Money, money — that's what college kids want

Eve Tahmincioglu • Profile • E-mail

Is becoming rich a proper career goal?

As kids go back to college this month, I thought it would be a good time to ask this question because money is often at the top of students’ lists of aspirations. When they have "enough," many say, they’ll pursue what they really want.

When asked about their life goals, 81 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds said getting rich is either the most important or the second-most important goal in their lives, according to a Pew Research Center poll.

I’ve known quite a few people who put their dreams on hold in order to make enough money to buy the fancy car, house, etc. But I’ve also watched them grow old and bitter, unhappy with the job that occupied the bulk of their days but unable to let it go, having become reliant on their hefty salaries to fund lavish lifestyles.

It used to be the height of tackiness to say your plan was to be rich.

Not that there is anything wrong with having lots of money. But should that be a top goal for college students; and how will that play out for their careers and lives?

I decided to contact a bunch of successful individuals from all walks of career life to ask them what their aspirations were in college:

Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary under President Clinton, professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley:
When I began college, my career goal was to be an architect or a politician. I love architecture and wanted to create beautiful buildings. I admired what politicians did for the country. (Remember, this was 1964.)

Money did not even cross my mind. In the end, I didn't become an architect, and although I occasionally served in Washington I was never elected to office. And the pursuit of money has never ranked high.

Any young person who believes they can make loads of money first and then pursue their dreams afterwards is fooling themselves. The pursuit of money as its own end can cause dreams to disappear.

Terry Lundgren, CEO of Macy’s parent Federated Department Stores:
My career goal was to find a company where the people I met during the interview process were people I could truly look up to.  I tried to imagine myself five, 10 or 15 years from that point and visualize where I might be and what role I might be playing at that time.  I always advise young people to look at the people they meet during the interviews because they should represent the kind of person that company values. 

As for making a lot of money, I predict that the graduates who end up loving the company and what they do for a living are the ones with the greatest potential for financial success.

Jonathan T.M. Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International:
Getting rich wasn’t on my radar screen in college.  I was blessed with role models in government and academia and was planning a career in politics or some kind of public service.  Having grown up on a college campus, I had an idealistic view of changing the world.

My grandmother, Millicent Fenwick, was a formidable and iconoclastic congresswoman from New Jersey in those years, and I wanted to follow in her footsteps.  Her view of a good life was more in accord with the prophet Micah than the Forbes 400:  “What does the Lord require of you but to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God?”

I’m still working on how to do that, but I credit my family on putting a low emphasis on material things and a high priority on intellectual rigor and faithful service.

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