<prompt> Human: Thanks for taking the time to read this. I am 24 years old and I am currently teaching English at a private school in Thailand. I have a B.A. in Communication Studies with a minor in Business. I am able to save about 200 a month with a loose budget. My only recurring bills are rent utilities about 215mo and travelers insurance about 100year. I am still covered under my fathers health insurance as well, I believe until I am 26. I have about 12,500 USD in the bank. I have no debts whatsoever. I own a car and all the furnitureetc. required to live on my own. It is all currently being stored free of charge back home. I own a laptop, prepaid smartphone, and camera. My qualifications are limited. I have my TEFL certification, allowing me to get a teaching job in most Asian countries. I only speak English and broken Spanish. Ive started learning Python with CodeAcademy, just for the hell of it. I graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2012. I am an only child. My parents are divorced and both single. I doubt they will ever get married to anybody else again. I am unaware of the specifics of my mothers financial situation, but I know that it is not good. Long story short, I know Ill be taking care of her in the future. She has virtually no assets, and I assume she is heavily in debt.My father is financially stable - he is retired and has an excellent pension. He owns 3 houses, paid in full. He has told me that I am the sole heir to all of his assets - I feel like I should note this, but I dont factor it into my current financial situation. My work experience is limited - parking attendant, retail clerk, tutor at university, English teacher. Unfortunately I was extremely lazy and unmotivated in college - I have virtually no professional network outside of teaching English. I dont particularly enjoy teaching English anymore. Im ready to get away from here, onto the next thing. Ive been very afraid to touch my money, but I think its time to really use some of it to invest in myself. The options I see for how I invest my money, in order of how appealing they sound, are:Go to graduate schoolI have no interest really in continuing my studies in either Communication or Business. If I go back to school, Im studying a physical science - either physics, chemistry, geology, or engineering. Im interested in all of it, so Id like to choose whatever has the most chance of getting me into a stable career. Unfortunately my math and science skills are at high school level, so I have no idea what I would have to do to get into a graduate program in one of these areas. Im sure Ill have to take a lot of classes before they even let me apply, but Im willing to do that. Im totally willing to go to school anywhere, even in another country, but I really dont want to do it online. Go to a trade school I dont think Id mind a blue-collar job either. I hear some of these guys are making a killing doing stuff like welding. Hell, my friend got a job in refrigeration after high school and now he owns a house and is raising a family. I like being on my feet and working with my hands - its what I miss most about my retail jobs. I dislike sitting inside on my ass in an air-conditioned room all day - Its what I dont like the most about teaching.Keep traveling and teachingdoing odd work for a few more yearsTheres a lot of ways I can continue to travel on the cheap, but really all the work Im doing out here is just paying for my travels. Im not saving for my future at all. Financially Im pretty stagnant, as Im using pretty much all the money Im earning on more traveling. I feel that this is a huge investment in itself, so I dont feel that this route is too unappealing. But I can only keep doing this for a few more years. Id really like to start my career sometime soon. I made no mention of mutual funds or retirement funds because, to be honest, I am completely illiterate when It comes to that stuff. Id like to put some money into some sort of fund and watch it grow, but Id rather use the bulk of my money on something else. That might sound like a stupid statement, but thats why Im posting here! Thanks for reading this, and thanks ahead of time for any advice. Much appreciated. Cheers!  <response>: I dont think Id mind a blue-collar job either. I hear some of these guys are making a killing doing stuff like welding. Im in oil and gas on the engineering side. Ive spent time in the field working alongside these guys. Dont get me wrong, the money is fantastic. When theres work and overtime is flowing, theyre pulling in 100K a year easy. Thats not bad for someone without a college degree. The problem is the job is extremely physical. A lot of these guys have back problems. Its not something you can do into your 50s. Some move into supervisor and foreman roles, but there are only so many positions available. They also work around hazardous chemicals all the time. Some run into respiratory issues down the road. The job itself is dangerous. Ive met a guy with 3 fingers on his left hand. He didnt go into details, but said he was young and stupid.If you want to make good money in wielding you have to go where the jobs are. That means traveling to different locations as needed. Sometimes youre half an hour away from Chicago, and sometimes youre rural Louisiana. When youre young it can be fun, but once you have a family all the traveling takes a toll. A bunch of the guys were divorced. I like being on my feet and working with my hands - its what I miss most about my retail jobs. I dislike sitting inside on my ass in an air-conditioned room all day - Its what I dont like the most about teaching.I waited tables and bartended. I hated my desk job when I first got it. In my 20s I closed the restaurant bar at 1am and opened it at 9am the next morning. Im in my 30s now, and I dont know if I can do that more than once a week. Standing on my feet for 40 hours a week was exhausting even in my 20s. I can do 60 hours a week sitting at a desk easy. I can probably do it into my 50s. Physical jobs are fun when youre young, but its not something you want to make a career out of. 