instead.
I applied to doctoral programs again when I was 32. I only applied to three programs (because there aren’t many programs doing experimental theatre audience studies – it’s really a UK thing) and only applied to fully funded program. Didn’t get in.
But all along I really just wanted to go back to the UK anyway, because where else would I want to study experimental audiences? There are only a few companies doing cool experimental/immersive things in the US (though slowly becoming a little more common), there are a ton in the UK. Their experimental theatre scene is just so much better.
The problem was always funding. It’s really hard to find funding. But the fact is that my goal to buy a house looks unlikely to work out anytime soon and I have enough saved for a very large down payment. I’m clearly not buying a house for a few years if I go overseas.
So… I could actually afford this. At the moment, I would probably leave the program with about the same amount of debt I graduated my Masters program with – which was really inconvenient but manageable. Ideally if I can obtain funding after moving over there for the last year or two, it will be even less than that.
I’m also fortunate to be able to work remotely in my current job, so I can do that from anywhere, which helps because there are strict rules about the amount of work I can do in England on a student visa. Making what I make now could pay my monthly expenses.
But it is a huge outlay of money over three years, and the good saver in me is freaking out.
I’m also freaking out a little that even if I got in, I might hate it and wind up quitting and throwing away a bunch of money or even worse hating it but not quitting because of the money.
I haven’t. However, I think there are two things you should consider. #1) What jobs would you qualify for with a doctorate that you wouldn’t qualify for without one and #2) How much do you want to do it for you.
The wage gap is real but I’ve read that one reason women as a group tend to have lower pay for similar levels of education is that women are more likely to say “I want a raise, therefore I’ll get another degree” or “I have another degree, therefore I deserve a raise” whereas men are more likely to say “to get a raise I need to be able to X; what is the best way to learn to X” or “I can X, which makes the company money; if you won’t pay me, I’ll go X someplace else”. In other words, women in general are used to gathering qualifications whereas men seek results, and businesses reward results.
So, what job would this degree qualify you for? How much does it pay? What is the liklihood of getting such a job once you have the degree? If you studied the subject independently and learned about it, but never got a degree, could you get the job? If you are making the decision based on career/financial goals these are the things to consider.
On the other hand, if the program was free and I guaranteed you that you would qualify for no job afterwards that you don’t qualify for now, would you still be interested? In other words if you knew there was no economic advantage to getting the degree is it something you’d be interested in doing for you?
Also what are your personal life plans/goals? Do you see marriage and/or kids in your future? If so, spending that much time/money on school may not help with your long term goals. On the other hand, if you don’t see that in your future, then spending that time/money to make yourself happy becomes a viable alternative.
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RAnn!! Long time no (blogosphere) see! I hope you’re doing well.
This is very sound advice. I’m don’t really have marriage or kids on the goals list, so I would primarily be doing it for me and I’ve always wanted to do it – finances/career/money aside.
I have also been teaching a university and was trapped in a pretty low pay bracket because I didn’t have a terminal degree. There are no guarantees that I could return to teaching at a university and it is a difficult path – on par with the arts – but if I also probably wouldn’t even pursue it again without the PhD since the payscale is just nonsense without it.