What major should I study to get rich quickly?

But, does a field of study really exist that teaches people how to get rich quickly? And if so, are the instructors who teach these wealth-building courses actually rich themselves?

A status update has gone viral on social media recently, as everyone is anxiously awaiting the high school graduation exam and pondering the many choices for their future. The status, allegedly written by a 12th-grade male student, reads: "Everyone, please tell me, what major should I study to get rich quickly? My parents say I should register for business administration, my sister says I should study accounting or banking! What do you all think?"

The question made readers laugh, partly because of its naivety, even to the point of being silly, and partly because of its very legitimate and straightforward concern. Thousands of comments praised the student for his courage in daring to ask something everyone wants to know; most others enthusiastically offered advice on specific fields of study based on personal experience; amidst the countless comments were a few suggestions for the young man to ask himself what he's good at, what he likes, and then make his choice.

In reality, countless people live their entire lives without knowing what they like or want. Many people—like the young man mentioned above—make major life decisions based on observing the lives of others.

Seeing how lucrative banking is, with supposedly stable monthly salaries of 15-20 million VND, not to mention bonuses like Tet (Lunar New Year) and quarterly bonuses of tens or hundreds of millions, I was tempted and immediately enrolled. My neighbor's sister said the current trend is to study communications, because she's seen many TikTokers and YouTubers getting rich quickly, so I jumped into communications. Then my cousin said, "Today's society is full of risks and uncertainties, you should study finance and insurance, it's a much easier way to make a living." My parents grumbled, saying those fields sounded too unfamiliar, just stick to traditional fields like education or medicine, they'll always need teachers and doctors, if not in the public sector, then in the private sector, what's there to worry about! Oh my god, all I heard was... that any field would be lucrative, any field would make you rich quickly! But life isn't like a dream!

Unless you're incredibly lucky, unless you're "better off than you work hard," most people who want to rely on studying one field for four years, blindly rushing into life with a heavy load of theoretical knowledge, will find it difficult to get rich, let alone get rich quickly.

Wealth – in a broad sense – isn't just about the numbers in a bank account. The difference between someone with a lot of money and someone truly wealthy is that someone with a lot of money always chases after money, always putting money at the center to attract attention; while a truly wealthy person cares less about money because they are skilled enough to make money follow them, without needing to spend a lot of money to show others how impressive they are. Wealth isn't measured by the amount of money but by the sustainability of the value of the assets they possess and their ability to earn money. So, what academic field in the world teaches you how to get rich quickly, when wealth is both a value and a skill built through countless life experiences and hardships?

Reading articles about billionaires and the world's super-rich, one easily notices a common trait: independence and initiative. This independence and initiative are evident in even the smallest things, things many people might consider trivial, such as being able to cook for themselves when their mother, wife, or housekeeper is away; being able to repair electrical appliances, plumbing, and fix basic problems with their motorbike, bicycle, or car; and knowing how to earn pocket money from a very young age…

Leaving aside self-made billionaires, even those born into wealthy families with generations of riches possess and cultivate these exceptional qualities of independence. They consider it the most crucial prerequisite skill for a person.

Independent people are confident, self-reliant, and self-respecting. Those who cannot take care of themselves will find it difficult to understand their own abilities, interests, desires, and what they are best at… Look around us; how many young people, 15, 18, and even adults in their 30s and 35s, still lie around all day, complaining of boredom but unwilling to move their limbs? They say exercising is tiring, they say light exercise is too much work, they say learning something new to avoid feeling sluggish is a waste of time. Fear of fatigue, laziness, and the thought of wasting time will keep them forever watching TV and admiring (or criticizing) the wealthy, no matter what field they study!

To elaborate further, many young people are also confusing choosing a major with choosing a career. The concept of a major is broader; within a major, there can be many professions. Many choose to study medicine, but within medicine there are professions like doctor, nurse, and caregiver…; or they study transportation engineering but don't know that within the field there are professions like construction supervision engineer, design engineer, etc.

Due to confusion or a lack of proper understanding between majors and professions, some students make the wrong decision: choosing a major with a grandiose, general name without understanding what kind of job they will get after graduation, only to be disillusioned by the harsh reality after leaving school.

A little piece of advice for you: you should determine what career you want to pursue instead of worrying about what major to study; the more specific you are, the less of a shock you'll be when you find a job after graduation. Over the past few years, the Ministry of Education and Training, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization, has compiled and published a set of career guidance materials for students aged 14-19. These materials are very useful, focusing on describing and analyzing the necessary qualities for each profession and providing detailed and realistic predictions for 199 common and specialized occupations in Vietnam. Detail and realism are key considerations when choosing a career; don't entrust your life to vague answers online, and don't dream of getting rich quickly when you don't have a solid foundation: independence and initiative!