Sunday, October 29, 2017
To College Or Not To College, That Is The Question
By: Donovan Baldwin
I live with my stepdaughter and her husband.
I'm retired, but they work.
Every morning, I hear them leave for work. Noises from downstairs identify the morning routine. The opening and closing of the front door, the hum of the garage door opener, let me know when they leave.
They are professionals with masters degrees and jobs of a professional level.
Proud of them.
I once lived in that world, but, gave it up and "went rogue", choosing to follow a different path. The 9 - 5, enclosed office, working world was just not my cup of tea.
We tell our kids, at least here in the U.S., that they NEED a college degree to "get ahead". We encourage even the most uninterested child to work towards that piece of paper that identifies them as a college graduate, a "professional" in some field.
That's fine.
Don't mean to belittle that pathway, but, I was one of the ones who never should have spent those years studying accounting, or working as an accountant.
Maybe there was another degree I could have earned that would have caught my imagination. I'll never know now.
I DO know that I spent a lot of my life chasing somebody else's dream.
I've met some really happy, and successful plumbers and mechanics. I treasure the times I was hot, sweaty, tired, and proud of what I was doing.
I'm retired, but they work.
Every morning, I hear them leave for work. Noises from downstairs identify the morning routine. The opening and closing of the front door, the hum of the garage door opener, let me know when they leave.
They are professionals with masters degrees and jobs of a professional level.
Proud of them.
I once lived in that world, but, gave it up and "went rogue", choosing to follow a different path. The 9 - 5, enclosed office, working world was just not my cup of tea.
We tell our kids, at least here in the U.S., that they NEED a college degree to "get ahead". We encourage even the most uninterested child to work towards that piece of paper that identifies them as a college graduate, a "professional" in some field.
That's fine.
Don't mean to belittle that pathway, but, I was one of the ones who never should have spent those years studying accounting, or working as an accountant.
Maybe there was another degree I could have earned that would have caught my imagination. I'll never know now.
I DO know that I spent a lot of my life chasing somebody else's dream.
I've met some really happy, and successful plumbers and mechanics. I treasure the times I was hot, sweaty, tired, and proud of what I was doing.
Labels: accountant, accounting, college, college degree, donovan baldwin, retired
Wednesday, July 05, 2017
Death And Taxes
By Donovan Baldwin
Just to put the world in perspective. I graduated The University of West Florida (UWF), with a degree in accounting in 1973. I took many classes in humanities, math, English, accounting, finance, and economics. Of course, I took many accounting courses; beginning, intermediate, advanced. Accounting for managerial control. Cost accounting. Government accounting. All these courses, had one or two books. Economics tended to have big, heavy books. Finance tended to have small, reasonably sized text books. I carried a briefcase with all my books each quarter (we were on quarters, not semesters). Then came the quarter I had to take TAX ACCOUNTING! The texts for Tax Accounting filled my briefcase and I had to carry the books for other classes in my arms. That tells you something. Either taxes are the most important thing an accounting student has to learn...OR...wait for it...taxes are just too damn complicated. I think citizens should pay taxes to help the government do important stuff (another discussion), but, the citizen should be able to put his or her tax information on a tax return the size of a post card, and, it should take a citizen about one minute more than it takes them to gather their data, to fill in that tax return. Somebody is getting rich from complicated tax laws, and, it is not the citizen.
Just to put the world in perspective. I graduated The University of West Florida (UWF), with a degree in accounting in 1973. I took many classes in humanities, math, English, accounting, finance, and economics. Of course, I took many accounting courses; beginning, intermediate, advanced. Accounting for managerial control. Cost accounting. Government accounting. All these courses, had one or two books. Economics tended to have big, heavy books. Finance tended to have small, reasonably sized text books. I carried a briefcase with all my books each quarter (we were on quarters, not semesters). Then came the quarter I had to take TAX ACCOUNTING! The texts for Tax Accounting filled my briefcase and I had to carry the books for other classes in my arms. That tells you something. Either taxes are the most important thing an accounting student has to learn...OR...wait for it...taxes are just too damn complicated. I think citizens should pay taxes to help the government do important stuff (another discussion), but, the citizen should be able to put his or her tax information on a tax return the size of a post card, and, it should take a citizen about one minute more than it takes them to gather their data, to fill in that tax return. Somebody is getting rich from complicated tax laws, and, it is not the citizen.
Labels: accounting, article by Donovan Baldwin, donovan baldwin, tax accounting, taxes, University of West Florida, UWF
