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.

"Gifted" in our school district (Capistrano Unified) is identified by placing at a 95th percentile or above on the Otis-Lennon test (an IQ-like test). Prior to that, in order to qualify to be nominated to take that test, he had to score at a 90th percentile or above on both reading and math on the CORE test (a standardized test the district gives to all students in addition to the SAT9). At the end of 5th grade, all of the students are given the Math Challenge Test (the placement test for 6th grade). Typically, about 80% are placed in 6th grade math, 20% are placed in pre-algebra (including ALL of the GATE students, such as my son), and 1% are placed in 7th grade algebra. The pre-algebra class is the 7th grade curriculum but the classes are all 6th graders so he will always be with his peers. I also want to say that he had 6th grade math LAST year and got an A on his report card in every trimester. He scored a B in two chapters and spaced on the test. He still mastered those chapters, technically. THIS CHILD does not belong in 6th grade math AGAIN next year. The tutor is there to make sure he knows those chapters up and down and inside and out. Bottom line, if it's beyond him, he won't pass. He has one of "those" minds. Last year, when they were working on three and four digit long division, he came to me with a completed homework assignment. Just answers, nothing written out. I said "hon, you can't use a calculator - please go write out all of the problems." He swore up and down that he did NOT use a calculator and challenged me to test him. So I flipped the paper over and wrote out a few new problems. He stared at each one for about two minutes, then gave me the answer. *I* then had to check them on a caculator, and he had each one correct. You know, everyone told me when he was in preschool that I should hold him back for kindergarten because he was born in the fall (cutoff in CA is Dec. 2, he was born Oct. 22) and he was a boy. I heard countless stories of their kids and their friends kids and the milkman's kids who were either held back and they were glad, or the child repeated kindergarten, or started on time as a 4 year old ("early" in their minds, on time actually) and they regretted it. But I knew my child. I also knew kindergarten - I was teaching it, after all. I knew that kindergarten is designed for the 5 year old, not for 6 year olds, and I also knew that I could not tell a difference between the kids that had started at 4 (and turned 5 by December) and the ones that had spring birthdays. Where I did see a difference was with the 6 year olds, who did exceptionally well in my class, but for good reason - because they were too old for the curriculum. They weren't being challenged. Thank goodness I knew my child and I knew kindergarten because I might have been tempted to listen to them. He was ready and wanted to go more than anything, and academically he was ready as well. He did start kindergarten at 4 1/2, did amazingly well, and has been ever since. I am glad I chose to challenge him rather than wait and put him with younger kids so I'd have a "guarantee" that he'd succeed. That's what I'd feel that having him repeat 6th grade math would be. It would be pointless at this point. Sure, they may be times when something might need to be repeated if he truly struggled. This isn't one of those times. And if it is, him not passing that test will make that known. Here is a link that might be useful: GATE/AAA program in Capistrano Unified

Sounds like a few people here had Good News by searching Unclaimed Property websites! Mine was only for $140.15, but still. And, yes, it is a total mystery why this popped up at this very late date. Makes me wonder how this was handled in pre-internet days, though I do seem to recall seeing a very long list of such items published in a local newspaper maybe 20 years ago. Maybe that was required that at least California did this periodically. Or maybe the State just kept it. BTW, speaking of such lists in newspapers, when I was going through my local archived/microfilmed newspapers recently from around 1910 or so, they used to publish a long list of undeliverable U.S. Mail for my city's residents from time to time. "Come & Get It" I guess. I found that system amusing.

christine1950- I'm including a link for applying bubble wrap to your windows for additional insulation in the winter, using nothing more than water from a spritz bottle, so it's easy to do and completely reversible. We've been using this tip during the winter for a number of years and getting great results. Our home is 7-years old and has energy efficient windows and we can still tell a difference - especially the bay window in the dining room when we sit down to eat. Tips about using this method.... -Cut your bubble wrap just slightly smaller than your window. If the bubble wrap is a little too generous and is larger than the glass, it will quickly get air under it and begin to pull away from the window. -Check your bubble wrap occasionally and spritz it with water again if it's pulling away from the window. -If you have hard water, use distilled water for the application. Hard water contains minerals that can actually etch your windows. -Bubble wrap with large bubbles works the best, but we have plenty of windows that have bubble wrap with small bubbles on it. -Check furniture stores for a free or cheap source for bubble wrap. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Bubble wrap window insulation