ONLY start a Ph.D. program if you want to teach. If you're doing it to stall on deciding something else, at least go earn a living working retail. That way you'll have time to read books you want to read rather than having to read books other people think you should read. Of course, I went straight into a Ph.D. program and never exactly regretted it. But then if you're not married the 13 years it took me and the 5 years after that before I got a tenure track offer only has financial consequences for ME.