Lesson Summary
When you grow up, you’ll have the opportunity and responsibility to earn money. It’s something to look forward to, and there are MANY ways to make a living. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, so you may as well start thinking about how you’ll buy lunch now!
Two major categories of earning money include being an employee, where someone else pays you, or an entrepreneur, where you own the business and work for your own money.
As an employee, you might earn an hourly wage or a salary. Some employees earn money in low paying hourly jobs that need little skill—just hard work. You might wait tables, mow lawns, monitor a parking garage, or work in a factory (where you might earn more but work harder). Others earn a college degree first, and these jobs typically pay more. Examples include teachers, doctors, lawyers, computer programming, engineers, financial analysts, and so many more.
You might also find a higher paying job that you can work into through experience, such as a sales rep, computer support, restaurant manager, graphic designer, and more.
If you choose to be an entrepreneur, you might own many different styles and sizes of businesses. This includes working online like a copywriter or web developer, or owning a physical location like a restaurant or shop. You might work all by yourself, build a small team, or grow your business to include hundreds or even thousands of employees. Even though a business might be huge, the person who owns it is still an entrepreneur.
Joining the military or becoming an investor in other companies are two other ways to earn a living. The military requires great courage and great sacrifice, and investing typically means you have a lot of money already.
There are 7 major styles of entrepreneurship: selling services, selling products, skilled trades, degreed entrepreneurs, small and large business owners, social entrepreneurs, and information entrepreneurs (who are usually online).
There are plenty of ways to earn money as an adult, some of which you can start now. You’ll be encouraged to begin thinking about how businesses work, who runs them, and what types of jobs you might enjoy.
