Happy Friday, Dear Readers.
For those following along, I got my score on the first of four sections of the CPA exam this week. Result: I’m 1/4 of the way there! 🙂 Next up: Auditing (in mid- or late April, most likely).
Investing Articles
- The Simplest Way to Rebalance Your Portfolio from Monevator
- A First Look at Asset Allocation from The Digerati Life
- What Happens If Your Brokerage Firm Goes Out of Business? from Moolanomy
Other Money-Related Articles
- Boosting Your Social Security Benefit from Financial Ducks in a Row
- A Tale of Foreclosure and Financial Ruin from Five Cent Nickel
- Do Not Buy Life Insurance for Children from Wealth Pilgrim
- How to Financially Prepare for a Disaster from Smart on Money
- Saving Money on Your Mortgage from Couple Money
Thanks for reading!
Hi. I'm Mike Piper, the author of this blog. I'm a CPA and the author of several personal finance books. The point of this blog is to show that investing doesn't have to be complicated. 
Congrats on getting through the first portion! How long does each section of the CPA last? My sister is majoring in accounting so I’m kind of interested in it.
Thanks, Elle. 🙂
It’s entirely up to the person taking the test. You can schedule them on just about any day you want. You just have to pass all four parts within 18 months of each other.
It’s taking me somewhat longer than it takes many other people. I’m a bit obsessive about exam preparation, and it turns out I studied far more for that first test than I actually needed to. (Good to know I can move more quickly through the next three; frustrating to know I wasted 2 months of my life.)
My estimate at this point is that the grand total time will be about 10 months of ~20 hours/week. Some people do it much faster.
Congratulations and good luck on the remaining 3 sections!
Thanks, Murnal. 🙂
Congratulations!
Congrats, Mike. I have to ask, though: would you consider also taking the exam for a Certified Financial Planner? Or does the CPA qualify you for that as well? I suspect if you put out your shingle for a CFP you might find a lot of takers from the Internet world.
Nanette: Thank you. 🙂
Larry: Having a CPA license apparently satisfies the education requirement to sit for the CFP exam. I might go for CFP certification someday, but there are no specific plans to do so. For now at least, I’m very happy doing what I’m doing.
My reasons for pursuing CPA certification are mostly:
A) To prove to myself that I can do it, and
B) To supplement the credibility of my writing.
(More A than B.) In other words, it’s not really part of larger plan to shift careers. (Though I suppose anything is possible, because I admit I have no idea what I’ll want to be doing, say, 10 years from now.)
Congrats on passing the first part, Mike!
In reply to your reply to Larry: I think the CFP certification (or maybe even CFA given some of your interests) would do more to supplement the credibility of your writing than the CPA license would, though I know you have written a good bit about taxes/business structures. Just my two cents 🙂
Paul: I agree that CFP certification would be more in line with my writing here on the blog.
As I said, the biggest part of my motivation is just that this is something I’ve always planned to do eventually, and I figured it was time to finally get it done.
Congratulations! Is there a practice requirement to keep the CPA license going?
Thanks, TFB. 🙂
I can’t speak to other states, but here in Illinois, there is a continuing education requirement, but not a continuing practice requirement.
Mike, Congrats. I’m very excited for you and really appreciated you stating your motivation. Cleary you will prevail! It’s fun to challenge oneself!