022: End Your Financial Stress Now with Published Author Emily Guy Birken

2 Comments

1. I loved the podcast right up until Emily said her goal was to be able to send her kids to a super expensive liberal arts college if they so chose. Emily, seriously? Send your kids to the cheapest state school and urge them to major in something useful. You really don’t want to be feeding then when they are 30.

   1. Hi Engineer,

      Glad you liked the podcast. To answer your question, yes! Seriously!!

      Here’s my college-to-career story. I double majored in French Literature and English with an emphasis in Creative Writing at tiny Kenyon College. I graduated in 2001. I worked as a bookseller at Barnes & Noble right out of college, then as an administrative assistant, then as an Americorps volunteer, then as a teacher, before I started writing about money. I have always supported myself.

      Part of the reason why my writing career took off the way that it did is because I bring a love of language and a deep understanding of writing to finance, which is not something you find with the majority of money writers–and it is this, as well as my previous and varied career experience–that has positioned me to be a successful financial writer. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

      I anticipate that my sons will have similarly odd, varied, serendipitous, and fulfilling careers, no matter whether they go to a state school to major in engineering like their father (which I will absolutely support, if that is their choice), or they decide to major in Underwater Basketweaving at Big Bucks Small College. What I want is for them to learn and follow the path that is right for them.

      I can also say with total honesty that they won’t be relying on me when they are 30 no matter what they choose, because that is not how I am raising them, nor the example I am setting for them, nor the financial choice that I would ever make for a capable adult whether or not he is my son. I may screw up, they may screw up, and things may not turn out the way we hope. It’s entirely possible that 25 years from now I’ll be the mother of two unemployed (or underemployed) underwater basketweavers, but you can bet your sweet bippy that I will not be hosting unemployed basketweavers in my home, since there are always always always opportunities out there for capable, intelligent, and strong young adults who aren’t afraid of work.

      Ultimately, I want to teach them that education is a lifelong pursuit (their father is getting a Master’s Degree starting this fall), that making money and having a career are not synonymous, that meaningful work is the path to fulfillment, and that there is great pride in taking care of yourself financially. Where they go to school and how much we spend on it is only a piece of that puzzle, and it’s a piece that we can afford. I can certainly fail to raise self-sufficient adults in lots of ways, but focusing simply on my goal of giving them the gift of educational choices puts far too much emphasis on that single way that things could go wrong.

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