Probably $40 - $50,000 a year to feel secure. Depending on where you live, high $30,000 might do, too.

No fine arts, music, philosophy, English, history etc Get a degree in something useful, where people get jobs NOW. If you want to be an artist, you can always take the classes on your own time when you have a real job.

Major in a good paying field, minor in something you love if you need to. Best to combine the two if you can. I've gone for the "what you love" part my whole life and wish I had another well paying skill set. 28K is bare bones and you'll probably need a roomate (ask me how I know) but 32 for one is just getting by. 36K for one is fine, with health insurance and a 401K provided by the employer. Otherwise, I would say at least 38K. Don't know about west coast, but this is OK on east coast unless you live in NJ or NYC and suburbs. Will not do in big city but in nearby commutable places is OK. I can't say about life in the big city, if you want that you have to pursue the kinds of jobs that put you in a big city and pay well. As for the country, the struggle there is just finding any job.

As noted, it depends on where you live.

My daughters each have college degrees but make much less than $50,000. Median income in my county is $42,498.00 for a family, so they are higher in income than average. With my degree and 35 years of experience, the most I ever made was $40,000 because of my choice to stay in this area.

So, what kind of lifestyle does she want? Where does she intend to live? Do benefits enter into the equation, like retirement or insurance benefits? It's not something that's easily quantified.

I always told my girls that I'd give up a few thousand a year to love what I did, and I did that, but reality has to enter into the mix somewhere.

Annie

Wow, I must be a high roller because I was going to say more like $75K a year of you want to own a home. Mortgage payments, insurance, utilities, home repair and improvements plus you need a car and then you need more insurance and more repairs plus gas. You need to save for retirement and for your kids college. Pay taxes -- and on and on and on. Nothing creates stress more than not being able to make ends meet.

She may grow to hate her dream job if she is working hard, long hours and sees others earning twice what she is for the same amount of effort. Its also darn nice to have a few bucks left for stuff that you want.

It's also surprising that she may find that some jobs that appear dreary on the outside can really be rather fulfilling. Often it's just the pleasure of doing something well.

I'd encourage her to choose a major that will make her employable in a field where there are opportunities. She may want to be an English professor, but there are no positions out there! It's too bad that college has become vocational training but at that cost, you need to be ready to work.

Her course of study doesn't have to be career oriented if she knows what she wants to do. If her field requires certain majors, then, yes, she needs to follow that, but for a lot of careers, having a degree, any degree, and getting it in the standard amount of time without any deviations (i.e., year abroad, yes, if it isn't an academic set-back, year backpacking around the world, not so much), is what standard employers like to see. "Creative field" employers might feel differently about the deviations, however, so long as they're interesting (not spent a year partying and watching soap operas).

Still, more and more we're getting away from an employer model of work. We're long past the get a job, keep it until retirement model. So even if she takes the fun major, she should use the opportunity to also take basic business classes. Learn the basics of accounting, public relations, customer service, workplace psychology, entrepreneurship and investing. Some of these could be extension classes she can get credit for. She should also be well versed in business data management, tech safety and privacy, and business communications.

All of that is NOT the same as a business degree! Business degrees are for a totally different model. But these are things that freelancers, small business owners, and other creative types have to know if they're going to make the most of not having a guaranteed corporate salary.

Short version: Take the most interesting and fun major, but if you care about money, also take the classes that help you make and use it.

The exact amount one makes isn't the issue. One can be quite happy in a simple dwelling and miserable in a castle. People who go out for fine dining every night long for PBJ and fried chicken. Making the most of what one has is more important than making the most overall.

I'm with dedtired on this one. I live in an area where the cost of living is fairly low, and $40K won't get you a house and/or car. If she's willing to rent forever or take public transit (not that I am against either. I am seriously considering not re-buying a house and my son doesn't want a car (he's almost 15), then $35-38K will do it. Actually, my state is middle of the heap, so it might be a good estimate.

Here is a link that might be useful: cost of living by state

"Dear daughter is going off to college in the fall. She is thinking about what classes to take in college, what majors to consider, when to declare. She asked a question of me last night, that I thought I would pass on to you all for input.
"Dad, how much money do I have to make?"----"

Besides how much money, it is also important to consider:

1. Can the field be replaced by a change in technology, or replaced by a software?

2. Can the field be outsourced to a different country? Or the company be easily moved to a different state.

dcarch

I lived where the cost of living was high (Philly suburbs) and I got a house and a car and I made 36K a year. My company paid my retirement and health insurance though.

Hmmmm. I also had a house and a car and two children to boot and always paid my bills. Both my girls got jobs when they were 14 and they each had a car too.

That said, I often worked two jobs, and always had a garden and canned. We ate a lot of beans and other cheap items and my girls didn't have some of the things other kids had, like cell phones, iPods or a closet full of designer clothes. They had "everything they needed and some of what they wanted", which was always the standard we lived by.

I didn't smoke, drink, go on cruises or to the casino. I cut my own hair and I've still never had a manicure. My cookware was hand-me-downs, as was my furniture, and I didn't even have an electric mixer, everything got mixed by hand. The girls got clothes that were fashionable, or at least they said they were, you couldn't prove it by me. I didn't have to be fashionable because I was a Mom. My office was very conservative, so it was suits, heels and stockings everyday. Mine mostly came from Goodwill. Some clothes still do, I don't see paying $50 for a pair of jeans to wear to clean the barn, LOL. My newest vehicle is still a 2000 Jeep Wrangler, Elery drives the 1994 Silverado pickup. Luckily my employer provided insurance, too bad they didn't pay for childcare, which was an even larger expense.

So, it depends on where you live and your lifestyle, as I said before. If you don't mind cutting your own hair and counting satellite TV and cell phones as luxuries instead of necessities, you can live on a lot less. Do not have children, though. You can have money or you can have children, but you cannot have both, at least in my income bracket!

Annie

"You can have money or you can have children, but you cannot have both, at least in my income bracket! "

Ain't that the truth! I could have gone on a nice cruise if I still had the money I spent on sneakers for two boys over the years, not mention boots, cleats and dress shoes. I kind of like those kids though and have a lot more memories than I would have from a cruise.

Another point to make to our daughters is that they need to be self-sufficient all their lives, no matter how rich a guy they may marry. Life is strange. You just don't know.

The bureau of labor statistics publishes the occupational outlook handbook which does a great job of providing specific info about jobs including growth, job descriptions, educational requirements, and expected salaries. It's available on line.

There's a balance between what you do to make a living and what you do because it's fulfilling. There's a lot unknown including employment and whether or not she'd enjoy and stay with her occupation. I know too many college grads who are unemployed or underemployed....

Best bet is to talk to corporate recruiters if she wants to work in business and find out what they are looking for in new hires.

If she wants to work in a profession like medicine or education, then there are paths that she can follow. But in any case, she should spend some time talking to people who have the jobs she may be considering...people love to talk about what they do and can provide a wealth of info including making connections for potential internships for summer work.

There are also cost of living calculators on line that include state or city comparisons.

That is awesome that she is thinking ahead like that. So many young adults don't do that. Personally, I am SO thankful to my mother for refusing to help with college costs unless I picked a useful degree. I also think it's really hard to know at 18 what you want to do with your life, as I don't think most young adults have the life experience to really know. I think everyone can agree that what you picture your life being at 18 and what it ends up being at 30+ are often quite different. I know it was for me.

I majored in Economics and it allowed me the opportunity to go into a variety of different fields, from marketing to investment banking to even entrepreneurship. Understanding numbers and how they work can apply to anything in any industry.

I am a huge proponent of the quantitative degrees - math, economics, programming, etc. These fields will never, ever go away because they can be applied to anything and any new technology that evolves.

I have so many friends who majored in degrees like communications, marketing, history, journalism, etc. because it was their passion or interest at the time, and while I can appreciate that, they also have incredible stress because they can barely pay their bills, much less save for retirement or children's education. Student loans are also crippling - I know people with $500 a month loan payments and it is an incredible burden.

All that being said, I agree with all of the above with regards to lifestyle and priorities. For myself, my #1 priority is financial security over job satisfaction, at least for now. I'm 31 and my fiance is 37 and through our jobs and savings, we've already saved enough to send our (future) kids wherever they want for college, and for our family to live completely debt-free. This was all done 100% from good jobs, working hard and savings...no inheritance or lucky investments. We live a simple lifestyle. Our house was expensive but that's just standard for where we live. I drive a 12 year old car and buy my clothes at Target. Before I met him he used the same particle board furniture from his college days. :) He still wears tshirts from 1992, lol. It's all about priorities.

But there are trade-offs. He loves his job but I don't like mine. But the way I look at it is that for me, financial struggling would be as stressful as this job, so I am saving and saving to someday pursue my own passions. Working hard in a job I didn't necessarily love from college to now also allows me the privilege of being able to stay home with future kids, which is a big priority for me. Again with trade-offs. If I pursued my interests early on, I probably wouldn't be able to do that now. But I also hate going to work in the morning.

Another thing to consider is that in 40+ years there's a good chance there won't be social security anymore so retirement savings needs to start as young as possible.

Also, no matter what she picks, please emphasize the importance of internships and work experience in college! It really, truly can make the difference between a $20k job out of college and a $50k job out of college. Your starting salary will very often pave the way for future salaries, at least in my experience where new jobs can only pay a certain percentage higher than what you were previously making.

I couldn't find any internships as I was ignorant of the importance until it was too late to apply for the ideal ones, so I reached out to local businesses and volunteered my services in exchange for being able to put it on my resume. Things like basic data analysis in the real world vs. a classroom can really make a difference after graduation. My friends who dedicated themselves to studying instead of trying to work at the same time had a really hard time finding jobs after college.

It would be a good exercise to make a mock budget with her, of all monthly expenses one has to pay.

But when you got a house with that lower income, wasn't the cost of living lower, lpink and Annie? How long ago did you pay on the dotted line?

No way I could currently own a house in a reasonable part of town at a lower income than I've posted. Maybe a tad bit questionable area, but what's the point in that? My last three residences have been less than 900 sq ft, so I am not talking about mansions. Trust me, this is something I am really thinking about deeply right now. Bother owning or not bother? Owning a house isn't about affording payments, there's insurance, taxes, upkeep (a roof and appliances eat up money pretty quickly!), downpayments, gas for the lawnmower, a lawnmower, etc.

Remember, she's starting from scratch.

Lots of useful responses - thanks!

I'm indeed glad she is thinking about this stuff.

At the same time, I don't want her to subsume her entire life to chasing money.

Hopefully she will find a happy balance.

Yes! A toast to Happy Balancing! for everyone.

Yes, happy balance is key. All I was thinking about at that age was getting out of the house and away from my parents. Good for her.

Re the "you can have money or you can have kids" . . . . Way back in the 70's I was home from school watching Merv Griffin's talk show and the theme was "Millionaires" which was about ordinary people who became millionaires. One of his guest was Orville Redenbacker (the popcorn guy). He made his millions because he had been a researcher at Purdue and he was working on popcorn strains and then he went on to market his discoveries and the rest is history. Anyway he was going on and on about his popcorn research and business and marketing, which I found fascinating but I'm sure Merv was trying to spice it up a bit and he said, "But you're a millionaire, surely you must splurge on some type of luxurious lifestyle" or some such question. Anyway, in typical Midwestern fashion Orville made a subtle joke and said, "Well my wife and I had five kids and you know we put them all through college, so even though we are "millionaires," after we got done with all that we're really not that rich."

Rob, I can tell you that I'm currently paying for my house for the third time, LOL.

First time was a land contract, I bought the house for $52,000.00. Second time was when I got a divorce and had to take a home equity loan to pay off bills "we" acquired by starting our business (which the ex got to keep in exchange for me keeping my county pension). The third time was when I needed money to buy the family farm after Dad's death because stepmom was losing it to the bank.

Now the house that I bought for $52,000.00 thirty years ago is for sale. For $59,000.00. Yeah, so I didn't make a bundle on it, that's for sure.

Anyway, I was living about the same on $40,000.00 when I retired as I was when I started. And, incidentally, the starting wage in 1978, when I went to work for the county, was $8,000.00. That's when I bought the house the first time, so my figures have adjusted with the times. I bought the house once when I made $8,000.00 and again when I made $40,000.00 and borrowed about the same amount of money each time. Interest rates were higher the first time I bought it, but utilities were lower. Taxes have gone up, then down, then up. Utilities have gone up, as has insurance, but so did my income.

Annie

Yes the cost of living has gone up. I have adjusted my spending down. Luckily I was able to furnish my house with mostly hand me downs and I still find a lot of stuff used or free for the home. I no longer buy very many new clothes, mostly Goodwill etc. stuff now. I also stopped buying expensive whole wheat bread and mostly make my own in a bread machine, which really doesn't cut into my time much. No more cable TV. My insurance has a high deductible so I stay away from doctors when I know it won't do any good to go and just end up costing me money. I stopped giving to charity. Travel, eating out and concerts/theater are extremely rare now. And I am no longer able to save money, I just barely get the bills paid. I wish I could find a 40K job! So much for following your passion!