It’s looking more and more that if you have discipline and want to save for the future, going to college may be a bad investment. A four year college degree costs too much and proves too little. It has become increasingly unlikely to be able to make up the cost of a college degree, even with the fact that college grads get paid more.

In an example for the New York Post as written by SmartMoney associate editor Jack Hough, if you look at two people from similar backgrounds each of whom save $16,594 for college. One decides to not go to college and invests his savings in a mutual fund that tracks the broad stock market. He ends up making an average pay that peaks at $32,538. He adds to his savings 5% of his after-tax income and it returns 8% a year.

His friend goes to college. He goes to public school and transfers to a private school. He ends up spending $48,286 in tuition and fees. These fees do not include room and board. He ends up spending $34,044 after grants. When he finishes school he owes $17,450 at 5% in student loans. He starts making just over $23,000 a year after taxes and peaks at almost $57K. Like his friend, he sets aside 5%. It will take him 12 years to pay off his loans. When he finally escapes from the debt at age 34, he starts investing in the same fund as his friend. He is able to make bigger monthly contributions. However, when they reach 65, the friend who didn’t go to college will have saved almost $1.3 million while the one with the degree will have less than a third of what his friend saved.

I believe that this all comes back to the fact that many people don’t think about saving rather they want to have a comfortable lifestyle while they can enjoy it. I’m not saying that you can’t enjoy things when you’re 65, but you can enjoy travel and have more ability to do so when you’re younger.