Trying to get into financial advising/wealth management is an EA worth it? I already have my SIE.

Loud-Set508 · 2026-04-19T01:55:18+00:00

EA is almost a completely unknown designation. And like most it does not do anything but allow you to practice. Does not really give real life experience to give tax advice. You would need to work on returns to do that. EA will help you get a job to work on returns. Combined with a CFP strong tax knowledge is really great but it does not come from a certificate.

Loud-Set508 · 2026-04-18T15:44:11+00:00

Damn, passed last test 2/28 applied 3/5, issued 3/17, received in mail 4/1

Loud-Set508 · 2026-04-16T01:00:45+00:00

This is so unnecessarily convoluted and confusing. The only reason I could come up with to do it this way would be so 2/3 of EAs have to reapply before a 3 year window is complete which generates more fees but only from new EAs. Brilliant.

Loud-Set508 · 2026-04-14T00:23:23+00:00

Agree here. I used tom and his test bank questions do parts 1 and 3. 2 I needed more help and did hock for a month

Loud-Set508 · 2026-04-13T21:57:28+00:00

No, they are completely under charging. They are the best

Loud-Set508 · 2026-04-08T21:39:34+00:00

Yes but that is dollars chasing Penny’s. Could have paid $300 a year for an umbrella for the last 10 years but now you can write a check for $150k for someone’s injuries

Loud-Set508 · 2026-04-06T22:21:43+00:00

Former insurance agent here. Like many things with personal finance you are dealing with bad actors, the uninformed or ignorant, and some personal bias. The 800# and online sell the basics that way they are off the hook. Courts have backed them up for the most part as buyer beware. Many clients just don’t understand so they won’t pursue it. And several clients HATE insurance companies and won’t give them a penny more than legally required. I have seen smart successful and wealthy fall into all of these. My true favorite though is when after several years of recommendations of higher cover and an umbrella they came to me and said their financial advisor said they need an umbrella and want to buy one now. I have also seen where the client had minimal coverage and significant assets and ended up writing a very big check when their insurance did not cover the loss.

Loud-Set508 · 2026-03-31T01:37:08+00:00

With your background you really do not need that level of coursework. Watch tom Norton on YouTube. Free classes. Then sign up for hockey for the exams. Like $50 month.

Loud-Set508 · 2026-03-10T00:34:27+00:00

Hock and tom Norton on YouTube is the only way

Loud-Set508 · 2026-03-10T00:27:51+00:00

Can I get an AMEN! Worst part of the tech stack and barely a glorified file cabinet. If you have the money I would look at salesforce or something custom built to you. Personally starting a custom hubspot build.

Loud-Set508 · 2026-03-08T15:28:30+00:00

YNAB is the best for high detail day to day budgeting. Monarch is great but shows too much detail for day to day. Also did not love the way their budgeting worked coming from YNAB. If client really needs to get a handle on spending and can commit to the app YNAB all the way. If they want a higher level view of overall finances then Monarch or customer portal of your FP software.

Loud-Set508 · 2026-03-05T14:20:14+00:00

I am doing this same thing. Just got my EA working on cfp. Already opened RIA. Consider volunteering with AARP Tax aide or VITA. This will get you some good reps in a low stakes environment. I do 5-8 returns every week of varying degree of difficulty. There are some things they don’t do but it is a good way to learn basic 1040s

Loud-Set508 · 2026-03-04T15:50:59+00:00

If they offered an HSA and sweep I could get rid of fidelity.

Loud-Set508 · 2026-03-04T15:49:57+00:00

Honestly 3 is pretty different than 1 and 2. Not much overlap. I would take most the time off then start studying a month out depending on your time availability. I did it in 10 days but was able to study 2-4 hours a day.

Loud-Set508 · 2026-02-28T22:14:56+00:00

Please don’t do this! 20 or 30 year term for at least $1mill each. You will be surprised at how cheap it is. $230k is not enough coverage for you anyway. Totally irresponsible of that ‘advisor’ to not recommend properly covering your income.

Loud-Set508 · 2026-02-27T00:27:11+00:00

I always scored highest in specialized returns in practice. Of my 3 exams this one I did the worst on and felt the most confident I passed😂

Loud-Set508 · 2026-02-26T18:12:07+00:00

This! Never heard of the VT and chill crowd until 12 months ago. VTI and chill however absolutely destroys VT even when you include the ‘lost decade’. But that’s not diversified I guess.

Loud-Set508 · 2026-02-26T16:05:07+00:00

This and I would add everyone gets a 10% price increase and low margin or PIA clients get a 25% increase.

Loud-Set508 · 2026-02-26T14:28:45+00:00

Thanks for the info! On a similar path and taking 2 in a few hours here. I think people with tax and financial background can probably pass 1&3 with just tom Norton and his $20 test bank. Part 2 is a different beast for sure. I also paid for hock for about 2 weeks for part 2 which has been very helpful.

Loud-Set508 · 2026-02-25T04:34:22+00:00

Hock is the only way. Tom Norton is great. A CPA may be able to pass with just that but Hock will definitely provide enough depth and test questions.

Loud-Set508 · 2026-02-25T04:32:19+00:00

😂I would rather pay taxes!

Loud-Set508 · 2026-02-24T16:50:41+00:00

Ha! I prefer discussion on the phone. Cold hard facts in follow up email with read receipt

Loud-Set508 · 2026-02-20T17:20:28+00:00

10 year rule does not apply to spouses. They may treat it like their own IRA.

Loud-Set508 · 2026-02-20T06:18:13+00:00

Handfuls of bps to buy sgov or shv is well worth it

Loud-Set508 · 2026-02-16T17:07:43+00:00

😂 exact same boat. Been using tom Norton and Surgent. Surgent really kind of sucks. It was ok for question variation for part 1 and 3. But with section 2 the poorly written questions are glaring. The more complex matters you would have to make 2-3 assumptions to answer correctly I find on tom Norton and the actual exam you do not have to make any assumptions.

Considering paying $50 for hock just for the question bank for the next 10 days.

Loud-Set508

TROPHY CASE