The Book that Sparked My Passion for Personal Finance

My Personal Finance 101 Textbook - The only college textbook I've kept

In my last year of college, I took a Personal Finance 101 class. It was the one college class I was actually excited about attending and to this day it's the one college class I'm glad that I took. It's the only college class textbook that I've kept over the years, all of the rest I've either sold or donated. I've maybe only cracked open the book a few times after college, one was when I decided to buy a house. I never had the urge to part ways with the book since it had so many great examples and information that I could apply to my own financial life.

I strongly suggest all college students to take a Personal Finance 101 class if available at their college. All too often, college students are ill prepared for the real-world when they leave school. Some have credit card debt, student loans, and while maybe just starting full time work, aren't aware of such concepts as retirement savings and tax planning. With a basic foundation and a go-to guide from this class, I believe that it's possible to be prepared for any financial situation you find yourself in. 

After taking the PF 101 class, I thought that it would be cool to maybe one day teach a personal finance course. I was already in the process of pursuing my accounting degree and never really saw a career path that involved personal finance. I thought maybe my only options were teaching personal finance, or selling investments. It was also hard to imagine myself at that age gaining peoples trust with money as a financial advisor and I wasn't a great salesman. 

It wasn't until taking this class that I really started to dive into personal finance. I had always been aware of the general personal finance concepts like: spend less than you earn, don't get into debt, and save for retirement. Beyond that, I hadn't had too much exposure to financial concepts. I don't think I had yet discovered blogs at that time where these days there are tons of people sharing. In my early years of college, I didn't know much about investing, retirement accounts, rates of return, or even what an expense ratio was. This class had opened my mind to so many more interesting and exciting personal financial concepts. Personal Finance has become one of my favorite subjects to learn more about because I have so much control over my own finances and sometimes I like to experiment with new concepts or strategies that I learn. 

Fast forward to present day and I'm more into personal finance than ever. I read blogs, listen to podcasts, take continuing professional education classes on subjects as close to personal finance as possible. I'm so immersed in it in my everyday life...but only outside of the office. As an accountant, there are so many things that I could be learning about the profession but it just doesn't interest me. I don't get excited about learning corporate accounting topics or new accounting regulations. It just doesn't have that personal appeal to me. I like to be able to apply concepts to my everyday life or recommend things that I've learned to a family member or friend who I think could benefit. I want a job that revolves around the subject. I want to be able to help people and share my knowledge. So this year, I am making a career switch from corporate accountant to CPA financial planner and I couldn't be more excited for the transformation. I am finally coming full circle with my passion and it took me awhile to get here, about 8 years. I don't have regrets about the path I've followed since college because it made me the person I am today. Sometimes I think that I wish I would have followed the path of financial planner sooner but I think having my accounting background will make me a unique financial planner and serve my future clients in a way that displays my utmost integrity and objectivity that I've learned from being an accountant.

In the meantime, I will hold onto this book and maybe one day pass  it along to someone else who shares my passion for personal finance.