SHOULD I DO IT!?NEW THREAD TOPIC !
Originally Posted by PLYRS 3,Jan 4 2007, 03:37 PM
is THAT what you meant?
let me get this straight.....a CPA candidate can get credit towards said CPA designation by working as a welder??????????
are you fuking kidding me?????
let me get this straight.....a CPA candidate can get credit towards said CPA designation by working as a welder??????????
are you fuking kidding me?????
You have to have 150 hours of accredit college courses to take the CPA course. So, if I were short hours, I could conceivably go to the local community college and take a welding class, and a cooking class and a couple others, and push myself over the 150 hour mark. There are, of course, certain minimums by subject (gotta have like 24? hours of accounting, X of finance, X of business law, etc), but any decent BS program should get you those minimums, but most BS programs only require around 125-130 credits. So to make the rest up, you can take more or less whatever. This is why I kinda consider the 150 hours requirement a joke.
this is what i got from the AICPA website....
What are the requirements for becoming a CPA?
The requirements, which are set by each state board of accountancy, include: completing a program of study in accounting at a college or university, passing the Uniform CPA Exam, and obtaining a specific amount of professional work experience in public accounting (the required amount and type of experience varies according to licensing jurisdiction).
What are the requirements for becoming a CPA?
The requirements, which are set by each state board of accountancy, include: completing a program of study in accounting at a college or university, passing the Uniform CPA Exam, and obtaining a specific amount of professional work experience in public accounting (the required amount and type of experience varies according to licensing jurisdiction).
Originally Posted by PLYRS 3,Jan 4 2007, 03:42 PM
this is what i got from the AICPA website....
What are the requirements for becoming a CPA?
The requirements, which are set by each state board of accountancy, include: completing a program of study in accounting at a college or university, passing the Uniform CPA Exam, and obtaining a specific amount of professional work experience in public accounting (the required amount and type of experience varies according to licensing jurisdiction).
What are the requirements for becoming a CPA?
The requirements, which are set by each state board of accountancy, include: completing a program of study in accounting at a college or university, passing the Uniform CPA Exam, and obtaining a specific amount of professional work experience in public accounting (the required amount and type of experience varies according to licensing jurisdiction).
http://www.illinois-cpa-exam.com/files/edreq.pdf
As for the loan vs Cash. This is going to be on a case by case basis. A few points:
1) low interest loans (or free money) are not being talked about. I'd say take the 1.9% or the 0.9% or the 2.9% (etc.) loan it's money for nothing, tho often it can be opted out of and take cash back which may work out to the same.
2) I am talking about standard rate car loans which can be (?) 5% to 7% (?) I'm not sure.
For a standard rate loan, you are paying a fixed rate of lets just call it 6% +/- a point. So you need to be able to get a rate of return that is equal to that (after you pay tax) so really you are trying for a pre-tax return of 8%. There is not investment I know of that can guarantee 7%-8% on an investment or 6% (after tax).
look at the returns of the S&P500 index from 1991 to 2006 (16 years) I see 5 years with less than 5% return including 3 years where the index lost 22%, 12% and 9%. This is just an example, but it shows that there is not such thing as reward without risk.
My point is that it's possible for a person to be fully funded in a retirement account and own a home and so the next two priorities would be have: 1)cash reserve fund and 2) a secondary non-tax sheltered retirement fund.
In this instance where you can not possibly fund any more into a tax sheltered account and you have your house under control (don't want to pay that off b/c it's generally lower interest rate than a car loan and is a tax deduction). So you have some cash in an account getting 4% to 5% and you are paying tax on that interest so it's really like 3% to 4% and you can use that cash to pay for a car instead of taking a 5.5% car loan. That's what I mean when I say it's not bad to pay cash. Your other option (other than cash savings) is real estate, stocks or bonds all of which can loses money in a short term situation and have tax on earnings.
In my example, you may point out I'm spending my cash account which is a safety net, but with easy home equity lines of credit you can use that in a pinch plus if you really have to sell the car since it's paid for and in that case is an asset while most financed cars have very little value until you are several years in.
1) low interest loans (or free money) are not being talked about. I'd say take the 1.9% or the 0.9% or the 2.9% (etc.) loan it's money for nothing, tho often it can be opted out of and take cash back which may work out to the same.
2) I am talking about standard rate car loans which can be (?) 5% to 7% (?) I'm not sure.
For a standard rate loan, you are paying a fixed rate of lets just call it 6% +/- a point. So you need to be able to get a rate of return that is equal to that (after you pay tax) so really you are trying for a pre-tax return of 8%. There is not investment I know of that can guarantee 7%-8% on an investment or 6% (after tax).
look at the returns of the S&P500 index from 1991 to 2006 (16 years) I see 5 years with less than 5% return including 3 years where the index lost 22%, 12% and 9%. This is just an example, but it shows that there is not such thing as reward without risk.
My point is that it's possible for a person to be fully funded in a retirement account and own a home and so the next two priorities would be have: 1)cash reserve fund and 2) a secondary non-tax sheltered retirement fund.
In this instance where you can not possibly fund any more into a tax sheltered account and you have your house under control (don't want to pay that off b/c it's generally lower interest rate than a car loan and is a tax deduction). So you have some cash in an account getting 4% to 5% and you are paying tax on that interest so it's really like 3% to 4% and you can use that cash to pay for a car instead of taking a 5.5% car loan. That's what I mean when I say it's not bad to pay cash. Your other option (other than cash savings) is real estate, stocks or bonds all of which can loses money in a short term situation and have tax on earnings.
In my example, you may point out I'm spending my cash account which is a safety net, but with easy home equity lines of credit you can use that in a pinch plus if you really have to sell the car since it's paid for and in that case is an asset while most financed cars have very little value until you are several years in.
Originally Posted by s2kpdx01,Jan 4 2007, 02:56 PM
To the OP: Without knowing what you make, how much you save, and how much your expenses are no one can give you any advice. Saving $300/month could be small change to some and big deal to others. Threads like this are...odd...at best and some kind of weird cry for attention at worst.
Originally Posted by Chris Stack,Jan 4 2007, 03:44 PM
Here are the IL CPA board reqs:
http://www.illinois-cpa-exam.com/files/edreq.pdf
http://www.illinois-cpa-exam.com/files/edreq.pdf
you're talking about writing the exam...i'm talking about getting your accreditation.
being a welder does not a CPA make!!
Originally Posted by bjohnston,Jan 4 2007, 12:35 PM
This is a silly thread. I'm only responding cus I'm bored and waiting for a phone call...
To the OP, only you know your financial situation, so only you know how much $300/mo. is worth to you. But, things really don't add up to the casual observer. Although Stack may have been indelicate, he did have a point. Your writing does not quite evidence the typical skills required of someone making the income necessary to support your automotive spending. If you are, in fact, spending $3,000 per month on cars, I would think that you should have a gross monthly income of no less than $15,000 per month ($180,000 per year). Granted, that's an arbitrary figure, but using that figure, you would see that there isn't much left over each month after taxes, your monthly car expenses, an equal amount for housing, and retirement contributions. And, if you can comfortably spend $3,000 per month on cars, why would the $300 difference between the 335i and the C55 matter? Plus, what did you mean by BMW "helping" you? Dealership finance departments don't "help" people. They provide a service for profit. If you're upside down, I'm sure they will roll the deficiency into your new loan (if your credit is good, I would think). But, like rai said, what does that get you?
If you're just curious about the cars, go drive a 335i. I did, and it's a wonderful car. I've never driven a C55, but they've never had a great reputation for handling, I believe. If I were looking at both new, I'd save the $$$ and go for the 335i, but, honestly, I'm not looking to "smoke" anyone on the road either, nor could I stomach your payments on the C55, which sound like about $1,000 per month. You, however, are not looking at both new, as you've already bought the Benz and will be looking at losing a ton of money on it if you trade it in at the Bimmer store. This is a decision only you can make knowing all of the relevant facts. Good luck.
To the OP, only you know your financial situation, so only you know how much $300/mo. is worth to you. But, things really don't add up to the casual observer. Although Stack may have been indelicate, he did have a point. Your writing does not quite evidence the typical skills required of someone making the income necessary to support your automotive spending. If you are, in fact, spending $3,000 per month on cars, I would think that you should have a gross monthly income of no less than $15,000 per month ($180,000 per year). Granted, that's an arbitrary figure, but using that figure, you would see that there isn't much left over each month after taxes, your monthly car expenses, an equal amount for housing, and retirement contributions. And, if you can comfortably spend $3,000 per month on cars, why would the $300 difference between the 335i and the C55 matter? Plus, what did you mean by BMW "helping" you? Dealership finance departments don't "help" people. They provide a service for profit. If you're upside down, I'm sure they will roll the deficiency into your new loan (if your credit is good, I would think). But, like rai said, what does that get you?
If you're just curious about the cars, go drive a 335i. I did, and it's a wonderful car. I've never driven a C55, but they've never had a great reputation for handling, I believe. If I were looking at both new, I'd save the $$$ and go for the 335i, but, honestly, I'm not looking to "smoke" anyone on the road either, nor could I stomach your payments on the C55, which sound like about $1,000 per month. You, however, are not looking at both new, as you've already bought the Benz and will be looking at losing a ton of money on it if you trade it in at the Bimmer store. This is a decision only you can make knowing all of the relevant facts. Good luck.
How the hell did this become a discussion about work and school? 
I like how Chris bases opinions of education based off spelling in random posts on a car board. I always wondered what kinda ppl used the spell check button they provide.

I like how Chris bases opinions of education based off spelling in random posts on a car board. I always wondered what kinda ppl used the spell check button they provide.




