MY PLAN A: Financial Analyst
My Plan A:
Consider:
❏ What do you enjoy?
❏ What sort of lifestyle do you
want?
❏ What are you good at?
Career Info that I have
discovered…
Consider:
❏ Upsides/downsides of job
❏ Job duties/ responsibilities
❏ Salary range
❏ Future outlook
❏ Lifestyle factors
❏ Advancement opportunities
I enjoy meeting, and talking to new people, which can improve my
communication skills. Also, I enjoy analyzing the market, and invest
money into the stock market.
I want a lifestyle where I can be financial be free, making passive
income while traveling the world. Also, I am fine with having less
work-life balance during the first few years of building my career, as
long as that means that financial freedom comes after that.
I am good at analyzing the real-life events and using them to analyze
the stock market.
Upsides are that I can earn a sizable amount of money, and it fits my
lifestyle.
Downsides are that financial analysts have very little job security (for
example, there are lay-offs happening often), and usually they don’t
learn any skills that are transferable to other industries.
Job duties include
 Perform financial forecasting, reporting, and operational
metrics tracking
 Analyze financial data and create financial models for
decision support
 Report on financial performance and prepare for regular
leadership reviews
 Analyze past results, perform variance analysis, identify
trends, and make recommendations for improvements
 Work closely with the accounting team to ensure accurate
financial reporting
 Evaluate financial performance by comparing and analyzing
actual results with plans and forecasts
 Guide the cost analysis process by establishing and enforcing
policies and procedures
 Provide analysis of trends and forecasts and recommend
actions for optimization
 Recommend actions by analyzing and interpreting data and
making comparative analyses; study proposed changes in
methods and materials
 Identify and drive process improvements, including the
creation of standard and ad-hoc reports, tools, and Excel
dashboards
 Increase productivity by developing automated
reporting/forecasting tools
 Perform market research, data mining, business intelligence,
and valuation comps
 Maintain a strong financial analysis foundation creating
forecasts and models
Salary Range: 65K – 85K
Future Outlook: For Financial and investment analysts, over the
 period 2019-2028, new job openings (arising from expansion
demand and replacement demand) are expected to total 22,300,
while 21,700 new job seekers (arising from school leavers,
immigration and mobility) are expected to be available to fill them.

Financial analysts can work long hours, generally either working on

updating research and financial models or networking. ... Senior
analysts, those with three or more years of experience, tend to spend
much of their time reviewing work, developing investment opinions,
and networking with clients.

Financial analyst can continue into a supervisory position. A senior

analyst in the securities industry often moves up to become a
portfolio manager or a fund manager overseeing a team of senior
analysts. There may also be an opportunity to enter a senior
management role.

Three employability skills I
possess that will support my
plan:
Consider:
❏ Soft and hard Skills required
for position
❏ Personal attributes
1. Good understanding of mathematics and ability to apply them
to real-life situations.
2. Experience with financial investments (mutual funds, stocks,
etc.)
3. Great communication skills with customers and clients (during
my work as a cashier at local supermarket)

Education needed to pursue my Bachelor’s degree in finance or another relevant field is the minimum
plan: qualification, but most financial analysts earn master’s degrees.

Consider: Another thing I can get is Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)

❏ Courses/training/ certificates certification as a way to show my qualification by taking exams.
needed Earning this certification would take about 4 years, and it would cost
❏ Post-secondary about $4,000-$5,000.
requirements
MY BACKUP CAREER PLAN ______Accountant______

My Plan B: I enjoy meeting, and talking to new people, which can improve my
Consider: communication skills. Also, I enjoy analyzing the market, and invest
❏ What do you enjoy? money into the stock market.
❏ What sort of lifestyle do you
want? I want a lifestyle where I can be financial be free, making passive
❏ What are you good at? income while traveling the world. Also, I am fine with having less
work-life balance during the first few years of building my career, as
long as that means that financial freedom comes after that.

I am good at analyzing the real-life events and using them to

analyze the stock market.

Career Info that I have Upsides:

discovered…  Clear career path: in accounting the first skills that are learnt
will be crunching numbers and analyzing costs that
Consider: employers need.
❏ Upsides/downsides of job  Stable and growing job field: Every business needs an
❏ Job duties/responsibilities accountant, and the bureau of labor statistics projects that
❏ Salary range employment in the accounting field will grow 10 percent from
❏ Future outlook 2016 to 2026. This is faster than the national average rate
❏ Lifestyle factors for all occupations.
❏ Advancement opportunities
Downsides:
 Very busy every day: during busy seasons, which are
between April to May, long days and weekend work become
the norm as accountants work to get the clients’ finances in
order.
 The work can be stressful: usually deal with other people or
the clients’ finances, so the clients will be very sensitive of
how finance is organized, which creates immense amount of
pressure.

Jobduties/responsibilities:

 Summarizes current financial status by collecting

information;
 preparing balance sheet, profit and loss statement, and other
reports. Substantiates financial transactions by auditing
documents. Maintains accounting controls by preparing and
recommending policies and procedures

Salary range:

$54,000 ~ $60,000 starting salaries

$80,000 ~ $100,000 management salaries

Future outlook:

Employment of accountants and auditors is projected to grow 7

percent from 2020 to 2030, about as fast as the average for all
occupations. About 135,000 openings for accountants and auditors
are projected each year, on average, over the decade.
 Lifestyle factors:

possible tasks an accountant might complete in a day at work

include designing and implementing accounting systems,
forecasting and budgeting, preparing income tax, investment and
tax planning, conducting internal audits on accounts, and making
financial recommendations.

Advancement opportunities:

Accountants can move up by being in basic business accounting

positions, where handling the overall finances of a small business is
the main task for the job. Helping general ledger, monthly bank
statement reconciliations will be most of the work.

Another way accountants can move up the positions is by being the

management accountant, where crunchingg numbers and
organizing data is the main task. The data can be used by the
executives to improve the operations of the business.

Three employability skills I
possess that will support my
plan:
Consider:
❏ Soft and hard skills required
for position
❏ Personal attributes
1. Strong skills in mathematics and reasoning with numbers.
2. Critical thinking even in complex situations (like ones
involving lots of numbers intertwined together and identifying
problems quickly in them).
3. Experience in clerical work (as a cashier at local
supermarket).

Education needed to pursue my Education requirement:

plan:  Bachelor’s degree in accountant or business related degree
 Completion of a training program approved by the society of
Consider: certified general accountants or society of management
❏ Courses/training/certificates accountants.
needed  Chartered Professional Accountant or Auditor (public
❏ Post-secondary Accountant) (In BC)
requirements
 Post-Secondary Option
Plan A - Schools/Training
Name of First Choice School Second Choice School
School: (University of Waterloo) (Wilfrid Laurier University)

Name of Bachelor of Science with major in Bachelor of Arts in Financial

Degree or type Financial Analysis and Risk Mathematics
of training you Management (FARM)
will receive
Example:
Bachelor of
Science

Length of the 5 years 4 years

program
Example: 4
years

Price of Tuition Approximately $12,000 Approximately $6,200

for the first year

Approx. Cost of $2,100 $1,000

books/supplies
for the first year

Cost to live in $4,800 to $6,400 $5,508 – $9,300

Residence

Application Fee $125 $125

to apply to
program

Application February 1st, 2022 April 27th, 2022

deadline
Example:
February, 13th,
2020

Academic  High school diploma with 6  High school diploma with 5

Requirements Grade 12 academic courses Grade 12 academic courses
for program  AP Calculus or Calculus 12 +  Calculus 12 + Pre-calculus 12
(pre-requisites) Pre-calculus 12 + English 12 + English 12 or English First
or English First Peoples 12. Peoples 12.

Other possible Business Development Planner Systems administrator

occupations Consultant Bank examiner
with this type of Data Support Analyst Actuary
degree
 Post-Secondary Option
Plan B - Schools/Training
Name of First Choice School Second Choice School
School: (University of Waterloo) (Wilfrid Laurier University)

Name of Bachelor of Accounting and Financial Bachelor of Arts in Economics and

Degree or type Management (AFM) Accounting
of training you
will receive
Example:
Bachelor of
Science

Length of the 5 years 4 years

program
Example: 4
years

Price of Tuition Approximately $8,000 Approximately $6,200

for the first year

Approx. Cost of Approximately $2,100 Approximately $500 - $1,000

books/supplies
for the first year

Cost to live in $4,800 to $6,400 $5,508 – $9,300

Residence

Application Fee $125 $125

to apply to
program

Application February 1st, 2022 April 27th, 2022

deadline
Example:
February, 13th,
2020

Academic  High school diploma with 6  High school diploma with 5

Requirements Grade 12 academic courses Grade 12 academic courses
for program  AP Calculus or Calculus 12 +  Calculus 12 + Pre-calculus 12
(pre-requisites) Pre-calculus 12 + English 12 + English 12 or English First
or English First Peoples 12. Peoples 12.

Other possible Business analyst Economist

occupations Fixed income analyst Internal bank auditor
with this type of Auditor Securities trader
degree
 Travel Option
Itinerary and Budget

In Word, create a table and ensure you have included ALL of the following
information for your travel itinerary.

Where:
● List where you plan to travel (be specific and list exactly which countries and cities)
When:
● What time of year/season
● For how long (in each location)
How:
● Modes of transportation (research the cost and timing
Accomodations
● List where you will be staying for each location and how many nights. Include a link
● Indicate the cost per night
Budgeting Costs:
● Anticipate food costs
● Costs for activities etc
● Phone plan (extra charges?)
● Travel insurance
● What will you need to buy before you go?
● What will you buy while you are travelling?

Where: I will travel to Canada for two weeks

3 days in B.C. (1 day in Tofino, 2 days in Whistler)
3 days in Alberta (2 days in Banff, 1 day in Edmonton)
4 days in Ontario (3 days in Toronto, 1 day in Ottawa)
3 days in Quebec (2 days in Montreal and 1 day in Quebec
City)
2 days in Newfoundland and Labrador (2 days in St. John)

When: Tofino - May 10th

Whistler - May 11 - May 13th
Banff - May 14th - May 16th
Edmonton - May 17th
Toronto - May 18th
Ottawa - May 19th
Montreal - May 20th - May 21st
Quebec City - May 22nd
Newfoundland & Labrador - May 23rd and 24th

How: Rental Car in BC - $30/day x 3 days = $90 + GST (if not

rental, calculate mileage and gas)
Train to Alberta = $200/one way ticket
Flight from Edmonton to Toronto = $800.00 one way ticket
Rental Car from Toronto to the east coast = $40/day x 6 days
= 240 + GST (if not rental, calculate mileage and gas)
Flight from St. John to Vancouver = $1400 one way ticket
Accomodations: Tofino - Wyckenwish Inn $400/night. 5 Star Hotel. Link:
Include price, links and www.wyckenwishinn.ca
reviews for EACH of your ETC….
accommodations.

Budget: (food/activities etc).

Be specific for each location
and include links for special
activities (ie: museums,
sporting events, concerts
etc).
 Work-Life Option
Living Costs and Savings Goal (Living INDEPENDENTLY)

Income Monthly: Yearly:

Hourly Wage/salary

Parents

Total Income

Expenses:

Rent
● List where you plan to live (either a
rental link or a detailed description)

Medical Insurance

Utilities

Food/Grocery

Car Insurance

Gas for Car

Car Repairs

Compass cost

Cell Phone/Internet

Clothing

Entertainment / Going out

Personal sundries

Recreation / Gym membership

Other
-parking fees
-gifts
-house supplies
-specialist fees
-eye care/prescriptions
-hair cuts
-move in costs (furniture, truck rental)

Savings
-try and save 10%

Total Expenses
Total Income MINUS Total Expenses

After filling out table, write a SEPARATE reflection on whether your job will support your
lifestyle.
● What sacrifices will you have to make?
● How will your priorities change?
● How much money do you plan to save per year? What will you use your savings
for in five years? Ten years? What are your savings goals?