I'm really uncomfortable with how my future will turn out.

[Evan T. Ong]

After reading Dan Sheek's book, First to a Million, I've learned so much about personal finance and I'm thinking about my future life decisions (I'm 15 as of this post). But my parents are disputing the options that I've been thinking about. For more info, my family is in the middle class and are working through the typical American Dream. They don't have any experience investing. Disclaimer: I am in no way trying to talk bad about them or insinuate they're bad parents. I do love them, they've given me a life that not a lot of others have, and I'm truly grateful for them. But they don't seem to trust me or the ideas in Mr. Sheek's book. I've decided to not attend college, so I can achieve financial independence faster and to avoid student debt. But my mom won't let me not enroll. My dad is a bit more lenient about this. The only problem is that he wants me to save up and learn the value of earning money. These are good expectations, as the book wants me to get an income/earn more, which is step one. I'm okay with that, but he distrusts me so much on being able to not spend as much, which is step 2. Step 3, I have to save the difference between what I spend and what I earn. No problems there, but the last step is where things fall apart. Step 4, invest wisely. The book gives an overview on index funds and real estate. I have read many books over real estate the past few months, and it DOES seem like a great long-term investment for early financial freedom. But my dad, doesn't want me to own any, and suggests that I work at a franchise and just move up the coorporate ladder from there to get a feel of business and then he'll entrust me with his money to start opening more franchises. 

That is the exact thing I'm trying to avoid.

I don't want to be dependent on making money via active income for that long of a time, I want PASSIVE income. But my dad says real estate is too risky and if I can't meet his expectations on being frugal or working the job, he'll send me to college! I have zero voice in this and I'm too afraid to even talk back. I don't know how I'll change their mind or get them to understand me. Can parents legally force me to attend a university? I want to be happy and free in my late twenties, like the book suggests, not worrying about operating these franchises. Maybe franchise owning/small commercial real estate is a good idea? But I'm not going to rise through the ranks, I'm soley working there part-time or full-time to make my first income, this isn't my sole path. And this really bothers me because I thought I could be the one to make my family wealthy, but my parents can't seem to see eye-to-eye with me and they'll distrust me even further. 

In short, I just need help. I need a mentor to guide me on personal finance and investing, I want freedom and control over my life, I want the very people who raised me to just believe in me this once. I don't know everything and now I'm even more unsure.

Do my parents really know best? Was all my time reading about real estate worthless? How many information has been sugercoated or false? Can I even be financially independent in this situation?

Thank you for reading this, I've always known I'd be at my most uncomfortable when approaching adulthood and what's worse is I have no one on my side. Please answer any of these questions or suggest any advice on how I should handle this mess. If you're in Frisco or any nearby Texas city, and are willing to accept an intern to mentor who'd be willing to show me the ropes, please do...

At this point finding a mentor in the summer (anytime without school) would be my best card at the moment. I may be inexperienced, and thats why I need a mentor to be hard on me. I don't want to lose trust or fail to help my future mentor. I don't want all this knowledge to not be put to use when it was meant for me to pursue it sooner. I want everything I did to be worth it (reading about real estate, joining BiggerPockets, networking, etc.)

[JD Martin]

Quote from @Evan T. Ong:

After reading Dan Sheek's book, First to a Million, I've learned so much about personal finance and I'm thinking about my future life decisions (I'm 15 as of this post). But my parents are disputing the options that I've been thinking about. For more info, my family is in the middle class and are working through the typical American Dream. They don't have any experience investing. Disclaimer: I am in no way trying to talk bad about them or insinuate they're bad parents. I do love them, they've given me a life that not a lot of others have, and I'm truly grateful for them. But they don't seem to trust me or the ideas in Mr. Sheek's book. I've decided to not attend college, so I can achieve financial independence faster and to avoid student debt. But my mom won't let me not enroll. My dad is a bit more lenient about this. The only problem is that he wants me to save up and learn the value of earning money. These are good expectations, as the book wants me to get an income/earn more, which is step one. I'm okay with that, but he distrusts me so much on being able to not spend as much, which is step 2. Step 3, I have to save the difference between what I spend and what I earn. No problems there, but the last step is where things fall apart. Step 4, invest wisely. The book gives an overview on index funds and real estate. I have read many books over real estate the past few months, and it DOES seem like a great long-term investment for early financial freedom. But my dad, doesn't want me to own any, and suggests that I work at a franchise and just move up the coorporate ladder from there to get a feel of business and then he'll entrust me with his money to start opening more franchises. 

That is the exact thing I'm trying to avoid.

I don't want to be dependent on making money via active income for that long of a time, I want PASSIVE income. But my dad says real estate is too risky and if I can't meet his expectations on being frugal or working the job, he'll send me to college! I have zero voice in this and I'm too afraid to even talk back. I don't know how I'll change their mind or get them to understand me. Can parents legally force me to attend a university? I want to be happy and free in my late twenties, like the book suggests, not worrying about operating these franchises. Maybe franchise owning/small commercial real estate is a good idea? But I'm not going to rise through the ranks, I'm soley working there part-time or full-time to make my first income, this isn't my sole path. And this really bothers me because I thought I could be the one to make my family wealthy, but my parents can't seem to see eye-to-eye with me and they'll distrust me even further. 

In short, I just need help. I need a mentor to guide me on personal finance and investing, I want freedom and control over my life, I want the very people who raised me to just believe in me this once. I don't know everything and now I'm even more unsure.

Do my parents really know best? Was all my time reading about real estate worthless? How many information has been sugercoated or false? Can I even be financially independent in this situation?

Thank you for reading this, I've always known I'd be at my most uncomfortable when approaching adulthood and what's worse is I have no one on my side. Please answer any of these questions or suggest any advice on how I should handle this mess. If you're in Frisco or any nearby Texas city, and are willing to accept an intern to mentor who'd be willing to show me the ropes, please do...

At this point finding a mentor in the summer (anytime without school) would be my best card at the moment. I may be inexperienced, and thats why I need a mentor to be hard on me. I don't want to lose trust or fail to help my future mentor. I don't want all this knowledge to not be put to use when it was meant for me to pursue it sooner. I want everything I did to be worth it (reading about real estate, joining BiggerPockets, networking, etc.)

Thoughts:

1. No, if you are 18 your parents cannot force you to attend a university.

2. If you're already worrying about retiring before you've ever joined the workforce, you need to expand your horizons and consider work that is both meaningful and financially rewarding. What exactly do you think you'll be doing if, by some miracle, you managed to achieve lifetime financial independence in your twenties? You've (likely) got another 60-80 or more years ahead of you. It's going to be awful boring spending them all drinking Appletinis. 

3. Your parents sound pretty smart, actually. They have given you some suggestions that are more likely to set you up for financial success than the ones you've thought of.

4. Whoever told you owning RE is passive income was lying to you. Owning RE, especially at the beginning, is a lot of work any way you slice it. Most of us who own RE came into it from somewhere else - either from working a regular job and squirreling away investment money into RE or working in a RE career and acquiring properties in the process. 

5. Where do you expect the money to come from for investing in RE without a dependable income, especially since you don't come from any wealth? It's going to come from working a J-O-B. 

My suggestions:

1. Get a part time job and start saving all that money. Show your parents you can both earn money and keep that money.

2. Go to college (or, alternatively, learn a good trade) and set yourself up for maximum earning potential in a field that's interesting to you. 

3. Live below your means and work on getting a duplex (or a single family home and rent all the rooms to your frat brothers) and start from there. 

Bottom line: you are looking at work as something to be avoided. That's more likely to make you homeless than wealthy.