Advice needed on career/education
 

Hi guys,

I need advice on my path and education.

Background


I am in my mid 20s earning only $2.1K/month with 2 years of accounting experience ( 1.5year in AR/AP, 0.5year-presently doing full set + tax)

My highest qulification is Advanced diploma in Accounting awarded by ACCA.
I am currently studying the last 3/4papers ( depends on feb result).


Aim/Target


I only aim to have a stable job allows me to drive a car + 4 HDB room flat by 30. Target around 5~6K annually + wife salary should be enough.

I took ACCA not because I like accounting, because I like investment related job like fund manager.

I intend to complete ACCA hopefully by this year otherwise mid of next year.

Advice needed on education


1. There is a project ACCA partnership with Oxford brookes university that allows me to get a BSC in Accounting from Oxford brookes if I pass the project. Should I take up this project/cert, just in case I take longer than expected to complete ACCA?

2. After I complete ACCA, I intend to further studies. Either CFA / MBA, I researched ACCA partner with UOL and Manchester. Manchester MBA is around $30K which is too costly for me and I will need a loan for that. But I like MBA cause the title nicer. Haha.
Which cert will have a better return + meet my target?


Advice needed on career


Should I continue my career in corporate accounting?
Or should I join audit? Or tax? Or other finance related job which will help me achieve my target earliest?


Any senior can advise me? Thank you.

4 room house by 30 doesn't sound easy, unless win toto
They go for at least 350k +/-. I also can't imagine how I can buy a flat by 30.

No la the housing I intend to take up loan and pay by CPF. Who can fork up $350K one shot.


I am more worried on the down payment ( if needed) + renovation + wedding + car downpayment ( not necessary if can afford of course better).

Anyway I am 26 this year, 4 more years to go. Not sure if I can achieve but maybe can + 2 years like by 32 latest.

Hi Vincent,

I do not think your goal of having both a BTO flat and earning enough to own a car by 30 is realistic in today's context. Even a good honors degree grad from a local U will struggle to achieve that.

You are already ~25, no matter what additional cert you study need at least another 1-2 years to complete. It is unrealistic to think that you can nearly triple your pay in just that remaining 3+ years.

Also another advice is in today's world I strongly do not recommend people making only 5-6k to own a car. Even for a normal Jap sedan car, you will have to take up unsecured financing for a portion of the ~60k downpayment required followed by monthly instalments the remaining 60k secured loans, add in all that other barang cost of car ownership easily the cost of mainintaining just a jap sedan car will cost 2.5k-3k.

I do not know how you came to the conclusion that studying accountancy is your ticket to being a fund manager, but this is straight out wrong. ACCA trains people in accounting / auditing principles and procedures, they have almost nothing in common with investment fund management other than they are Finance.

Banking / Investment Management FO is one of the hardest places to go in without an ivy background, you are sorely mistaken if you think just grabbing a distance learning cert affliated with Oxford will get you anywhere. Even local U grads who make dean's list and FCH only a small fraction get in in the end.

You have a good attitude to upgrade yourself, but need to keep expectations in check. Accountancy is just a normal PMET profession in abudance in the market, don't expect it to bring in big $$$ for you to jump from lower income class to upper middle income class lifestyle in just a few years.

Actually ACCA is not just about accounting. Refer to ACCA Competency Framework - All.

The project and bsc is from Oxford Brookes not Oxford university which is possible to get in less than a year. Reder to BSc (Hons) Applied Accounting - Undergraduate study - Oxford Brookes University Business School

Like I said 5-6k + My wife( gf now) salary to buy a car. Not solely my earning alone.

Another path I have in mind is to be an accountant specialize in investment. With that experience I think it will be closer to being a fund manager.

If ACCA can produce finance manager/CFO, how can they not know about investment?

Come on lar, there are truckloads of finance people taking part time ACCA certs all the time. I also went through that 5 years ago and have 3 people in my team going for it now.

With only jr level exp doing finance ops on the ARAP side, you can get in a big4 as a fresh level associate after that already sibei heng lah, what investment speacialist / fund manager talking you?

BTW I cant believe you actually take all that ACCA framework theoretic sh!t seriously, go and take your CV to any headhunter and say you want to be a investment specialist / fund manager because you are ACCA certified and see who will bother to entertain you.

Not pouring cold water or what, but you really think taking some relatively common cert like ACCA is gonna transform you from some 2.1k accounts assistant to a investment banking / trading BB har?

Time to wake up & smell the roses.

finance manager & fund manager different job... experience in banking risk analytics, trading ops is closer to fund manager. finance accounting is more like back office type similar to IT/HR/CS etc.

Dual income to afford house is already hard. Another car loan and you really have to live a very frugal life and no life at all

to reach 5+k by 30 yo means u need more than 25% increment each year... u think possible anot...?

anyway, 5k+ is the (slightly above) average salary a local grad with decent degree can expect... u got see most of them (as a couple) owning a bto AND a car anot... even with ur spouse earning 5k+ it will be difficult to maintain them.

Sorry to burst your bubble, dude. I am from fund management myself and I would say the other guys are right about the 'fund manager' part. You are quite some distance away from your goal, as the industry typically do not care about ACCA, distance learning certs or accounting experience as relevant. The stable job, 4-rm flat & car is possible, but maybe just not the fund manager part right now.

You can continue to try and hope, maybe if you are incredibly lucky and can find some 'gui ren' for it to happen. But until then, you should at least recognise that your current course of action is not accretive to the outcome you are seeking.

Either find some more interesting job than accounts, if it's not your cup of tea, or continue in accounts if it pays the bills. It's not going to magically transform into a way in to become a fund manager.

Thank for the advice. I also think it's possible to achieve 4room + car maybe a bit more difficult. Because I know of people achieving it.

On the fund manager part, it is just my interest in investment related field, if can of course I would want to take it as career. If can't then I will stick to accounts/tax/audit. Maybe after graduating from Acca then Cfa then decide again.

That's why I mention taking cfa or mba. I didn't say now, I want to achieve. Anyway that's just a intetest.

And going in big 4 at the right time Isint that hard. I have friend 0 experience in accounts + passed 4 papers In acca getting in big 4 because his brother pulled him in. It's about networking and timing.

With ARAP experience just last year, I was called by one of the big 4 to do online IQ test but I didnt take it seriously and did not complete so could not get to the next stage.

Agree that most of the "elite" jobs are not really occupied by geniuses. In reality, everything is about connections n knowing the right people. EQ is more impt than iq for most of the time
Fund management entry barrier is not that high anyway, luck plays a huge factor when searching for a job

So do you have the network in the investment industry or even the big4 firms? In the end did you get even secure a entry level job in big4? Did any investment bank or hedge fund house call you? No right?

What's the point of saying tautological things like it is easy as long as you have the network, easy as long as you take it seriously, easy as long as you have the right exp etc. etc. when the fact is you have none of these things?

For a 25 year guy making only 2.1k, you are currently falling behind even most of your normal poly diploma peers. What make you think in the next few years you are suddenly going to be a stellar career success getting massive increments every year when all career indications up to now are mediocre and below average?

It is all good to be optimistic and learn new things to improve yourself, but you should take a hard look at yourself and set some realistic goals instead of blind optimisim. Already you made a mistake by taking ACCA when you want to move into investment space, time to either do damage control and make the best with what you have or take immediate action to change course towards your goal.

With just 2.1k a month now you wanna buy HDB, pay for part time degree, pay for marriage, pay for renovation, pay for MBA course and on top pay for a car in the next few years by 30. The maths doesn’t add up. ACCA is to help you secure a job as an accountant or finance executive, it is not a winning TOTO ticket that can grant you instant riches.

True that, those numbers don't add up.
Like that can do accounting for banks, can help to hide their losses

Sorry to hijack this thread, but would there be any associated stigma joining the Accounting/Finance dept of a big tobacco company?

Presumably the name is recognisable as an MNC, but if there is a chance to move to another industry or into professional services, would you think there would be discrimination since your previous employer is a tobacco giant?