career change midway through life?

[seekerofu]

has anyone managed to do this?

i work in retail but i want to do something like nursing. it seems that most of the financial assistance for training for these kinds of things is aimed at younger people.

i wanted to know if anyone has experience maybe saving up and doing it all alone?

thanks

[RobertZ]

I went back to university to start a new career. I ran into a financing difficulties but made it through  

Part 1:

My suggestion, whether you are young or old, have kids or not—whatever: make a Microsoft Excel/spreadsheet and get data about 1) Costs, and 2) Funds available. This is a NO BULLSHIT approach to reducing financial uncertainty  

1) Costs

(a) Make a spread sheet (unless you know you can afford bullshit). List all your monthly costs of living. Add all the bills, and food.  Use Microsoft Excel/spreadsheet.

 “=SUM(amounts)”  so you have a number that summarizes your monthly expenses (in case they change).

(b) You need to Find how much tuition will cost semester by semester (see your University website). You may need to estimate the cost of books, like $450 per semester.

(C) Make a column in  your spreadsheet:  List months into the future (schooling).  Put =(monthly cost of living cell) beside each month.  Then add a thid column, with the tuition and books beside the correct month. 

Note: Spreadsheets can make it easier to compare or paste different cost scenarios—like cheaper rent.

2) Income and loans available

In the spreadsheet (also), List funds and Income that might be available. For example, say you have $12,000 saved up. That could go in month +1.

Governments and banks have information about how much money they will lend for various university programs. Look both up. Go ahead and read these documents. Phone the phone numbers and wait to talk to a Government student loan worker. Meet with a banker to get a theoretical estimate. You are looking for information—get the best information you can,  such as the month that the money would be available.

 If you’re nursing program includes spring and summer courses, make sure to  figure out if government student loans will cover those spring and summer courses. And what is the maximum amount you can receive each year?

3) Finally, I would make another column called “Running total”.  Look this up on YouTube or google if you don’t know how to do it.   Running total = (monthly Income) - (monthly Cost) + (the cell above).  You drag this cell down, you can see how much money will be in your bank account in any given month.

Note: Excel can also help looking at different Income scenarios. Maybe you cannot find a Summer job for 1 month in May 2021.  Does that make all the difference? 

Part 2 loans:

Distinguish (a) inability to get loans, (b) reasonable caution of loans, and (c) illogical fear of loans. 

Inability to get loans

Financial Resources may depend where you live. For example, I live in Canada, and the Federal/Provincial governments gives student loans to young and old quite easily—if a person gets accepted to the university program. There are fairly simple rules (Province by Province) if people want to get student loans  in Canada.  You have to live in a province for a certain amount of time, And get excepted to a University. It also depends on Taxable income. This is not a big secret.  I am sure a government student loan worker  could  give some basic information about eligibility.  That’s just an example, from where I live.

 Another example is that My bank would not lend me money for school. The bank was not interested in my retired parents co-signing on a student line of credit, because of their income levels.  A different bank might have given me a loan  because  A number of my classmates were able to get a loan from a certain bank.

Anyway, I only wanted the bank line of credit to do another university degree on the side. So I ended up working (for money) at night to do the extra degree. It was Either that, ask my brother to risk his savings by co-signing , or drop out of school. 

Loan fear:

 A spreadsheet should reduce financial uncertainty about loans.    If you have loan fear, then I think you need to look further into the future. You might need to gather a few more pieces of data.

Compare your month by month financial future in school, versus retail (using your spreadsheet). 

Add some future years below the months. How much  money will you make each year in retail? As a nursing intern? As a first year nurse? 

Again, you can add costs. Add costs of loan repayment. 

Information  about nursing income might be hard to find. Go on forums in your area. Ask people you know. Be Careful about outdated or geographically irrelevant claims.

Your university  almost certainly  has good statistics about post-grad income. How many grads get jobs in nursing? Do 90% of grads have a nursing job within a year after graduating? 75%?  How many are still working in nursing 2 years out?  That way, you can add your nursing salary to your spreadsheet at the right time. 

I recommend talking to an admissions person from the university, in person. They might even  show you standard deviations, so you can see exactly when you are likely to find a job.  In any case, they are likely to  answer your questions and concerns in more detail. 

Conclusion:

Putting numbers in a spreadsheet is not the same as money in the bank. However, it can  reduce uncertainty. The better the data, the better the information. The better the information, the better the knowledge. 

P.S I would get my eyes on at Some PhD dissertation on nursing education—or whatever area you want to go into. Your application should stand out. 

Peace.

 

 

 

[seekerofu]

@RobertZ thank you for the detailed reply really appreciate it

i was trying to save up just by putting spare money in a savings account but now that i have calculated my ins/outs i can get an idea of how long it will take me to save certain amount and more importantly i can stick to the plan