Money makes the world go round, but happiness is what preserves laughter as a sound. With time we grow and we adapt. Over time our priorities and life do the same. In the flash of a second, we go from having no care in the world or liabilities to burdens weighing down our shoulders. Yet, how often are highschools considering money in an effective manner?

Many people believe money buys happiness, however others believe the contrary. The lack of money can make a person very unhappy. Miguel Aguilar recognizes both sides of the spectrum.

“Some people are genuinely happy because of money, while other people build happiness through connections and experiences,” Aguilar said. “Whether they go out and enjoy a day with someone they’re close with, or if they do something exciting on their own.” 

It is important that at a young age, high schoolers build a solid foundation of ideas and comprehension when it comes to knowing how to generate and manage money. Without a solid foundation many can become stuck in a repetitive loop of living paycheck to paycheck or they can end up putting themselves in a financial hole that will be difficult to overcome. 

Financial Literacy and Human Geography teacher, David Kimmel, recognizes the disconnect when it comes to high schoolers and money. A lot of high schoolers think of money in terms of money right now rather than investing or saving.

“A high schooler is very aware of $20 in my pocket versus $40 in my pocket,” Kimmel said. “However, they might not think about how I can develop streams of passive income, if the money sitting in my savings account is really earning any interest, and if I want to plan ten years down the line, what do I need to do?” 

People often find themselves exchanging their time for a set amount of money, and lead a miserable life in doing so. An effective way to disconnect the correlation between money and time would be to have a passive income, an income that generates money with little to no active effort.

With maturity and financial understanding, individuals focus on longer-term goal planning in order to have a firm grasp on their current money situations and where they are expecting it to go.

When you think of your future goals and desires, you have to consider if the path you are taking will satisfy these ideal moves. Will you attain this by maintaining a traditional job? Will you need multiple sources of income to acquire your projected desires? Will having a boss put a cap on your expectations, or would it remove the cap?

Analysse Matias acknowledges traditional workers, but being an employee does not match her character.

“I think some people are meant for the nine to five and others are not,” Matias said. “Disadvantages would have to be not being able to be your own boss and working on your time. The advantage to owning a business is that you are your paycheck.”

People glorify having a business, but not everyone is capable of doing so. Some people need the stability of having a job and a guaranteed check. 

“The advantages of being an employee is knowing that you will be paid and not taking the risks involved in entrepreneurship,” Kimmel said. “For a lot of people this is necessary to work an hourly salary because of bills, but the downside is first off, you are not being paid as well as jobs with monthly or yearly salaries, in general.”

Autumn Gales offers recognition to anyone who is getting money because at least they are getting to it.

“Nothing is wrong with a nine to five, people want to go into careers and that’s what their dreams and goals are,” Gales said. “Whether you work for yourself or work for someone else it doesn’t matter. Both sets of people are hustlers in their own world and people should accept that.”

When managing money, it is important to make sure your needs are covered before your wants are. Kimmel suggests that needs should come first, wants should come second, and your genuine happiness within your career should come after.

“First, you need to pick a route that is going to lead to a sustainable career whether that is in business, or a traditional nine to five, it doesn’t matter,” Kimmel said.  “If you can’t pay the bills it doesn’t matter if you’re following your dreams. At the opposite end of the spectrum, if you can buy what you want and pay for what you need then consider if you enjoy doing the day to day work of that job.” 

With wonderful ideas and unlimited opportunity, a lot of things are possible, including your dreams. However, luck is not to be trusted and dreams cannot genuinely conspire true without action. When it comes to making money; think big, or go home.