Why Stop at Being a Millionaire?
September 03, 2010While driving with my kids in the car recently, a song came on the radio. The song is called Billionaire by Travie McCoy (I recommend the clean version over the explicit…), and talks about why the artist wants to be a billionaire. He wants to be on the cover of Forbes magazine smiling next to Oprah and The Queen. It’s a little bit silly, but very amusing, and my kids like the song. (OK, after about 15 listens, I do too now.) But, it made me think: “What would it take for someone to be a billionaire?” Other than something obvious…like a billion dollars!
Then I remembered an article I read on Forbes a while ago about “The Billionaire Universities.” In the article, it shows that slightly more than half (52%, 244 out of 469) of the billionaires in the U.S. come from only 20 schools. That’s astounding. The remaining 48% (225 out of 469) come from 182 other colleges. The reasons why these schools produce so many billionaires are many, but quality education, quality business schools, and networking opportunities are high on the list. Not everyone is concerned (probably very few truly are…) if their kids can become billionaires, but most parents are concerned about funding an education for their children.
With the back to school season in full swing, one of the questions I am asking myself is if I have enough money saved for college for my kids. And, what if they want to go to one of these “billionaire-maker” schools? (Which could cost nearly a billion dollars for 4 years by the time my youngest is ready to go.) To help me answer so many of my questions about the topic of education funding, there is a website that I use more than any other. www.savingforcollege.com is my “go to” resource any time I have questions about anything related to college planning. (I’m in no way affiliated with the site, for the record.) So, for the parents of aspiring billionaires, or parents who aspire to raise billionaires, I highly recommend visiting this website to learn more than you ever knew existed regarding preparing (financially AND mentally!) for your kids (or grandkids) to go to college.