Labor Day

It seems it’s been about 6 months since I’ve been inspired to do a blog post but today, being Labor Day, I’ve been inspired due to my futile efforts to find labor-related movies on TV.  TCM is the only network that’s offering anything appropriate for the holiday and even their three meager offerings (George Clooney’s white collar satire “Up In the Air,” the mockumentary “Roger & Me,” and Arthur Miller’s classic American Dream tragedy “Death of a Salesman”) are all on after midnight so they don’t really count. 

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. 

Losing a $1,000 Bet

Sat 2-3-18

Subj:       Losing a $1,000 Bet

                After my accident last January which subsequently forced me to relinquish my place in the 2017 Certified Financial Planning (CFP) program at Oakland University which started last February, I spent the year with two main objectives – 1) Recover from my injury, 2) Make further preparations to enter the CFP.  The director of the OU program had told me last February that, despite my MBA and 37 years of financial management experience, I was not qualified to enter their program and should pursue my studies at an institution that offered an online self-paced option.  I was really quite put off by this in view of our previous discussions that if I completed the mentorship program which I did from May through September 2016 and then completed a subsequent internship, that I would then be sufficiently qualified. 

                Having completed those requirements with the exception that my mentor had not yet lined me up with an internship, it was with some disappointment and no small amount of disgust to learn that I was still deemed unqualified.  The second big shock came in April when I contacted my mentor to resurrect the search for an internship only to be told that he was leaving the program, leaving Michigan, and leaving his firm of 35 years to pursue “a new chapter in my life” (presumed translation: retirement) in Florida and would no longer be available either to work with me or even advise me. 

                Speak of feeling completely betrayed and abandoned.  I was genuinely counting on OU and that internship program to jumpstart my new career given the difficulties with age discrimination.  I was very much counting on OU to be able to point me towards firms that were actually looking for candidates my age (as I had been assured three years ago when I first became involved in the program) rather than me randomly contacting firms, 100% of which would claim they did not discriminate, 90% of which would discriminate.  I was going to be spinning my wheels a lot unless OU was willing to be an intermediary. 

                So being advised to go to another institution did not go over at all well with me.  I was no longer feeling at all favorable towards OU, in fact very much put off by the fact that I could not get accurate information from anybody there.  I was curious to talk to the director again to find out if I was still a candidate for internship, though I strongly suspected the answer would be no and, even if a yes, also suspected that I would just be given worthless leads without any vetting.  If that were the case, I would be better off just going my own way. 

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                Thus, by the end of the year I had pretty much decided that I would not attempt to return to Oakland University.  I had done a considerable amount of research regarding the online programs and though they looked suitable enough, I was put off by the lack of support they offered.  I am the kind of student who asks a lot of questions.  I was shocked to discover that both of the online schools that OU had recommended had a limit of just three 15-minute phone calls for each course to instructors to ask questions.  That was hardly adequate.  Both in undergraduate and graduate I routinely dropped in on my professors for 10 to 15 minutes before each class session to shoot questions at them, which they were always very happy to answer.  This was in addition to questions asked during class.  And it was this support system for having questions answered that put me on the Dean’s List at BU and the top ten percent of my class at USC. 

Perhaps for the online programs the material would prove to be self-explanatory and the need for questions would not be as crucial as I thought.  Still there was something about them that struck me as deficient so about three weeks ago I began rethinking OU.  After all, it would be providing live instructors to whom I could ask questions and the support of 15 to 20 fellow students with whom I would be sharing the experience for the next 14 months. 

It occurred to me a few weeks ago that it might actually be quite a good investment just to take the first course in February and March and see how it goes.  After all, my main concerns about the program being too intense or that I would find out that I wasn’t good at this stuff or, more to the point, didn’t even like it – all these could be answered very efficiently simply by taking the first course, especially since this year the first course was investments.  Though they did tell me last year that I lacked experience, I was still under the impression that completing the mentor program with a rave recommendation from my mentor solved that.  I even had a letter from the mentor singing my praises and stating his opinion that I would be a great success in the 14-month cohort.  

To find out for sure, it would cost $850 for the course and $150 for the textbooks.  So a gamble of $1,000 could finally set my mind at ease as to whether this was the right path for me.  Best case scenario: it turns out not only to be manageable but great and 14 months from now I become a Certified Financial Planner.  Worst case: it turns out disastrously so for the thousand dollars I get to find out that I belong on a different path; besides which I’ll also learn a lot about investments.  Either way, I win.  A thousand dollars is not a lot of money to get the answers to these crucial questions. 

Having made the decision, I actually for the first time started feeling very excited about starting the investment class on Wednesday.  Sunday night I registered online, paid the tuition and ordered the two textbooks.  On Tuesday, I received a detailed syllabus from the instructor along with the first assignment that would be due already when we come to the first class session on Wednesday.  As of Tuesday, there were 25 students registered for the class.  These were the 25 people I’d be spending the next 14 months with.  It was going to be a good program this year. 

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I’ve mentioned that I spent five months in 2016 taking the introductory course from my mentor.  We covered two very large textbooks in that class which was basically a condensed version of the entire 14 month program which itself is a condensed version of the original two-year program.  It was fascinating and I loved every bit of it except that we were covering 150-200 pages of technical material for each 45 minute session.  This was very intense, there was only time for one or two questions (when I had a dozen or more) and scarcely time to do any more than the most superficial overview of the material.  What’s more is that there was an exam at the beginning of each session on the material that was assigned but not yet covered.  The exam was very detailed so it was quite necessary to study all 200 pages very thoroughly to pass the exam; and did I mention that we were under threat of expulsion if we failed two exams?  Thus there was a certain amount of stress in each session.   (Now I know I need not have had any stress at all for now I know it would have not made a bit of difference.  They never had any intention of admitting me to the program.) 

But Tom, my mentor and instructor, was very amiable towards me; I got the impression very quickly that he was only looking for evidence of a commitment and that I would be passing as long as I was making an effort.  Besides, the only real objective was to pass the course as a prerequisite for acceptance to the intern program.  I could tough it out for five months to get into that program. 

Tom also assured me that the regular academic program would not be nearly as rigorous or intense, that we would be covering far less material for each session, the sessions would be 3 hours long and there would be ample time for questions.  Thus I was shocked last February when I signed up for the taxation class only to receive a textbook that was 1600 pages long (plus 1200 more pages of supplemental material) and a syllabus that had us covering about 300 pages per week.  Covering so much in so little time, the instructor was also quite candid with me that there would be little time for questions.  It appeared I had once again been given bum information.  The regular program was going to be even more intense than the introductory course.   

When on this past Tuesday I saw the preview of the investments textbook and received the course syllabus, I was quite relieved.  The book was only about 400 pages long and per the syllabus we would be assigned about 40 pages per week.  That seemed quite manageable.  In the intro course, we were assigned between 100 and 200 problems to do for each session.  For this course, we were being assigned about 30 problems each week.  That seemed entirely manageable. 

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Then, on Wednesday, the tables were rather abruptly turned.  I received an email from the program director who noted that she had seen my name on the registration list and was now telling me in very direct language that I was not qualified for the program.  When I first inquired five years ago, a high school diploma and working towards a bachelor’s was all that was required for admission.  Three years ago they were now recommending (but not requiring) two years of experience in the financial services industry for admission.  Two years ago it became more of a requirement but the intro course and internship was touted as a suitable substitute for the two years of experience.  Last year they made clear that they did not consider my successful completion of the intro course to be adequate preparation; but they also said that there were students in the program that also did not have experience and, though they were struggling much harder than the professionals, they were at least allowed to be in and complete the program. 

Wednesday’s email from the director stated a very different scenario.  Now they are saying that the candidates are expected to already have both insurance and stock broker’s licenses.  You are expected to already know how to analyze and select securities for your clients.  There is another item of curiosity in their statement that “students are required to be active in the industry and planning to challenge the CFP Examination.”  I don’t know what they mean by “challenge the exam” but the Financial Planning Association of America, the national governing body that oversees all the CFP curricula and credentialing, also uses that term but with a very specific definition.  To the FPA, “challenge” means petitioning the FPA to demonstrate that you are soooo knowledgeable in the topics that you can be excused from taking the national exam.  Is that what the OU CFP has evolved into, a program that will allow candidates to qualify to be exempted from taking the national exam?  Thus, I am being warned that if I insist on joining the program and taking the investments class that they will be watching me to see if I am able to keep up and, if they determine I am not, they will be expelling me.  No refunds. 

Needless to say, all the ill will I had been feeling towards Oakland University throughout last year was now back with a vengeance.  On Wednesday I sent a letter to the instructor pleading my case, summarizing my very extensive background in finance, and asking him directly if I will be allowed to take his class.  Since the director has already stated her position, I doubt this instructor will go against it.  He has not yet replied.   

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Given this rather untidy reception, I have decided to withdraw from the program as I see no rationale for staying where I am not wanted.  So I have lost this thousand dollar bet as I will not be getting an answer to my concerns about whether I belong in this profession.  However, all is not lost.  I will be getting a refund of the $850 tuition and I could also be getting a refund for the textbooks except that, for the relatively modest $150 investment, I think I will keep the textbooks.  I have the course syllabus; I can teach myself the course.  I think by the time I finish with these books I will know whether this is what I want to do. 

Instead of gambling a thousand dollars, I will only be gambling $150 dollars.  If the answer is yes (and I very much suspect it will be), the online courses are suddenly looking much better.  In fact Boston University has a CFP program that is only $800 dollars more than OU, offers the option of both online study and to Skype live classes, you get four months to complete each course (though since it is self-paced, you can complete them sooner), access to instructors for asking questions, and a database of thousands of practice questions to help prepare for the national exam.  The American College also has an impressive program but it is about $1500 more than BU. 

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I’m no longer waiting on Oakland.  I’m taking the bull by the horns and moving forward.  So these past couple of days I’ve formulated a new plan.  First, take the next couple months to teach myself the investments course.  If that goes well, I will immediately sign up to take the online IRS courses to become a tax preparer.  There are three courses, each requires about 70 hours of online study after which you go to a testing center to complete a 3-hour exam.  You can take all three courses at once or one at a time.   Once I’ve completed the three courses and three exams, I will start work as a tax preparer whilst I begin the online CFP. 

Two years as a tax preparer is considered eligible experience for receiving the CFP credential.  Taxes are something I’m very comfortable with.  It is a rules-based profession where you are applying the book to client problems, calculating the numbers and entering them onto spreadsheets and forms.  This is what I did for 8 years as a financial analyst in aerospace.  This is what I have done for 37 years managing finances in my other enterprises. 

After that, there are any number of additional online tax courses and finance licenses I can test for to elevate my expertise and qualify for even better professional positions.  OU has done me a considerable service by kicking me to the curb where I must now go off on my own, something I probably should have done three years ago except that I had no idea that they would not deliver on a single promise they had made. 

And this business of needing both a license to sell insurance and a stock broker’s license just to be admitted to the CFP is really quite ridiculous.  What is the point of the classes if you’re expected to already know all this stuff?  I know a ton of financial professionals and nearly all of them have one or the other but very few have both.  If you’re going to be an insurance agent, why would you need a stock broker’s license?  If you’re going to sell stocks, why would you need an insurance license?  This is just another example of OU feeding me bum information. 

But I don’t regret it.  I learned a ton from Tom in the intro course and because of the accident I really wasn’t in a position to do much of anything last year anyway.  I will run with this under my own power and I may even get there in better shape than the OU route.  As for the age discrimination, I’m going to deal with that the same way I have dealt with every other challenge in my lifetime.  You put one foot in front of the other and just keep going until you accomplish the objective. 

The OU program begins Wednesday.  Wouldn’t it be interesting if I manage to complete my studies before they wrap up in March of next year?  It will be one step at a time. 

Addendum:           Sunday 2-4-18

                I have now received the email from the investments course instructor.  It was very amiably worded but as I suspected he took the same position as the director.  The final line said it all:  “It is advised that you do not take this program as you do not meet the requirements.”  Boston, here I come! 

Friday the 13th and Analysis Paralysis

It’s time for an update on some trying times I’m going through right now, since it may well impact my plans to travel later this month. I have written about my struggles in the past two years to figure out where my future lies with the CFP, but now it’s back to basics to discuss a new health challenge.  I am two weeks and three days into this new challenge that is supposed to last five weeks, though some of the literature I’ve read says it may last a good deal longer, and some has said it may be all resolved in the new few days. 

Ash Finale

On August 15^th, I submitted the 7^th draft of my screenplay “Ash Wednesday” to the Blue Cat competition in L.A. based on a critique they had sent me in June, a special perk they offered that I was welcome to submit a revised draft to see if the judges thought the revisions were or were not an improvement.  This one was cut to the bone at 106 pages and with a completely new and radically different finale.  When on September 2^nd I received yet another glowing review from the new judge, in fact the most glowing review yet, I decided Ash Wednesday was finally complete.

Turning the Page

I’ve had quite a lot on my mind since the accident in January what with beginning work on my second screenplay, continuing to submit Ash Wednesday, and trying to evaluate and choose between a number of options available to my future career whether that be the CFP or a different track.  Since the accident ended my plans to pursue my studies in 2017, I have time to figure this out.  And that is what I’ve been spending my time doing.  Thus, there's been no blog post since March.  But that’s okay.  I still have an awfully long way to go in getting the strength back in my left arm, something the doctor says could take six months, or a year, or two, or the rest of my life.

Unlucky Number 7 … or … so very close, but no cigar?

                Seven is considered a lucky number, but not for me, not this week anyway.  The list of the six winners from the WeScreenplay contest in Los Angeles was published very late Friday night and, as expected, my name was not present.  The reason I was not expecting to win was very simple.  I received the judge’s report a few days ago and it was not very good.  On a rating scale of “Recommend, Consider, or Pass,” he had rated “Ash Wednesday” a “Pass” (I had to explain to a very discombobulated Val, who initially thought it meant I had won the contest, that this was not a Pass as in Pass/Fail, but rather as in “taking a pass” or “you’re out!” ) which meant there was virtually no chance of winning a spot in the top six.

Ash Wednesday: Liberation Day!

                Yesterday’s Ash Wednesday was a very special Ash Wednesday as it was the first Ash Wednesday in 24 years in which I was not still hot on my mission of completing my screenplay “Ash Wednesday” that I had begun in August of 1993.  Last year had been my 23^rd Ash Wednesday still writing.  I was supposed to start the CFP last February but in January had been advised to postpone it until this February so that I could do the introductory course and internship program in May as a preparation for the formal cohort program. Since I did not anticipate having time to write after I started the classes, I had to finish the script before the intro class was to start May 14^th.  Indeed at 2 a.m. on April 29^th I typed “Fade Out, End Credits” on the bottom of page 148 of the script and the 23 year project was finally at an end.  A screenplay is supposed to be 120 pages but, given the fact that the consultant I was working with in Kansas City had agreed to read anything up to 150 pages, I now considered it done in terms of sharing it with industry professionals.  I had successfully cut a 441 page 2^nd draft to a 148 page 3^rd draft.

Lucky Number 13

When last weekend I published my “Change of Life” essay, I ended with the thought that my next piece of big news might be coming in as soon as five days.  The five days is now up and I’ve got the news.  The number 13 has had traditional superstitious roots as being unlucky but, this afternoon at least, it has proven for me to be very lucky. 

Change of Life – Part III

Sat, 2-11-17

Part I:

                For those of you who have not yet been informed, one month ago today, January 11^th, I slipped and fell on the ice on the sidewalk in front of my house, fracturing my left elbow.  It was at the time a simple fracture which a cast would have properly remedied in about six weeks.  And had things in fact gone that way, it would have been a rather simple scenario that would not at all have interfered with my plans that had been four years in the making to begin the formal 14 month course work in the Certified Financial Planning program at Oakland University starting February 1^st.  But things did not go that way.  Not at all!

Electoral Math: Hillary May Have Won After All!

                So Hillary supporters got quite a shock yesterday, not so much because she lost an election in which she had widely been considered to be a shoo-in, but because all the many polls and indicators which showed that she would almost certainly win turned out to be quite completely wrong.  Or were they?

The Push for the Big 6-0!

                Tomorrow (okay, today!  I had hoped to publish this before midnight but missed by 12 minutes) is what has been arguably described in most circles as the most important presidential election in our lifetime.  For the Hillary supporters, it’s a clear choice between the superior competence of a highly intelligent candidate with 30 years of public service experience versus the total incompetence, total lack of government experience, downright awful ignorance, dangerous policy positions, and bigotry of her opponent.  To the Trump supporters, it is a very clear choice between a totally maverick outsider whom they totally trust to fix everything that’s wrong with the country or continuing with the corruption, lies, and special interests that they so strongly believe characterize the Clinton candidacy.  Despite this historically wide divide and the fact that the two candidates could not be further apart, there are still (unbelievably in my opinion) the undecided voters, and there are enough of them that they hold the potential for swinging the election either way. 

Freaky Freebies

Saturday night was the 75th anniversary gala at Our Lady of Refuge and also the rather inauspicious premiere of my latest video, a 20 minute history of 75 years at OLR.  It was quite disappointing.  After nine months and many, many hours of planning, photography and editing, AD really made no effort at all to publicize this very nice little production.

Ashes Fly!

                It’s been a busy week, the introductory course in financial planning is behind me and the wheels have been set in motion to find a placement for an internship.  The next course begins on Tuesday but I am putting the odds at 50/50 that Monday will bring an email that the class has been canceled for lack of sufficient enrollment, just as it was last time.  Meanwhile, in my last post I lamented that I had had a serious computer fart while submitting “Ash Wednesday” to my very first screenplay contest and thought I had ruined my chances.  I have taken delivery of my new computer but since it is missing some essential components, I continue to work on my laptop.  Since this debacle began, I have been sending weekly updates on Sunday but, today is September 30^th and, as was pointed out in last week’s update, September 30^th this year was destined to be special.  It turned out to be special in more ways than one.  So because of the special things that happened today, I am sending this week’s update on Friday instead.  The day’s events can be summed up handily in two words – Ashes Fly!

58 Hours: The Ecstasy and the Agony

It was just about 5 p.m. last Tuesday that my life changed, at least for this week.  I had just returned from Dr. C where we discussed my status in the CFP and the path I would be on for at least the next two years assuming things go well on September 21^st (or at least don’t go disastrously.)  I opened my email and found the announcement from MovieBytes.com about this screenplay competition in L.A. for which the deadline for submission is midnight L.A. time on Thursday, some 58 hours hence. 

Computer (& other) Updates

So come this Sunday, I have been without my Dell desktop, and subsequently practical use of email, for three weeks.  My tech called me yesterday to inform me the old Dell was shot and I needed a new computer.  I’m going in on Monday to lay out the specs and likely have him build me my new desktop.  I probably won’t have more details as to when I’ll be back online until after Monday’s meeting.  Meanwhile the CFP is consuming all my time.  This has been so much more difficult that I had been lead to believe but I am nonetheless loving it and looking forward to great things.  This posting is an update on both the computer issues and the constitution of this introductory CFP course. 

My Views on Patriotism - A Post 4th of July Post

So I’ve had a very busy week and this is getting out a few days late.  But last weekend my sister sent me a very entertaining animated video, in honor of our Independence Day (or as she liked to put it, our “Interdependence Day”), in which the famed progressive economist Robert Reich proposed his definition of what genuine patriotism was really all about. 

Giving Birth to a 15 Pound Baby (23 Years In Labor)

For those of you who may not yet have heard, April 29^th was a very special day for me.  Many of you have already received the announcement of the completion of my screenplay, “Ash Wednesday,” a project on which I’ve labored for 23 years, June 1993 to be exact.  At the beginning of this year, I had a banker box full of research, notes, and a nearly 400 page first draft, plus a separate box containing a 450 page second draft.  I had to reduce this all to a 120 page third draft that I could then share with industry professionals to initiate the process of a final polish.  My baby had become roughly 15 pounds of paper that I had to squeeze into a space a fraction of that size. 

The Week That Wasn’t (but was supposed to be)

                Some of you may remember the popular TV news magazine program from the 1960s that predated “60 Minutes” called “This Was the Week That Was.”  Well, for me, this felt like the week that wasn’t, even though it was supposed to be.  This is to say that six weeks ago today (December 17^th) I got an email from Oakland University that changed my entire life plan and sort of put everything else on hold for the next month as I tried to figure out what was going on and how I was going to manage.  

Manresa 2016

So it’s been since last May that I made a posting, at that time to announce my new documentary about pianist Vladimir Horowitz.  I have since turned the documentary over to West Bloomfield’s municipal cable TV station Civic Center TV and will be collaborating with them this winter on a modified version that they will show on the channel, thereby multiplying my viewers from the few dozen who have seen it on YouTube to perhaps thousands more.