Choosing to Become a CFP®
After the Museum with no desirable career to launch into, Elisa focused on her family and working in flexible part-time positions, which she eventually gave up after the birth of her second son in 1997. As the primary caregiver, full-time homemaker, she was quite involved in her children’s education and volunteering at their schools. Consequently, after moving to Fremont and buying a house in 2003 for $426,500, she went to work in the educational field a few years later when homeownership costs started to strain their 5 figure one income budget. It was in this job, assisting the Project Directors manage their government contract budgets, she found providing financial guidance surprisingly enjoyable. Then by late 2010, when the Great Recession had reduced their contracts and her work hours, she was at another crossroads, and seriously considering personal financial planning as a career alternative. From laughable to possible – What Changed: Elisa’s Financial Life 1992 to 2010.
She realized if she loved helping others reduce their stress managing money, she should attend the UCSC Extension’s Personal Financial Planning Program Overview to learn about the profession. From that Overview presentation, she learned about becoming a Certified Financial Planner™ or CFP®, and more importantly she discovered the work of a CFP® was more about helping people than about investing and the stock market. Previously, she discounted the profession because she assumed a financial planner’s work was mostly about investments, which she was interested in, but not to an exclusive degree. She also wrongly believed you must follow the stock market obsessively and be a stock picker, which she wouldn’t want to do. From the presentation, however, she realized the work of a CFP® had similarities to her work with the Project Directors, but instead of helping with government contracts, she’d help individuals with their personal finances. At this point, she acknowledged being a CFP® was likely right for her because she wanted to be of service by providing personal financial guidance to help others support all they cherish. She realized she wanted her work to not only benefit herself and her clients, but also positively impact the larger community, and she wanted to especially help others who also envision and wish to implement financial planning to support both. For the conclusion – From CFP® to Everimagine Financial Planning.
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