What I Want to be When I Grow Up

In my previous post, I talked about I had narrowed my choice for grad school down to six options, and my intention to get my masters in finance. I’m sure many of my more savvy readers out there were curious why I decided to pursue that degree instead of getting my MBA. I spoke briefly about my disdain for an MBA previously, and I still view it as the de facto degree that many business-inclined folks decide to get simply to have a leg up on others that they work with or might be competing for better jobs. Good for them, but I started an online MBA once or twice and I just didn’t like the broadness of the degree. I like my education to feel more focused, and if I am not planning on going into marketing, I shouldn’t really have to take a marketing class just to know “the basics.”

So instead of trying to fit a career into a degree, which is why I went back to school for my accounting degree previously, I have decided to find a career which seems interesting enough to me and then supplement that plan with focused education. That’s why I’m planning on a degree in finance, as it will most likely enhance my intended career path.

I used to think I wanted to do taxes, and there is part of me that may explore the option as a part of my overall strategy for the future. However, with increased regulation starting next year, I decided to focus my energies in a different direction. Real estate was another option I considered, but it is also something that I don’t think will keep my interest for an extended period of time, though it is something that could be a part of my future plans.

Now that I’ve sufficiently rambled, I’ll finally get around to laying out a portion of my plans. After learning about investing, and writing about it as well, I have found that it is really something that I enjoy. I like finding out new things about companies, or trying to decide which company would be a good addition to my small little portfolio. But more importantly, I want to share my knowledge with others and help them plan for the future.

Because of this, I will be placing my focus on becoming a financial planner over the next 18 months or so, with intentions of being able to launch my own firm in early 2015. In the meantime, I will be honing my investment philosophy by continuing my writing with The Motley Fool and pursuing my degree if I am lucky enough to get into a program. Hopefully, in the early lean months that I am expecting at the beginning of my firm’s existence, I can continue to sustain myself with my writing. Eventually, I would probably have to give up writing full-time for various reasons, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

In addition — or perhaps in lieu of eventually — I would like to start a small hedge fund, similar to what Warren Buffett did back in the day. While I don’t expect or think that I could match his wonderful performance over the past 50 years, it would be nice to try some things out. If I am super successful, it would be icing on the cake.

There’s definitely more to my plan, but I think a lot of what I want to do will fall into place as I start to do other things. I mapped out an organizational chart about a month ago for what my initial vision of what I want my company to look like, but it probably won’t be nearly as complicated as I drew it out. Either way, I’m pretty excited to see what the future holds as I pursue this dream. One thing I do know is that I am pretty tired of working for someone else and not truly earning up to my potential.

I hope that this post helped convey why I am intending on focusing on finance and what I think will ultimately become of me. Part of me feels like I should already have a lot of this figured out, but then again, my 20s were kind of a bust in retrospect. I just hope that I will be able to help people out and feel good while doing it, all the while avoiding running a gigantic Ponzi scheme!

Until next time…