I'm not yet 20, so obviously I'm reading this thread more for taking advice than giving it. I think about this kind of thing a lot - success (wealth + happiness) in the tech industry. Right now I'm one year through undergraduate in CS, and working at a computer repair store almost full time to pay for it. By next summer, I'm hoping that classes and side projects will make my skills marketable enough to get an internship at a big tech company, and then I'll move on to explore the smaller side of the field. See where I fit in, keep learning, and find something I enjoy. Unless the economy plummets again, I think pretty much any respectable job in CS should pay well enough. That's my plan from here, and my two cents on the issue (US currency).