There are no guarantees in life. Giving your 17-year-old a solid education in personal finance & investing will help set them up for success. If they are academically inclined, they should go to the best college they can get into without breaking the bank — the major doesn’t matter as much as networking, discipline, and financial habits. ROTC is a great path for many young people to get a degree without debt and experience that’s useful for future careers. Closest thing to a guaranteed upper middle class lifestyle is still a medical degree, although it will require many years delayed gratification. At the end of the day, the top 1% academically gifted will generally succeed if they work hard. My concern is for the other 99%. The American Dream used to be more attainable than it is today.