You’ve heard the pitch countless times – in magazines, on the radio, in books, or over the internet. It’s the wisdom of the experts, and it goes like this: Invest in the stock market. Invest for the long term, because the market always goes up over time. Make sure you have a diversified portfolio, meaning a mix of stocks and bonds. In fact, hold these stocks and bonds in funds, known as mutual funds, which are collections of stocks and/or bonds that lower risk by having a range of holdings. These funds have important-sounding names, like Strategic Small-Cap Equity Fund (Vanguard) and Emerging Europe and Mediterranean Fund (T. Rowe Price), and they do better than you would do on your own, because they are managed by the top talent in the industry, smart people with years of experience, who have keen insight into the markets. Finally, invest in risky funds (stocks) when you are young, and switch to more conservative bond funds, for income production, as you approach retirement.

Last month, I described what a computer network is and explained how one can make a career of computer network engineering, without going to college, by obtaining Cisco certifications. The next step is getting a job.
Let’s say you have studied hard, taken the requisite tests, and obtained your CCNA. Now, how are you going to get yourself employed? Surely you have heard that you need experience to get hired, but need to get hired to get experience. That is true, but if you go about it properly, you can break in

I have been making a living working in the field of computer network engineering for the past 14 years. Although I have two bachelor’s degrees from the University of North Texas and a master’s in chemistry from Johns Hopkins, none of those degrees was relevant to this field. In fact, not only is college not a prerequisite for working in this field; one cannot go to college to learn about this field. This is because network engineering technology changes far too fast for colleges to be able to teach it within the confines of a four-year degree. By the time you get the degree, half of the courses you took would already be out of date.