My Real-life application of SAFE Principle #1 – Take an economic view

We are sitting around table - me, my hubby and my daughter. She is convincing us why she wants to study either in Paris or in New York. And, we are explaining how expensive this is....

And, then, I thought why don’t we "Take an Economic View" of the situation. And, there starts our homework. We started evaluating:

1. Best value and quality in shortest sustainable time
2. Understanding of approved budget and associated guardrails
3. Trade-offs between risk, Cost of Delay (CoD), tuition cost and living expense

Who does not want their children to have the best education, in the best colleges – No one, right!!! But, can we really do this without truly understanding the economics behind it.

And, everyone in the value chain – kept economics in view. Hahaha, that means, we all did the homework:

Created an excel sheet with the colleges and associated costs. We noticed -

1. Indeed, the graduates from the listed colleges / universities, did better in their life and career (in general). (Best value and quality)
2. Our understanding of the budget that we can afford along with the guardrails and the maximum stretch gave us clarity on what is achievable and what is not.
3. What are the trade-offs?
   1. Risks - Lot of risks were identified in both studying local or international. A quick quantitative analysis gave us clarity on criticality
   2. Cost of Delay - It was clear that studying from one of these selected colleges would give a kick start to the career and struggle for graduates from other colleges is more. Also, my daughter was willing to take a year off and focus on getting admissions in one of these colleges. We determined the cost of delay there too
   3. Costs - Operational, Development (living expense, tuition and other associated costs) clearly outshined a few colleges over others
   4. What are the trade-offs? - What we are willing to let go? What we must retain?

Outcome

The topmost universities in New York, Boston and Paris except one, were not feasible. Loan amounts were too huge. This last one, also was a bit beyond our budget, but, feasible via loan. Here again Economics played the role:

1. Best value and quality in shortest sustainable time

Bottom layer of a multi-layered skirt – for portfolio

By Grace of God and her efforts, her application was accepted. And, New York, here we come, living the dream of studying from one of the topmost colleges in the world....

Hope this is one of the best opportunities till now and there are many more to come for you, dear Mehar. Always, apply this Principle - "Take an Economic View" Closing with the quote from Peter Ducker which played a huge role in our decision –