I am a non-traditional student, training for a new career. It is my goal to work in the financial planning field as a CFP. My interest in the field was sparked by the growing national concern over social security and the rapidly aging population. It really hit home when my mother was forced to retire, due to physical problems. Having to depend on social security, medicaid and only a very meager pension forced me to ask some personal questions about myself. "Will I be able to subsist on SSI and my pension?" "What kinds of stop-gap measures should I be taking to avoid poverty, in an ever inflating economy?" "Is it too late for me to put those measures into action, at my age?" And, "if its not too late, can I afford what it will take to secure my future income?" Asking those questions lead me to do some research in the field. And, I discovered that I'm far from being "alone." So, I decided to face that uncertainty, and to help others face it, by becoming a financial planner.

One of the concerns facing me, at my age, was "would anyone hire me, when there are so many bright, young graduates entering the field?" So, I talked to a number of financial planners and officials, who agreed that, in this field, my age was concidered an asset. That was the boost I needed to start. After taking a couple of "freshman" business courses, I wondered why they were not part of the general education requirements. Financial accounting and microeconomics helped me to understand a great deal more about our nation's economy than I had ever known. (It must be said here that they were not requirements when I was in high school.) It is my goal to work in the financial planning field, and assist senior citizens in the lower economic levels -- those seniors who don't have thousands of dollars just laying around. But, I also feel that the program will help me to make more informed decisions, as I approach retirement age.

Kathleen Kay (Cathe) Springsteen