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Message
re: Career Change-Mid 40s CPA/CFP Related
Posted on 6/24/24 at 10:44 am to damonster
Posted on 6/24/24 at 10:44 am to damonster
I like to tell people that the CPA exam isn't about how smart you are, it is about how much you hate yourself (or a nicer way to put it, how disciplined you are).
You are older and will take it seriously. Buy Becker and follow their plan. You will be fine. I did it in my 30s with 3 kids and while it wasn't fun, I'm glad I did it.
I don't know what the pension is at 20 years, but if you are looking to move any ways, using the next 2 years to get your CPA then retiring and starting a new job sounds like the way to go to me. The extra 10 years may not be worth the opportunity cost (depending on what the market looks like right now job-wise).
You are older and will take it seriously. Buy Becker and follow their plan. You will be fine. I did it in my 30s with 3 kids and while it wasn't fun, I'm glad I did it.
I don't know what the pension is at 20 years, but if you are looking to move any ways, using the next 2 years to get your CPA then retiring and starting a new job sounds like the way to go to me. The extra 10 years may not be worth the opportunity cost (depending on what the market looks like right now job-wise).
1
Posted on 6/24/24 at 11:39 am to makersmark1
quote:
What do you do besides work? Work gives us the money to do stuff we enjoy. What do you enjoy?
Well that’s a really good question that I’ve thought about a lot. My commute is currently 1 hour one way so that adds on to the work day. Once I get home, it’s pretty much time to fix supper and get lunch and clothes ready for the next day. I may have an hour or two if I’m lucky to catch up with my wife and kid before it’s time to go to bed.
We own a beautiful piece of property and on the weekends, I usually spend the majority of time trying to keep the property up. Honestly, the property is too much to keep up with by myself but, I can’t afford to pay someone to do it for me. My wife and I have discussed selling it and moving on but, that is very difficult for me to do. We purchased this property 8 years ago with the intention of it being our forever home and eventually passing it down to our children. It hurts me to entertain the thought of selling it but, if something doesn’t give I think that’s the direction we’re heading. If we did sell, I’d want to make sure that it would improve our situation. This includes my job.
After all of that, we try to make it to church and spend a few precious moments together on Sunday. Sometimes I have to take a day off from work in order to keep up with work at home. Very tough situation!
Posted on 6/24/24 at 11:48 am to Auburn80
quote:
Get your CPA while you’re working to get to the 20 year mark. Having CPA after your name gives you more job options than just being an accountant does, even in the non public accounting sector. Keep in mind that in the private sector you may have to move somewhere.
Whatever I end up doing, I’d like to start doing it before making a career change which falls in line with what you’re saying. Problem is I don’t know where to begin. I’ve seen Becker mentioned a few times but, I keep going back and forth between CPA and CFP. I’m honestly scared of failing at my age and letting my family down if I don’t end up with a good opportunity.
Moving is an option but, it couldn’t be too far as my wife doesn’t want to be too far from her family so that limits things a little.
Posted on 6/24/24 at 11:52 am to ApisMellifera
quote:
I like to tell people that the CPA exam isn't about how smart you are, it is about how much you hate yourself (or a nicer way to put it, how disciplined you are). You are older and will take it seriously. Buy Becker and follow their plan. You will be fine. I did it in my 30s with 3 kids and while it wasn't fun, I'm glad I did it. I don't know what the pension is at 20 years, but if you are looking to move any ways, using the next 2 years to get your CPA then retiring and starting a new job sounds like the way to go to me. The extra 10 years may not be worth the opportunity cost (depending on what the market looks like right now job-wise).
This is actually good advice and makes sense to me. How long did you have to study before starting to take your exam? What kind of hours per day were you having to dedicate for study time? I’m in a similar situation with family and other obligations.
Posted on 6/24/24 at 3:17 pm to damonster
quote:
I’m honestly scared of failing at my age
As far as the CPA exam goes, you haven’t failed until you quit and don’t stop until you get it. Just sign up for Becker and get going. Hug your wife and kids because you may not see them for a few months while you study. The best advice I can give you is to take it very serious from the start. If you fail a section do it again.
Posted on 6/24/24 at 3:38 pm to damonster
quote:
Do you have any advice on brushing up on skills? I certainly haven’t used everything that I learned back in school and it’s kind of scary.
That would be a tough one for me to advise on, I think the best bet would be to look at a lot of those self-study programs; Becker has been referenced a lot, Ninja worked for several people I know that didn't have success with Becker. I tried Gleim before Becker and hated it. But to answer your question, it really depends on where you want your career to take you.
Also don't just narrow your focus in on CPA. Like I suggested in my earlier post also look at CIA, Fraud, CMA... Some of these may pique your interest a little more and could potentially help you take a step up within the State, maybe even a lateral move that will also come with better chances for advancement. You should also look at all of the requirements for any designation you are considering and make sure you can check all of the boxes. For example, for the CPA license, you may not have the experience under the direction of a licensed CPA that would be required to earn the CPA designation even if you pass the test
Posted on 6/24/24 at 3:41 pm to damonster
quote:
keep going back and forth between CPA and CFP. I’m honestly scared of failing at my age and letting my family down if I don’t end up with a good opportunity.
In another post you mentioned your desire for the CFP, but you may want to research salary structures for CFP. Most of the ones I know start out with a low base pay, and you really make your money on your fees/commissions; then after a few years your base draw is gone, and you are strictly fee/commission base. I am sure there are a lot of resources out there that may give you better information, but you'll definitely need to research this if money is already tight now.
Posted on 6/24/24 at 4:22 pm to damonster
quote:
This is actually good advice and makes sense to me. How long did you have to study before starting to take your exam? What kind of hours per day were you having to dedicate for study time? I’m in a similar situation with family and other obligations.
This is going to vary significantly by individual and by exam, but I would broadly aim to prepare 2 months per exam, budgeting maybe about 2 hours per day. Again, very broadly. While taking longer to study for each exam has an obvious benefit, the less obvious drawback is that your recollection of the earlier material may fade over time.
Posted on 6/24/24 at 4:47 pm to damonster
quote:
That would be correct. The problem is actually getting to that point. I’m sort of at a point where I don’t enjoy what I’m doing and it doesn’t pay enough.
Idk man, going to work for an accounting firm doing taxes fricking blows. It's not like thats an exciting job.
Posted on 6/24/24 at 5:11 pm to damonster
quote:
Honestly, the property is too much to keep up with by myself but, I can’t afford to pay someone to do it for me. My wife and I have discussed selling it and moving on but, that is very difficult for me to do. We purchased this property 8 years ago with the intention of it being our forever home
2 hours in the car everyday and 16 hours of yard work every weekend?
You are on a treadmill. Can your wife do some yard work?
I’d look for expenses to cut to afford a yard guy.
You need your weekends to recharge at minimum.
How big is this property and house?
This post was edited on 6/24/24 at 5:55 pm
Posted on 6/24/24 at 7:12 pm to makersmark1
quote:
2 hours in the car everyday and 16 hours of yard work every weekend
On that note, do you have the time to commit? How much and when?
Re: the property - what is needed to be a viable build? Will the plan help achieve that goal? It could be a very powerful goal for motivation if achievable. (2 yrs to get to 20 w/ a pension while passing and exam and the going to find more comp after 20)
Only throwing out other questions to consider, only you will know.
Posted on 6/24/24 at 9:02 pm to Auburn80
Go through Becker once and then hammer multiple choice questions. Don’t waste your time on simulations (they’re basically just a bunch of multiple choice questions combined into one problem and they make you spend too much time on a subject that you might not even get).
PS it sucks studying/taking them while you’re working but nothing you can do about that now. Just takes determination.
PS it sucks studying/taking them while you’re working but nothing you can do about that now. Just takes determination.
This post was edited on 6/24/24 at 9:03 pm
Posted on 6/25/24 at 4:20 am to makersmark1
quote:
I’d look for expenses to cut to afford a yard guy
Maybe you could help start a landscape business with a young person. You could own 50%. Make yourself the first customer.
You can’t drive and work more than 10 hours a day, come home and do yard work until bedtime, and enjoy life.
Cut every unnecessary expense. Find the money to get you some help.
Can you work from home more? Your time is being consumed by the long commute.
Is there a state job closer by that you could take? Just to get the pension.
Posted on 6/25/24 at 10:46 am to damonster
quote:
How long did you have to study before starting to take your exam?
That is pretty variable for many reasons. First, when I began studying I didn't really follow their program. I thought I would first listen to all the lectures, then do the quizzes, then mock exams, etc. This did not work at all, especially because I started with FAR which was notorious for covering so much information.
Eventually I took FAR and failed of course. Afterwards I did a complete reset and began at the beginning. I did every lecture, quiz, and exam in order. I made sure all of my quiz grades were 100% before moving on and my mock exams were at least 80% before moving to the next section. That took me about 2 1/2 months. The others were much faster and I got them my first try. AUD and BEC probably 1 1/2 months and REG just over a month.
Also, each section varies on the amount of content you need to cover. It used to be that FAR was the longest, REG the shorted, and AUD and BEC being in the middle. I'm not sure what the breakdown is since they changed things up this past year.
quote:
What kind of hours per day were you having to dedicate for study time?
My usual routine:
M-F:
Morning study - 5:30am - 8:00am
Evening study - 7:00pm - 9:30pm
Saturday:
8:00am - 4:00pm
Sunday:
11:00am - 3:00pm
I was much more focused when sitting at a desk and didn't have one at home so my morning and weekend study sessions were always at the office.
The weekends were the hardest because of all the family/kids events going on. There is always a birthday party, graduation, family get-together, etc. You just have to buckle down and say I'll do all of that next year. My wife was a champ and was extremely supportive, but I couldn't help but feel guilty leaving her with all of the kids so much.
Last thing, just keep in mind it is a grind. There were some mornings where I wouldn't make it through a single quiz before work started or have a real low score on one and repeat it 4-5 times trying to grasp it. Those can be pretty demoralizing times where it feels like you go no closer to your goal. Just have to keep at it and push through knowing you will eventually make it through to the other side.
Edit:
Someone above said to skip the simulations. I don't really agree with that. I actually found the simulations in Becker to be helpful. They did not teach me material, but taught me how to navigate the different simulation types and what it felt like having to look through documents to find the information I needed. It was more of me recognizing what my approach and state of mind needed to be.
This post was edited on 6/25/24 at 10:54 am
Posted on 6/25/24 at 2:09 pm to Auburn80
quote:
Just sign up for Becker and get going. Hug your wife and kids because you may not see them for a few months while you study. The best advice I can give you is to take it very serious from the start. If you fail a section do it again.
I understand what you’re saying but, is it so time consuming that I wouldn’t have time for my wife and kids? If so, I think I would have to stretch studying out over time because my daughter has things that I want to be there for and of course my wife and I have to have some time together. She’s pretty easy going but, we both feed off of each other. I don’t give up once I set my mind to do something unless I just made a mistake or it’s something that’s just stupid.
Posted on 6/25/24 at 2:32 pm to Weekend Warrior79
quote:
Also don't just narrow your focus in on CPA. Like I suggested in my earlier post also look at CIA, Fraud, CMA... Some of these may pique your interest a little more and could potentially help you take a step up within the State, maybe even a lateral move that will also come with better chances for advancement.
I really haven’t looked into any of the designations that you mentioned and will certainly look. Do you know of any good places to start? Google is so full of AI crap these days that it gets frustrating finding good information. I’d like some good “real world” information. I don’t really live in an area of the State where a lot of higher level State positions come open. Most of them are in Nola or BR.
quote:
For example, for the CPA license, you may not have the experience under the direction of a licensed CPA that would be required to earn the CPA designation even if you pass the test
I definitely wouldn’t meet the experience requirement but, would be looking at getting into a position as quickly as possible so that I could receive that 1 year experience requirement so I could receive my license. Ideally, this position would be what would take me into my “final retirement.”
Posted on 6/25/24 at 2:37 pm to Weekend Warrior79
quote:
In another post you mentioned your desire for the CFP, but you may want to research salary structures for CFP. Most of the ones I know start out with a low base pay, and you really make your money on your fees/commissions; then after a few years your base draw is gone, and you are strictly fee/commission base. I am sure there are a lot of resources out there that may give you better information, but you'll definitely need to research this if money is already tight now.
My family has a financial advisor that we’ve used for years and that I trust. I’m thinking of making an appointment with him to talk about this. I did look at Series 7 a while back but, I’m afraid this is the kind of thing that is passed down from advisor to basically apprentice and it being a lot more relationship and sales driven. I’d love to do that but, I’m not sure the sales part is worth the risk for family. Also, not sure if anyone would want an “old fart” like me over a youngster.
Posted on 6/25/24 at 2:40 pm to ApisMellifera
quote:
Edit: Someone above said to skip the simulations. I don't really agree with that. I actually found the simulations in Becker to be helpful. They did not teach me material, but taught me how to navigate the different simulation types and what it felt like having to look through documents to find the information I needed. It was more of me recognizing what my approach and state of mind needed to be.
Agreed. The simulations practice added more value than the lectures (although the lectures may be more helpful if it’s been years since you covered the subject matter in undergrad).
One thing that I would suggest when practicing is to disregard the terrible Excel application embedded in Becker, and just open a blank Excel (on the same screen, if you normally use multiple monitors). Excel is helpful on the actual exam, but the Becker version is next to useless.
Posted on 6/25/24 at 2:43 pm to Dead Mike
quote:
While taking longer to study for each exam has an obvious benefit, the less obvious drawback is that your recollection of the earlier material may fade over time.
This scares me because I haven’t really used much Accounting in a long time. I picked it up really quick back in school but, I know A LOT has changed and I’d be afraid of not knowing. Would Becker bring me up to speed for current practices? Hopefully, if I dug in it would be like riding a bike!
Posted on 6/25/24 at 2:54 pm to damonster
I finished the exam at 41, transitioning from law to CPA. I liked Ninja and YouTube videos. There's a lot of jobs and decent money in public accounting, and many of them are remote. It's certainly better than working at a law firm.
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