<prompt> Human: Hi, Im 26, dropped out of university when I was about 20 for a multitude of reasons mostly lack of direction and lack of financial support, and ever since Ive been working pretty shitty jobs for pretty shitty pay. I ended up getting very lucky over the past year. I started investing in cryptocurrencies about a year ago, and since then they have blown up. Now I have about 50,000 more in my bank account, and Im trying to figure out what to do with it... I still have about 10,000 in cryptocurrency also. Overall, I live a very frugal lifestyle until now, out of necessity. My car is 9 years old and paid off, I dont go out much or take expensive vacations, and generally dont buy stuff unless I really need it. I live in a mid-sized midwestern city, where housing prices are still relatively cheap compared to the rest of the nation you can buy a nice house for 150-200k, a decent house for 100-150k still. Meanwhile, rent keeps increasing by quite a lot each year in my city currently paying 760 a month for a one bedroom apartment.So Im trying to think of the best ways to spend this money. I would like to go back to school so I can get a degree and earn a better living wage, but doing this would probably use up most of my funds. Not many scholarship opportunites for adult students, and I would have to work part time for about 2-3 years. I could always take out some student loans, but Im hesitant after spending the last 6 years of my life working to get rid of the ones I had from dropping out of college the first time... Im also considering buying a house. I could put up a significant down payment, and then Id be paying about half as much per month on a mortgage as I am on rent while building equity. And then a third option Im considering is just putting most of it in a retirement portfolio, and letting it sit until Im old. Best option?Edit - Thanks for all the great advice! For those wondering, I make about 25k a year. Cost of living in my area is fairly cheap, but 25k is still a terrible income level to be at especially considering that Im almost 30 years old.Ive considered skilled trades, but after working in a few different trade industries and hating it, I think trades are not for me.Assistant: If youre worried about the cost of a college degree, you could always go to a community or technical college and get a two year degree. If your area is anything like mine also mid-sized midwestern city, the cost of a two year degree from a technical college is something like 10k-15k in total, books included. There are plenty of lucrative trades or fields to pursue with a two year degree, and many of these technical colleges have great ties with businesses in the community. Im currently attending such a school and love it; theyre much more flexible with my schedule as far as online offerings go and are more focused on the application of knowledge rather than theory as many liberal arts universities are.Or if school isnt your thing, invest it or put a large sum up for a down payment on a house. However, I do highly recommend at least a two year degree as the return on investment especially factoring in cost is usually very high.EDIT: Also, for reference, I am also 26. One thing I found out when I was no longer considered a dependent for financial aid purposes was I became eligible for many more grants that I had previously been ineligible for I received quite a bit more from grants as I got older. Technical and community colleges love returning adults or students a little older than your average college freshman. YMMV though depending on school and other aid offerings for your state Im in WI. I hope this helps; Id be willing to discuss my specific situation in more depth if youd like.Human: Yeah Im definitely leaning towards the community collegetechnical college route. How did you decide on a program? Im skeptical about how many 2 year degree programs are actually worth doing, although I hear the job market is much better now than it was the last time I was in school.Assistant: Computer scienceAccountingSTEM fieldsETA: those are in demand fields, and fields which are difficult to automate. But you should also consider what might be interesting to you, or what might be a good background in case you decided to complete a 4 year degree.Human: Computer science and accounting are actually the two fields that Im looking into the most. Im leaning towards comp sci because Ive always loved technology, and have taught myself how to do some basic coding which I also enjoy, but I also worry about the field becoming oversaturated with so many people going into it right now and so many coding boot camp type training centers these days. Accounting seems like its a more stable career, but Im not sure how much I would enjoy working with financial numbers all day.  <response>: In there basic form they are both numbers. You should be fine in either man. Cheers! 