Going to college and choosing a major

[Jake Thompson]

I'm going to be getting out of the military soon and plan on going to san diego state university. The military pays for my schooling so I want to take advantage of that. However, I'm not sure what to study. My ultimate goal is to be a full time real estate investor, so I don't necessarily need a degree, but I'm trying to decide what would be most helpful. They have a business degree with a few different emphasis. The two I'm most interested in are entrepreneurship and real estate. The real estate emphasis would set me up to get my agent license so that is one possible route. The entrepreneurship emphasis will give me a better overview for running my own business however. They also have emphasis in finance and accounting which my wife is thinking of doing when she gets out. Any suggestions on what to study? Again my main goal is to buy multi family properties for cash flow so I don't have to work a 9-5 job. 

[Jeffrey H.]

I like to break these things down into manageable chunks.  Your initial goal is to get a job and support your family, right?  If so then the quickest route is to go the real estate track so you get the credits necessary to get your license.

If you spend enough time on this website you will figure out the business side (assuming you can apply what you learn from books and here) and ways to get good deals, maximize profit, etc.  My wife is a CPA and guess who does the taxes in our house?  That's right, me.  Being a CPA is useless for real estate investing.  TurboTax alone is fine for several rental properties - if you're super organized then you can also use Excel or Quicken to manage expenses and revenue.

By the way, thanks for your service - wish you all the best in your future endeavors.