Going through the final review of all this material… Including, but not limited to:

• Budget, savings and cash flow analysis
• Personal risk management and insurance requirements
• Residential mortgages
• Family law
• Tax planning
• Asset allocation
• Annuities
• Estate planning
• Investment management
• Equity securities, and hedge funds
• Debt securities
• Managed products (mutual funds and seg funds)
• Portfolio management
• Relationship management

I’ve figured out what’s missing from this whole equation! CASE STUDIES! Sure, I am really good with most of the above topics now, and if you asked me a question about any of these items, I know the rules and the details, but analysis and integration of these guidelines and laws above takes more than understanding the black and white. There should have been a textbook filled with case studies and implementation recommendations.

Perhaps if I’d used a university/college curriculum as my study program, those strategies would have been a part of my learning and review for these past 11 exams. Sadly, I learned by textbooks only.

I’m thankful that I have a husband who’s incredibly smart, and has years in the role that I’m finishing my designations for, or I think I’d be screwed. I have no idea how people would do all this without that kind of resource at their disposal.

Hell, that’s probably 75% of our conversation these days… Strategy in financial planning. I’m so thankful for that.

Okay… Back to the books I go.

Friday Silliness… Have a great weekend!

YOUR TURN: What are you looking forward to, this fine, fine weekend? Me? Oh, I can’t say I’m looking forward to it, but I’ll be buried in my piles of books! Shocking, I know.

Oh man. Am I done yet? Is this crazy schedule of review and more review over? I’ve had zero life now in over 5 weeks. I work. I come home. I study. Repeat.

I am really not having fun with this, now. Okay, to be clear, I was never having fun with this studying and review, however I’m hitting a serious wall now. I’m lacking motivation. And, between you, me and the lamp post, I’m lacking some confidence – especially with the PFP exam I’m writing on Monday. MONDAY! Holy crap, my heart just started beating faster. It’s not the material, but the exam itself that is freaking me out.

The last time I wrote, if you remember, I ran out of time with about 25% of the questions left unanswered. Obviously, I need to do things differently this time to get a better result, but that last experience really has me in a panic. I’ve never done poorly on any exam in my life, so the AFP2 exam really pushed me off kilter.

So… Five more study days until the first exam.

And then, the more important exam on June 8. Six hours of pure fun that day. I can’t wait. Can you tell? I know you’re envious!

YOUR TURN: What’s going on with you? Certainly something much more entertaining than my experiences of late! Do share…

Wow, it sounds like crickets around these here parts. Once again, I’m deep into review for my upcoming exams. The countdown is on, now!

I finished the Capstone with tonnes of time to spare, and a great mark to boot. I can actually see the value in that exercise now, although I didn’t originally. For those of you playing along at home, the course basically allows you to pick one of three case studies, and produce between 20 and 30 pages of a hand-written financial plan from the details you are provided. Of course, it’s not how we do our jobs in reality (we have planning software for the majority of the heavy lifting) but, I still got a lot from submitting the draft and final for marks and feedback.

My main issue with all of the courses I’ve taken, and the Certificate in Financial Advice I’ve earned, is that there isn’t much in the way of practical implementation of the details provided in the materials. Yes, I do this every day at work, but in order to pass my FPE2 and AFP2 written exams based on actual free-form advice being given (with benefits and options), it’s important to know what the markers are looking for. Let’s face it, beyond the black and white law, pension, taxation and estate rules, there’s plenty of room for grey.

Thankfully, I’ve purchased a number of prep materials that get into those finer points based on analysis, and advice, and help me practice writing what they would actually be looking for on these upcoming tests.

May 27 and June 8th are the two dates I’m working towards… the PFP final exam comes first, followed by the CFP final exam the day before my birthday. Here’s hoping this chapter can be closed for good after that!

YOUR TURN: Have questions about my experience with the first writing of the AFP2, or how I’ve changed my study routine to better prepare for the next (and final!!) writing of this exam or my CFP/FPE2 prep? Drop a comment here so others can participate, too! I’ve gotten a ton of emails from people preparing for both, and it would be great to have the dialogue in a more open format for all! Oh, and if you have already passed either of these… Please share anything you can on your experience!

With all my studying of late, I’ve been increasingly annoyed with the wireless coverage in our house. The Telus wireless Actiontec hardware must reside in the basement, because that device is what is required to address our home network with their ethernet connection. And of course, they’ve flashed their hardware with a proprietary version of the interface so that practically none of the useful settings are available to me to change.

I really wish I could just dispense with the darn thing, but I can’t.

I have a couple of old wireless G/N routers in the house that are capable of flashing DD-WRT (if you don’t know what that is… Google is your friend) which provides me with a rather easy way to use these devices as a bridge to my original Telus router, which I have very little control over. (I really must look into hacking that once I have more time next month).

Problem solved! Each of the floors in our home now has a router bridged to the Telus P.O.S. downstairs. No more constant battle with the neighbour’s channel skipping interfering with my weak signal from the basement.

Want to know how to do it? Brian over at “Litter Box for Geeks” has done a great job of boiling it down to a few simple setting changes. It’s an older post, but the settings are pretty much the same with the latest versions of DD-WRT.  Head over there and check it out!

As for me? It’s back to Splashtop on my iPad with a perfectly strong network signal in my living room… I’ve got studying to do, and Gobeil is calling.

YOUR TURN: Have you had issues with networking in your home? How have you dealt with it?

Hey kids! Thanks for popping by!

Things are chugging along here in This Chick’s Life – I’m in the middle of exam prep again… Good times. I was about a week late with my Capstone Course draft plan, so I’m freaking out a little. I had no idea it would be so extensive in what I had to prepare. Boo!

Here’s hoping that CSI (the education provider that offers this course) can get me back the draft financial plan in very short order (they say it can take up to a month to mark each of two plan drafts - one draft, one final - so if they take that long, I’m screwed.) It was a mix-up on my part, as I thought I had until June to get my mark in from the Capstone course for the final exam of the CFP program. No… I actually have to have my final mark by May 8.

Ya, good times.

In other news, my 16 pound weightloss has stuck, which is great. I ended my phase two of hCG a few days early (20 days on low calorie intead of 23 at a minimum) as we were going away a few weekends ago, and then heading out of dodge soon for Vancouver and Vegas as well… phase three is doable while traveling, phase two definitely ISN”T. That said, I managed to slowly add in phase 3 foods (no carbs at all, no sugar) and I’ve been consistent in weight stabilization. Awesome!

I’ve decided I’m heading back on hCG when I get back from Vegas, as I’ll have zero social life for the next few months while I prepare for my final exams (let’s hope I can take my final CFP!!) so, that works out well for me to lose the last 15 pounds or so that I would like to take off. It’s really hard being out and not being able to eat or drink anything with friends.

Work is keeping busy – I’m so glad that RSP season is over, because I’m tired. Just in time for vacation season… YAY! More on my vacation plans coming up in the next blog post.

YOUR TURN: How’s life? What’s new?

I found this excerpt on the forums I go to for support for hCG… I thought it was terribly insightful, and provided a lot of perspective. Maybe, if you are on hCG, or a diet that requires a lifestyle change, you will find it helpful, too?

It’s For Your Own Good. Here comes the tough love. This is for those of you who are considering taking on this life-changing month, but aren’t sure you can actually pull it off, cheat free, for a full 30 days. This is for the people who have tried this before, but who “slipped” or “fell off the wagon” or “just HAD to eat (fill in food here) because of this (fill in event here)”. This is for you.

It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Giving up heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You won’t get any coddling, and you won’t get any sympathy for your “struggles”. YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE not to complete the program as written. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime.

Don’t even consider the possibility of a “slip”. Unless you physically tripped and your face landed in a box of donuts, there is no “slip”. You make a choice to eat something of poor quality. It is always a choice, so do not phrase it as if you had an accident. Commit to the program, 100%, for the full 30 days, and don’t give yourself an excuse to fail before you’ve even started.

You never, ever, ever HAVE to eat anything you don’t want to eat. You’re all big boys and girls. Toughen up. Learn to say no (or make your Mom proud and say, “No, thank you”). Learn to stick up for yourself. Just because it’s your sister’s birthday, or your best friend’s wedding, or your company picnic does not mean you have to eat anything. It’s always a choice, and we would hope that you stopped succumbing to peer pressure in 7th grade.

This does require a bit of effort. If you’re cutting out grains, legumes and dairy for the first time, you have to replace those calories with something. You have to make sure you’re eating enough, that your vitamins and nutrients are plentiful, that you’re getting enough protein, fat and carbohydrates. You’ll have to figure out what to eat for lunch, how to order at a restaurant and how often you’ll need to grocery shop. We’ve given you all the tools, guidelines and resources you’ll need in this Success Guide, but take responsibility for your own plan. Improved health, fitness and performance doesn’t happen just because you’re now taking a pass on bread.

Hope you are all having a great day! Me? I’m feeling under the weather. Feels like the stomach flu. Oh well… It’ll pass.

YOUR TURN: What did you think of the above message?

Good morning everyone! Thanks for popping by this fine Wednesday!

I’ve had an absolutely on-protocol week and a half, other than a mistake that I made (which wasn’t necessarily off-protocol, but dumb, and caused a one day stall just the same)… On Family Day, going into my second week of low calorie diet, I was running out of veggies to eat, so rather than run to the store (I was committed to doing absolutely nothing that day) I decided to eat two and a half low-sodium dill pickles with lunch.

I didn’t look at the jar… (dumb!) as it said low-sodium, so I thought, hey vinegar is great for you on a diet, and cukes are on protocol, so these will be a good substitute? Ya… no.

The next morning, I woke up to zero change on the scale. Given the last several days of at least a pound a day, I cringed, and headed down to the fridge to see what the issue could have been. Those low-salt dill pickles had almost 300 mg PER pickle! Wowzers – that’s probably as much sodium in one pickle as I eat the whole day on this diet. And, that’s LOW sodium!

I looked online, and a regular dill pickle is nearly 1000 mg of salt! (half a teaspoon!) That’s crazy. Guess who’s not buying dill pickles ever again?

After a little more research, I found out that it takes a normal body a full litre of water to deal with a teaspoon (2000 mg) of salt intake. One litre of water weighs 2.2 lbs! No wonder when we eat a high sodium diet we retain water, and a ton of weight. (I personally hate the taste of salt, so this has never been a problem for me)

Good to know.

But, despite that little silly hiccup, I have lost 12 pounds as of today! Woohoo! I only have about two weeks left on this round, so it should fly by. I’d love to see 8-10 pounds during that time, but it’ll likely be more like 7. That’s okay! I feel awesome (I always feel better when I don’t eat bread and gluten) and my clothes are starting to feel really loose already.

Bring it on… I’m ready for these last two weeks! I got this! I’ve decided I’ll start my last and final round of hCG on June 8 (the day of my final CFP 2 exam and a day before my birthday) to get off those remaining 15 pounds to my goal.

YOUR TURN: How’s your week going?