Jonathan loves animals and was offered a full time job at a local animal shelter. He wants to drop out and take it since he is 17 and can start earning a full salary. His teacher says he should stay in school, graduate and get an Associate's Degree as a vet tech at the community college. Since he is in 10th grade, Daniel thinks that over his lifetime he will make more if he starts working now rather than going to school for 3 more years of high school and 2 additional years of community college. Using the graph, figure out which way he will make more money by the time he retires at age 65.

Question

Jonathan loves animals and was offered a full time job at a local animal shelter. He wants to drop out and take it since he is 17 and can start earning a full salary. His teacher says he should stay in school, graduate and get an Associate's Degree as a vet tech at the community college. Since he is in 10th grade, Daniel thinks that over his lifetime he will make more if he starts working now rather than going to school for 3 more years of high school and 2 additional years of community college. Using the graph, figure out which way he will make more money by the time he retires at age 65.

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Starting work 5 years early will pay off over time with higher lifetime earnings
Both sceneries will pay the same because it covers so many years.
The tech job will pay $1,702, 272 and the full time job he takes by dropping out will pay $700.000 over the lifetime earnings
The tech job will pay $2,247,180 and even with the extra 5 years, the junior full time job will pay almost $500,000 less in lifetime earnings.

Answer 1

Based on the information given in the graph, it is clear that Jonathan will make more money over his lifetime if he stays in school, graduates, and gets an Associate's Degree as a vet tech at the community college. The difference in lifetime earnings between the two options is significant, with the vet tech job earning over $2 million and the full time job without further education earning $700,000. Therefore, it is in Jonathan's best interest to stay in school and pursue the vet tech career for higher lifetime earnings.