Certified Financial Planner?

I’ve been really fired up about increasing my financial literacy ever since I finished Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover.  That was July 2011.  Heading into 2013, I’m slowly realizing that perhaps this is God’s plan for me.  My whole life I’ve been single minded about my career ambitions:  I just want to help people.  And I have in my current job.  But I want to do more, reach more people.  Almost everyone has to deal with money, budgets, debt and financial decisions at some point in their lives.  I think I could come along side some of those folks and lend a hand, share some knowledge and play cheerleader.

Last Saturday I was telling my Mom about this blog.  She encouraged me to try and find a way to pursue this further.  I explained that I would love to do what the host of We Owe What? does for a living.  We Owe What? is a television show on the Live Well Network (something I never heard of before I no longer subscribed to cable).  The host rescues a different family each episode by walking them through their budgets and finding flaws in their circumstance and gives suggestions for helpful changes.

I contacted We Owe What? via their facebook page and I got the following response:

We Owe What?

Hi Gina Mae! Thanks for the note. I think it is excellent that you are interested in financial education as a career. There are a lot of ways to get started. My route- through journalism- also included a Masters Degree in Business and a second Masters looking at women and money and I have also taken financial planning courses which were outside of my degree programs. This is my vocation in life so I intend to be a lifelong learner. That said- you don't need a Masters to get started. But I do recommend enrolling in a financial planning program. It really helps you see how all of the pieces of your financial life come together.
The best teachers I have had have been the people I have met on the job- from the folks struggling to get back on track to the businesses owners who came from nothing and made a fortune because of their hard work.
Let me know if you have other questions! Thanks for writing in!

So now I’m seriously thinking about following this advice.  I’m investigating the idea of becoming a certified financial planner.  It would open up a whole slew of opportunities for the future.  And maybe even provide me with a bump in salary that I could put towards our own financial goals.  Here’s hoping.