[Unklejoe]

But what I was really getting at is that there is a certain level of judgement/wisdom that is obtained by working hard and living on your own/supporting yourself.

This can be learned at any age (as pointed out by my comment about my Dad working at the age of 16). However, many people today are not exposed to these types of desicions until after they get done school, which is usually at the age of 23.