Thinking of the Future

Sophie's future has been on my mind a lot lately. As parents, we have to make certain decisions to plan for and protect our child(ren)'s future. Chase and I have done this by creating Wills for both of us, which establish who Sophie's guardian would be if we both happened to tragically pass away, and who would get our assets (Sophie obviously). We have also started a college fund for Sophie. We met with an Edward Jones financial advisor to discuss our options and decide on the best savings plan for our family. We decided to go with a 529 Plan for her.

These are things parents don't like to think or talk about, but they are important steps that need to be taken. We could have said we were going to "save" for Sophie's college for years, but without actually putting a plan into motion, that may have never happened. Now, I know we will follow through.

And all this thinking about college has made me wonder what advice I should give Sophie when she starts college. When I went to college I decided to major in Journalism and minor in English because I love to read and write. Those were my passions. However, even as I was in school studying Journalism I doubted I would actually go into the field. But I didn't want to pick some boring field I wasn't interested in just to be practical. And I remember my Mom encouraged that I study what I enjoyed and not worry about it.

However, I wonder if I will give that same advice to Sophie when its her turn to choose a major. In this tough economy I now know how hard it is to find a job, and how competitive it can be. I sometimes wonder if I should have chosen a Business or Office Administration degree, something that would have been more applicable to the type of career I actually planned to pursue.

I find myself leaning towards the practical side of advice for Sophie. I want her to enjoy college and not study something that she hates. But at the same time, if she decides she wants to major in something like Art History or Philosophy, I may have to steer her towards something more substantial. I want her to have the best future she can, and that may mean giving her a little tough advice about what the job market is really like, and that she may need to suffer through a Business or Accounting degree over those other more "fun" choices.

Of course all of this may be a little presumptuous. She may grow up loving math or science (which I did not) and want to major in something more practical on her own. Which would be great.

Also, I can't help but point out that we will be (hopefully) paying for that degree of hers, so I would like her to actually use it, unlike me. What do you all think? What advice would you/will you give your child when they're entering college? Will you tell them to be practical or go with their heart? Do we have more say as parents if we're paying for the degree, or should we just be happy they're going at all?

So much to think about. Luckily its 17 years away, so I have a little while to ponder it all. :)