What would you say is the "safest" occupation in the United States today?

[SheilaT]

52. Lots of good suggestions here.

I'd tell my students to figure out what kind of thing they like to do: work with people, work with tools, work on a computer; then figure out what sorts of jobs are out their in their preferred work style.

I get so frustrated at the parents who keep on letting their kids make truly irrational choices about where to go to school and what to major in. And that they don't understand the reality of financial aid and that most of it is in the form of loans. I have a friend whose oldest child is graduating high school and is deciding exactly where to go to college. I'm forgetting what the kid wants to major in, but it's something that doesn't strike me as one with a lot of good job prospects, and the kid apparently doesn't fully understand what coursework she will really need to take to get the degree she wants. Plus, the mom does not entirely get it that the kid will be mostly going to school on loans. She told me a story the other day of someone's grandchild who got some $80,000 of Pell Grant money for the upcoming four years of college. Can't get the mom to understand that Pell grants simply are not that generous.