The future's bright.......

...... the future's mine for the taking.

I blame Ros - yes Ros, if you're reading this, I know I'm not allowed to really.  Ros is someone I've known on and off for a few years.  She is a life coach, amongst other things, and she offered me some sessions as I was at a crossroads in life (no more HE) and not sure which way to go.  Thanks to Ros and her probing questions I now know exactly what I want and, thanks to research and Gemma (one of my AAT tutors) I know how to get there.  Blood, sweat and probably tears appear large in the next 5 years or so but, oh my, it will be worth it.

You see, many years ago I started an Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) Level 2 course.  Unfortunately life, and moving house/counties, got in the way and I didn't finish it.  Years passed and I was quite happy as a stay-at-home-mum, then home education (HE) became our way of life so working outside the home became awkward.  So this August I took the plunge and re-signed on to the Level 2 course, now run as an NVQ award (sheesh!!!) with the intent that I would earn a few pennies playing with numbers - and I adore maths so numbers don't scare me. 

So, the AAT run three levels of courses (2, 3 & 4), after which you can either a) go on to university and do whatever else needs to be done to get an accounting degree (the AAT courses mean you don't have to do all the years), or b) get a job at some point during your AAT studies and hopefully your employer will encourage you - and fund - the rest of your AAT studies as well as your Chartered Accountant/Management Accountant studies.  All in all option b), the one I shall be following, should take 5 years or so.  After that, and a few years experience, I have been told by Gemma that Financial Accountants can earn £120 per hour, and Management Accountants can earn £160 per hour!!!!!  Not being the totally greedy type (yeah, right) I've kind of decided to go for the £120 per hour job.

Financial Accountants deal with what has happened - they have a paper trail to build a picture of how the business has been doing in previous years.  Management Accountants deal with the future - crystal ball accounting if you will - projected profit and loss over the next few years, likely investment required, income/expenditure forecasts.  Hence the higher pay packet.

Ros's life coaching has helped me realise that I am money-oriented.  Reward me enough and I will work like a slave.  Also I value financial freedom (don't we all, I suppose).  I like the idea of being able to afford the nicer things in life - not necessarily being able to afford everything (that's no fun), but certainly a decent standard of living - including a nice home in a very rural setting with a pool and several acres between me and the neighbours, oh and a Ferrari 430 of my very own.  Yes, a lot of it is probably pie in the sky but if you don't dream you can't set yourself a goal.  I'm also concerned that A's health may be a factor in how long he works before retiring - he already has achy joints (arthritis runs in his family) and a back problem - so I want to be in an earning position so that if he has to cut his hours or stop working completely I can take up the slack.

And besides, the way this government has cocked things up and put the country in a mountain of debt that will take years to clear (don't get me started on borrowing to make up a shortfall) I don't want to rely on the state pension provision.  I want to be able to retire when I'm ready, not when some faceless bureaucrat in Whitehall decides I can.

So, watch this space, this girl is going somewhere!