create a different environment for yourself.”
While you might not be able to immediately change your physical environment, Koski notes that you do have a lot of control over your digital environment. You can educate yourself on financial matters more easily than at any time in the past, and you can find communities of like-minded people who have either already found their way out or who have concrete plans to escape the cycle of poverty.
If connecting via the written word isn’t your thing, remember that there are lots of ways to consume content. Believe it or not, you can find YouTube channels, podcasts, and other mediums full of personal finance content—and it’s not all dry and boring. In fact, a lot of it is actually pretty exciting once you’ve connected with a community from which you can learn.
Don’t Let Hope Die
Poverty is ridiculously difficult to escape. Everything is working against you. Banks charge more fees to clients who don’t hold large enough minimum balances—if they’ll give you a bank account at all. It’s harder to keep your credit score up to qualify for advantageous rather than predatory financial products when there’s no margin for error in your budget. Small inconveniences become major emergencies very quickly when you don’t have as many resources at your disposal, and to top it all off, these financial struggles come with immense levels of stress, which further affect your ability to deal.
But there is hope. There are ways out. You can get a formal education if you don’t already have one. You can educate yourself on financial topics through the power of the internet. If you focus your motivation on your efforts, the hard times will be easier to bear. And if you humble yourself, there are programs out there that will help you with food, heat, childcare, and more as you work to build yourself a better life.
There is no guarantee that your efforts will be rewarded. But if you don’t make the decision to try, there’s zero chance you’re going to reach your dreams and goals. Fan the embers of hope, as you may be able to nurture them into a blazing fire for all those around you to see. After they’ve seen it, you can pass on the knowledge you’ve acquired and help them start their own fires, too.
Take Action
•Cut down your expenses as much as possible—though I recognize you likely have already.
•Read Chapter 4 to find out how to get a formal education for free if you don’t already have one.
•Start reading at least one article a day on a financial topic you are interested in learning more about. (You could also consume one YouTube video, podcast episode, etc.) This will help you find community and support and change your digital environment.
•Figure out your “why.” What is your ultimate motivation that will keep you going even when times get hard or the system tries to push you back down?
•Research and enroll in any programs that will help you access the resources you need—whether those resources are food, childcare, rent money, transportation, or cash.
•Know that times will get hard, but do everything you can to bolster your hope of better days ahead. The hope doesn’t mean they will absolutely happen, but without that hope, you’re sure to stay where you are or even slip further into poverty.
•If you find your own way out of poverty, reach out to your community and show them how you did it. Now that you have achieved, it’s time to show everyone else that your hope was not unfounded and that they may be able to achieve their goals, too, despite “the man.”
Getting an education as a nontraditional student.
I work in a field where outliers are celebrated, where you’re told you don’t need a college degree because there’s that one guy who built his tech empire without one. Some even go as far as to argue that because a few people built multimillion-dollar businesses without a degree, pursuing higher education is a waste of money.
I’m genuinely happy for those who reach such great success without getting a degree. They have my upmost respect. They’ve worked hard and made something brilliant happen despite lacking formal higher education.
However, they are outliers.
In the fourth quarter of 2017, the difference between the median weekly income of an American woman with a high school diploma only versus someone with a bachelor’s degree or higher was $514/week. That comes out to a difference of at least $2,056/month.
It’s a similar story in Canada. Women with a bachelor’s degree earn 58 percent more than those with a high school diploma only. In a strange twist, women with apprenticeship certificates earned 12 percent less than those with only a high school diploma.
The point is, pursuing a post-secondary degree is still a great investment. If you’re living in or on the brink of poverty, returning to school has the potential to greatly increase your earning capabilities.
Financing School as an American
Even though college costs have ballooned significantly in the recent past, if you are a low- or middle-income adult, there’s a high likelihood that you could go back to school for free. In fact, you may even be able to get paid to pursue an education.
That means no student loan debt. It means not stressing out over how you’re going to pay for books.
It means you can do this.
Choosing a School
There are several different types of colleges out there, and not all are priced equally. Keep an open mind about all of your options as you consider reentering the halls of scholarship.
Community College
Community college is typically the most affordable option. It’s also the one likely to net you the most money. If you don’t have a two-year degree yet, it’s not a bad idea to start here. Credits are usually cheaper at community colleges than at four-year schools, and it’s unlikely that you’ll be the only adult learner in the classroom.
State Schools
If you go to community college first, you’re likely going to want to head to a state school next. This is because state schools usually have agreements with community colleges guaranteeing credit transfer. That means you’re less likely to have to repeat any courses you already took at the community college.
State schools are subsidized by state governments. This tends to make them cheaper than private institutions, although it should be noted that since the Great Recession, states have enacted austerity policies when it comes to state school funding. This means they’ve reduced how much money they invest in the state school system. These policies have played a large role in the rising cost of college tuition.
Even
