Investment Guide for Young People

This is the most important point you need to understand. A college degree is a piece of paper that gets you in the door for certain kinds of employment. Without it, those doors will likely never open.

That being said, a college degree is important, and should be obtained as cheaply as possible. Unless you're coming from an elite school like Harvard or Yale, where you get your degree isn't that important, nor are your grades. Any good state school is perfectly fine.

So I'd say get as many AP credits as you can in high school to save money. Take your first two years at a community college to get the credits, and save money. Transfer into a state school, with in-state tuition, live at home with your parents, to save money. This is an investment. You want to get the most bang for your buck.

Don't end up like this guy. Understand what college is for: Credentialing.

The sooner you get out of college, the sooner you can start your education.

I also bought into the idea that college was a necessity (1987). I went 4 years and the degree did help me get my foot in the door of the field I wanted but I didn't choose wisely because the work I was doing did not pay a lot (which was my fault) and even though it was fulfilling at the time, it has changed substantially since then and I'm ashamed of it (media). Both my parents wanted me and my sister to get a Bachelors. But my parents made way more money than I ever did. My father graduated from high school and flunked out of college but he made a lot of money in a factory as a foreman. My mother attended a two year college and became a registered nurse and both of them made quite a bit together. But even with them wanting us to get a degree, they didn't know how to really teach us what were good paths to take. They assumed that if you got at least a Bachelors, you'd be in the money which is not true. Because my mother was born in the late 1930s, she always heard that there were only 3 jobs women could take: teacher, secretary, or nurse. That was what she was taught. To her, breaking out of those 3 fields was an accomplishment. But she didn't have the hindsight that getting out of those professions just to say you can isn't necessarily the wisest decision. My father often didn't think he had done well because he didn't apply himself much in school but he sold himself short. He was doing well, even in a factory. And with the dollar being much more valuable 40 years ago, they were doing quite well. So another piece of advice I'd give is not just to go to college to go to college. Think about things you're good at and would like to do in life. But make sure you can make a living at it. And college isn't necessarily the only option. The one piece of advice I wish I had taken from my mother was to go ahead and get my teachers certificate while I was in college. I kept telling her no, I don't want to teach. But what do you really know at 20 years of age? We think we know everything when we're young but really have no idea how our lives will change for the next 20-30 years. I argued with Mom till the cows came home. I DO NOT want to teach. But here I am 25 years later and realize I would've been a really good teacher. I also believe I'd be a good small business owner. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought about either of those years ago. In fact, it might even be a wise decision to get out of high school, work full time at whatever and save save save for a few years and the extra years out of school and the growing mentally might provide better guidance in what you might want to do. Then by the time you think of something you'd really like to do, THEN you decide if college or a trade school or simply more training in what you already are in, etc is right for you. I was always expected to jump right in college out of high school and I had no idea what I wanted to do. Just thoughts.

I never looked at college as the ticket to a career. I study what I love which is literature and economics. I never fooled myself into thinking I would get a job with those degrees. I have other skills to apply to the workforce. I also waited a while until I went to school because I think when you do go to college right out of high school you do tend to party more than study (we all do). I managed two Bachelors and I am almost done with my masters with only taking out $10,000 in loans and I have paid most of that back already. I did the rest with scholarships and testing out of credits.

I know you said you do not qualify for many scholarships, but if you have a few minutes check out some of these sites. You might have to look hard being that you "don't have a vagina" (as you so eloquently put it lol), but there are a lot of scholarships that are based on merit, and you can find some that work retroactively that allow you to pay off your loans.

College is not the most important thing in the world, and there are plenty of great paths you can take without it. If you want to get rid of some of your debt though, it might take a few essays (which I can absolutely edit for you if you need help) but you should be able to find a scholarship or 2 to take care of some of your loans.

http://www.scholarships.net/
http://www.cappex.com/
http://www.fastweb.com/

You said "Pay off smallest loans or credit cards first and then hit the next smallest."

The better algorithm would be to pay the minimum balance toward every creditor, and with any money left over that pay cycle, send it all to the creditor with the highest interest rate. Once that one is paid off, send all extra income to the next highest, etc.

This will ensure your loans are paid off in the shortest time possible, with the least interest paid.

It's slightly more complicated, but I know the 20-years-younger me would get it. :)

I definitely agree with staying out of debt. One should also not hold one's wealth in currencies that are devaluing/inflating -- so buy guns, gold, and land, generally in that order.

Guns to protect the rest; land because "they aren't making any more of it", and gold for similar reasons to land, but it's more portable/liquid.

Silver is also good, it's usable for smaller items than gold, like a dinner, and there's currently a ~52-to-one ratio in the price of silver vs. gold. There is only 16 or so times as much silver as gold on the planet, so this is an artificial difference which should correct itself. Thus, you (20-years-younger 12:01) should be buying silver today, and if you have gold, swap it for silver, because the ratio should correct; if it goes under 16-to-one, swap silver for gold.

Oh, and look into Bitcoin. See http://mtgox.com, it has been above $21 in the past couple days. It was $15 a few weeks ago when someone posted a beginner's guide to it. It's a hair over $20 now, so that's a 33% jump in a couple weeks. Definitely worth looking into.