Learning for Life

I HATED SCHOOL. There, I said it. From reading the bios of other HumbleDollar contributors, it appears most, if not all, enjoyed their academic experience. Many have gone on to acquire advanced degrees. I, too, went on to acquire post-college education, but only when my employer paid.

But the best education I received wasn’t found in the classroom, but in day-to-day life. It came from observing what others did or didn’t do. This was my greatest source of knowledge.

Everyone in my immediate family went to college, but no one earned a degree. Throughout my childhood, I kept hearing, “If only I’d finished my education, my life would be better.” I saw my father struggle at work. He was a white-collar worker without a college education. He attended Purdue University for chemical engineering, but left before earning a degree. He was surrounded by people with degrees who had more rewarding jobs.

That taught me that, if I got a degree, I was more likely to enjoy my work, even if I didn’t enjoy every day. I was the person least qualified in my family to earn a degree, but what I did possess was perseverance. I could endure whatever it took to get that piece of paper.

My education has continued ever since. A good friend of mine only had two jobs during his adult life. The first job was at an insurance company I worked at, and the second was at a Lowe's home-improvement store. The insurance company offered him early retirement at age 61, with a pension which could be taken as a lump sum or as an annuity. He took the lump sum.

But he had strong feelings about helping less fortunate people from his native country, and he proceeded to donate the entire amount. Immediately after leaving the insurance company, he joined Lowe’s because a friend worked there. He stayed there until he was age 80 because he needed the money. The lesson for me: Take my various pensions as annuities, so I wouldn’t be tempted to spend the money all at once.

My brother never felt an employer would ever truly appreciate his talents, so he embarked on an entrepreneurial life. It started when he graduated high school. My father saw that my brother wasn’t heading to college. Knowing this, my father said to my brother, “I don’t care if you go to college or not, but no son of mine will be a bum. You tell me what skill you want to learn and I’ll pay for it.”

At the time, my brother was working at a manufacturing plant and was impressed with what the welders were doing, so he went to a local community college and became a certified welder. In addition to his skill at welding, he was also a talented salesman and brilliant problem solver.

The combination of these three skills allowed my brother to sell customers on his ability to solve their problem with a new product that he could then build. But he’d get bored building these products. He’d rather solve a new problem. This resulted in orders going unfilled and him losing the business. A simple solution would have been to hire a production manager, but my brother didn’t want to give up control. This led to his downfall.

I never possessed my brother’s entrepreneurial spirit. Despite reading numerous articles about how entrepreneurship was the way to wealth, I didn’t see that as the right path for me—something I learned from observing my brother.

Indeed, I’m blessed to have had events unfold around me so I could see what works and what doesn’t. A formal education has its merits, but life also offers endless opportunities to increase our knowledge. Yes, the school of hard knocks is expensive. But learning from others’ mistakes is free.

David Gartland was born and raised on Long Island, New York, and has lived in central New Jersey since 1987. He earned a bachelor’s degree in math from the State University of New York at Cortland and holds various professional insurance designations. Dave’s property and casualty insurance career with different companies lasted 42 years. He’s been married 36 years, and has a son with special needs. Dave has identified three areas of interest that he focuses on to enjoy retirement: exploring, learning and accomplishing. Pursuing any one of these leads to contentment. Check out Dave's earlier articles.

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