The E in FIRE stands for Education, can we make it official?

[c1ue]

Re: The E in FIRE stands for Education, can we make it official?

Back in the mid 80s, I hired a young man to work on our reinsurance operations in my actuarial department. He had 3 semesters of college, but had to drop out for family reasons. After a short while I realized how capable he was. I told him if he could study on his own for part 1 (equivalent to the GRE math exam) and pass, I would make him an actuarial student with all of the benefits. Actuarial students had study time at work and had automatic pay raises when an exam was passed. They still had to study 300-400 hours outside of work to be able to pass. Anyway he agreed. He passed and went on to pass all the exams and become an FSA and have a good career. Some people thought I was crazy to give him a chance without a degree, but there was never any requirement to have a degree to take the exams. I was really glad he had the chance.

Great tale.

This is an excellent example of the latent talent that exists in various forms all throughout the population.

The existence of economic or social barriers to this latent talent being expressed is the true tragedy of inequality.

[jiimbergin]

Re: The E in FIRE stands for Education, can we make it official?

Great tale.

This is an excellent example of the latent talent that exists in various forms all throughout the population.

The existence of economic or social barriers to this latent talent being expressed is the true tragedy of inequality.

I really have to give my late wife the credit. Two years earlier I had the same reinsurance position open with 2 canidates, one with a degree and one without. Although I felt the one without the degree would do a better job, but I went with the degree. My wife threw a fit when I told her! She made me think. She did not have a degree, but anyone who hired her would have had a fantastic employee. BTW the degree canidate turned out to be terrible and I had to fire her.

[wayiwalk]

Re: The E in FIRE stands for Education, can we make it official?

Not sure where I read it the first time, but formerly the IQ test was used as a predictor of success in the work force. Just found this on wiki (yes, not exactly the end-all in scholarly research):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_quotient

In the United States, certain public policies and laws regarding military service,^{[88] [89]} education, public benefits,^[90] capital punishment,^[91] and employment incorporate an individual's IQ into their decisions. However, in the case of Griggs v. Duke Power Co. in 1971, for the purpose of minimizing employment practices that disparately impacted racial minorities, the U.S. Supreme Court banned the use of IQ tests in employment, except when linked to job performance via a Job analysis. Internationally, certain public policies, such as improving nutrition and prohibiting neurotoxins, have as one of their goals raising, or preventing a decline in, intelligence.

So without another standard, the college degree became a stand in for an IQ exam and on the job training, except the costs have been shifted onto the employee.

It only took another 30 years for "college or you'll forever be behind the curve" mantra to take over completely.

With my kids, the oldest a year away from college - what I have made sure (ok, my wife has made sure) is that their education through high school would be of high enough caliber that even if they choose not to pursue college, it would carry them through life and any work except highly specialized professions.

We've paid a real price in terms of paying up to be in a good school district, and all of the tears, disagreements, and aggravation to keep them focused on schoolwork, but it has been worth it.