Money Lessons for Every High-School Graduate

Zac Bissonnette via a kind reader's email:

When Felipe Matos enrolled in the New York Institute of Technology to study graphic design, he never thought that degree would be the very thing that prevented him from pursuing his dream career.

But more than $50,000 in student debt later, he has found himself working as an assistant building manager in New York City -- with half his salary going toward debt repayment.

"In order to get into my field, I'd have to intern," says Mr. Matos, adding that his dream job would be at Pixar, the cutting-edge animation studio. But in order to avoid defaulting on his loans, he has had to defer his dreams. "I often get depressed because I always wanted to make cartoons and 3D animations for a living but can't," he says. His debt load also is affecting his life plans beyond his career: "I have a very loving and serious girlfriend, but I'm afraid we can't have kids or get married until we are in our late 30s."

Posted by Jim Zellmer at May 23, 2011 7:55 PM
Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas