Serving your community as a personal finance specialist is financially and emotionally rewarding, but how do you get started on this career path? You should know the licensing and educational requirements to become a certified personal financial specialist, what skills you’ll need to excel in this field and how you can earn your degree. With the right preparation and motivation, you can earn your certification and enjoy a great career.
How Do You Become a Personal Finance Specialist?
The first requirement for earning your official certification to offer personal finance advice to clients is to be a certified public accountant, or CPA. Because you’ll be providing detailed retirement, tax and investment information, you’ll need a solid background in the science of cash management. To become an accountant, you must earn a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. With this degree, you will have excellent career opportunities, an exciting salary and job security. To take your career to the next level and become a certified public accountant, you must earn 150 college credit hours, pass a rigorous licensing exam and take continuing education courses. Many accounting firms will provide tuition reimbursement, pay for your exam fees and offer education classes on work hours.
If you want to maximize your income as a CPA, you can prove your skills at providing personal wealth management advice by passing the Personal Finance Specialist exam, according to the American Institute of CPAs. This test contains 160 multiple-choice questions answered on a computer. You are allowed to use a calculator to aid you. Once you pass the test, you can advertise yourself as a certified financial specialist and attract clients who want your expert advice to build college savings accounts, plan for retirement and pay off loan debt.
Can You Be a Personal Financial Specialist if You Find Math Difficult?
Although accountants work closely with numbers, you can still excel in this field even if you struggle with mathematics. Today’s financial specialists use software programs to study market trends, analyze client holdings and manage funds; computer competency is more important than mathematical genius. Because you’ll work directly with individual clients seeking financial advice, you must have people skills to keep your clients happy. You’ll also need good management abilities to supervise your employees. If you’re interested in working at a large firm rather than owning your own personal finance business, you can find a niche that works with your unique skillset. Even at a small firm, you could concentrate on management and customer service duties while your partner supervises the advanced number crunching. You can enjoy a successful career in personal finance advising without strong mathematics skills.
Can You Study Personal Finance Online?
Many schools offer online accounting and personal finance advising courses, allowing you to complete your degree and test preparation on your own schedule. If you start working as an accountant, your employer may even pay you to study for the certification exam or complete coursework as part of your job duties. You’ll need to work hard to earn your bachelor’s degree in accounting, but you can balance your work and family obligations with your coursework.
Related Resource: Become a Financial Advisor
There is a constant need for money management advice. You won’t have to worry about job stability if you become a personal finance specialist.
