A Bucket of Cold Water In This Age of Ageism

In the past week there has been a major new development in my quest to launch my new career in finance.  You may remember Matt, my broker at Merrill Lynch.  He had been leaving messages for me to review my portfolio but instead I called him a week ago Thursday to get some advice on the CFP.  I was in a state of disbelief over the latest info from Oakland University in which they stated that the program now had a requirement that you had to have both a broker’s license and an insurance license just to get admitted to the classes. 

                To review some history, when I first inquired at OU a few years back, I was told all that was required for admission to the program was a high school diploma and working on a bachelor’s.  They even promised to place you in a job within a week after you registered for the program.  Then when I tried to enroll in the program in 2016, I was told I was not qualified and would have to take an intro course and an internship, both of which I passed with flying colors.  When I again tried to enroll in 2017, I was again told I was not qualified, and had no recourse since I was not only recovering from my accident so couldn’t attend anyway, but my mentor for the program and the internship had just left OU and moved to Florida, leaving me high and dry without any support.  When I again tried to enroll early last month, I was for the third time told I was not qualified despite having completed the aforesaid requirements.  This time they upped the ante considerably with the requirement of the two professional licenses. 

I had other concerns.  I had been told at that first inquiry a few years back that the CFP was the ideal 2^nd career for people in their 60s.  I was told there was a big demand for people in their 60s due to the enormous influx of baby boomers coming into retirement. I was told it was one field for which there was no age discrimination.  

I have been very seriously trying to get some straight answers from somebody about the legitimacy of these claims, claims on which I had based all my future plans.  So I put these questions directly to Matt – is it really true that stock brokers also must have insurance licenses?  Is it really true that the CFP is a good career choice for career-changers, retirees and people in their 60s?  Is it really true that there is no age discrimination for the CFP?  I raise the questions because I have been involved in this quest for some time now and have so far not seen any evidence of it.  The interviews I’ve attempted have ended with a quick door slammed in my face as soon as they saw my photo.  His answers were both revealing and shocking. 

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Yes, stock brokers are required to also have insurance licenses.  Yes, there is age discrimination in the CFP.  In fact, brokerage firms now by and large require all the young people coming in to already have CFPs so it is no longer anything that sets you apart, nothing special about it anymore.  No, it is not an ideal field for people in their 60s.  In fact, nobody is going to hire someone in their 60s.  They’re looking for younger people, 40 is the limit, who have at least 25 years left in their careers.  Nobody is going to hire someone, no matter how qualified, who’s only got 5 or 6 years left in their careers. 

He wanted to know what I expected from the CFP because he could not see that it would really be a great benefit for me, unless I’m after the credential just for the knowledge for, in his opinion, no one will hire someone my age so it’s doubtful I’ll ever qualify for the two years of work experience.  He asked me to seriously consider why I would benefit from a CFP.  I need rather to go after something that I already know a lot about.  As an MBA, I already know a lot of accounting and financial analysis.  It would be a far more doable option to go into taxes instead.  The tax courses can be completed quickly and I can go to work right away, rather than spending the better part of two years completing the CFP requirements and then still not being able to get hired. 

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So Matt has now become about the fifth person who has recommended the route of becoming a tax preparer, something I have been seriously considering for a long time, something I feel I would be very comfortable doing.  I do not know whether I even want to be an adviser; in fact lately I’m thinking I probably don’t, that I would be a lot more comfortable working in taxes and/or being a trainer and/or starting and running my own fund or some combination of any or all of the above.  Because of my strong financial and entrepreneurial background, acquiring some tax skills and then opening my own firm might be the best route for me. 

So that was a big splash (really a bucket full) of cold water that he threw on me but, at long last, I think I’ve finally found someone who was willing to give me some straight answers.  I’m not going to leave it with him; I will be seeking advice from other professionals as well.  Yet my gut tells me that Matt is the first person to actually tell me some truths about this profession.  For the past week since this phone call I’ve been feeling like I’ve been chasing my own tail all this time and am suddenly no longer my usual optimistic self.  If what he told me is true, I’m certainly glad I found out before I spent any more time or money (or energy!) on the training, at BU or elsewhere.  But it’s also left me with some bewilderment, not exactly sure how I’m going to proceed now. 

I have invested $200 for the textbooks for the investments class and I have the syllabus so I can continue to teach myself that course to find out if it actually does appeal to me.  I’ve also spent nearly the entire month a little under the weather so I guess it’s really a good thing that I’m not enrolled in the real course at OU.  Feeling as I have been, I doubt I’d been able to handle it.  Worst of all, when I’m feeling punk like this (and I’ve been feeling particularly punk the last four days), it makes wonder whether I’ll ever be able to handle any kind of new career at all. 

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I’ve been given a reality check.  Now I have to check whether the reality check is realistic.  I’m not sure how to move forward anymore.  First, I have to just start feeling better.  Then I guess it’s a matter of reading and studying until something starts to feel right again.  I only know that I have an MBA and have been practicing financial management for over 30 years.  To me, that means I have skills that should be marketable.  I figured out a long time ago that I could no longer (past age 50) market the degree itself anymore and sort of had all my eggs in the CFP basket as a solution, mainly because that’s what OU had told me.  Now I see that’s probably wrong. 

I feel like I’m back to square one again, but that may not be a bad thing.  And I still strongly believe that I have skills that I should be able to use.  It’s back to the drawing board.  I have always resisted the idea of doing low-pay menial labor when I have strong business skills.  In fact, one of Matt’s suggestions was to have my own consulting firm advising people how to start their own small businesses.  For a variety of reasons, I don’t think that’s at all practical but it was interesting he made the suggestion. 

I have to keep studying and hope that somewhere along the line things start making sense again.  But first, I just have to start feeling better again.  It’s very difficult to feel optimistic about anything when you’re feeling sore and tired and feverish and in pain all the time.  I’m hoping that much at least is very temporary.