What do you want to be when you grow up?

Barbara

For me, the answer isn't as easy as it was when I was a 10-year-old. Back then, I wanted to be a marine biologist —never mind my inability to swim without a nose plug and the obvious geographical hindrance, being in landlocked Nebraska .

My answer changed over the years—to teacher, nurse, lawyer, writer and more. Frankly, I haven't quite solidified a final answer.

For those trying to answer that question, there are a couple of other logical questions to consider: What should I major in? Where should I go to school?

When it comes to paying for an education, those questions can have a very large effect on your financial future. Obviously, your college price tag varies depending on what and where you're studying. When you're making these decisions, you should also be thinking about what you'll be doing after graduation—and asking yourself: "Will I be earning enough money to repay what I borrowed?"

Most advisers suggest  not exceeding monthly student loan payments over 10% to 15% of your expected salary .

I'll give you an example. Let's say our student:

• Has a major in psychology—both a bachelor's and master's degree
• Eventually wants to teach psychology at a university
• Is taking on about $40,000 of Federal Stafford loan debt

Is that decision financially sound?

Well, if the expected salary is around $50,000 out of college, our student will have a monthly income of about $4,200. By using a payment calculator (at 6.8% interest rate for 10 years), you can see that the monthly loan payment is $460—about 11% of the estimated monthly income. Our student is pushing their suggested borrowing amount. In this case, it might make sense for our student to get extra income from a part-time job during school instead of borrowing so much.

Seems to me that the question to answer isn't what do you want to be when you grow up, but can you afford it?