[jeff]

🙂

https://www.another71.com/too-old-to-take-cpa-exam/

[Missy]

and FWIW lurkers who come out of hiding to contribute to a fun/light post have always been WELCOMED by this forum, plenty of threads about old timers etc that get the most responses so if you're over 34 and lurking come out come out wherever you are!!!

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Duskfall]

I passed at 34. Not employed yet so I will see if it was worth it soon lol

FAR - 07/07/2016 - 81
BEC - 08/23/2016
AUD - 10/05/2016
REG - 11/23/2016

[garnerr2]

I just passed my last exam in December. I am 32. I cannot find a public accounting job. Hopefully that changes soon.

AUD - 76
REG - 78
FAR - Aug 2016
BEC - 79

[Kim W.]

I just passed the last exam in March and I am 56, you are never too old to learn/relearn ideas.

Kim W.

[Jdn9201]

Wow, considering I'm the “ripe old age” of 34 now – no it's not too old. I started this process at 32 and finished right after my 33rd birthday. 34 is not too old, and neither is 44, 54, or 64. People need to take it when it's best for them (if it is at all) – not according to someone else's time table. I also agree being older can be an advantage – I think I used more of what I learned at work (especially for REG and FAR) than Roger's books or college combined.

BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16

[M123]

I'm older than any age mentioned. I want to become a ballet dancer at a ripe old age. Someone tell me I can't. Si se puede. I went around the long way from corporate senior management to Big 4. It will only help. Will it get me a raise or anything else? Likely – but that isn't the motivation. I can tell you I have also learned so much just by going through this process and into my 3rd exam – far more on the job knowledge.

I tell people I know that they can kiss the ground that their CPA walks on. For the more entry level people – I can tell you with the CPA you may not know it but you have exponential amounts of built in knowledge I wish I had at a younger age.

[startupcfo]

Keep in mind that I'm a career switcher as you read this

July 2015….I had just turned 34, and my good friend was offering me a leadership position at his growing company, a position that would blossom into a CFO title.

Although I had a decade of finance experience, I had never even taken Accounting 101. From July 2015 to March 2017 (21 months), I blasted through

1. 3 prerequisite classes at local community colleges
2. All 4 CPA exams
3. The last leg of my Masters in Finance/Tax
4. Full-time employment, which involved a hefty commute

I turn 36 next month, and now have a CPA, a relevant MS, a title, supervisory experience, and ownership of systems. Our company's lead investor and our external auditors have confidence in us because of my background.

There is NOTHING stopping people from doing the CPA at age 34, or even 54, if they have a clear purpose they are fighting for. My motivation was the fear of looking a venture capitalist or a hiring manager in the eye and having to explain to them why I have no CPA license and some of you 25 year old punks on a web forum can do it in 18 months.

BEC - 87 | 02/28
REG - 70 | 06/10, REMATCH | 08/30
AUD - XX | 09/10
FAR - XX | 12/10

[RyonT]

I just turned 35 in December, and I just started my journey in November. I've worked in accounting almost 10 years, but could never afford the materials. If only I had known about the Ninja products. Either way, I don't feel all that old, and honestly I'm not sure I would have had the discipline to study this much back then. I would think many older candidates feel the same way.

[Anonymous]

y'all are babies! I passed and got my license when I was 48. So there. 🙂

(got my job at 49, happy to answer questions, but typically dont engage trolls so…)

[studysled]

I'm 35. Won't finish until 36 at the earliest.

Who cares how old you are? Once you get those 3 letters on your resume, nobody will care when it was or what your scores were.

[Anonymous]

went back to school to get my remaining credits after 35, took me 3 years to get the advanced accounting certificate…I am now 38, with one exam behind me, when I am 40 next August, I have to be done. I think the only disadvantage of not doing it right out of college is the severe lack of time that having a family and a full time job now entails:)

[JCVFUTURECPA]

I'm 36 married and have two kids 4 and 1.5. I'm 20 minutes from ordering Ninja FAR MCQ so I can pass this once and for all. I have a solid salary of $75,000 as an accountant with no CPA license. If I pass the CPA exam I can only imagine more doors opening up for me in my career.

I didn't even graduate college until I was 30 years old. I went back to college at 27 after working retail. At the time I thought 27 was too old to go back to school. Was I wrong! A great piece of advice someone told me was that I was going to be 30 years old anyway I might as well have my Bachelors Degree.

Do you want to one day be 40 with a CPA license or without one filled with regret.

Done.

[mitchvols]

I actually see where the original question was coming from. I passed a little over a month before I turned 30, so I was never concerned with me being too old. But then seeing college classmates that were with me had already had theirs for years, made me ask what I was doing. But I never wanted a CPA at all until one day I just decided that I did. And it was mainly in hopes of dropping out of grad school since it is just such a long laborious process that isn't as good as a CPA. I was 29 throughout the whole thing.

[Anonymous]

Uh, THIRTY-FOUR?? I'd kill to be that age again. I'm 41. Yeah, most days I feel like such a fricking loser when it comes to this exam and being an “over forty” who still hasn't passed any sections, when there are children in their early 20s who knock out all four sections in 6 months or less….BUT, for some reason I just never do give up. I don't quit things just because they might be challenging. Quite a few people I've spoken with have gotten CPA in their 40s to hoist their credentials. Seems reasonably sound to me. Should you get the CPA at age FIFTY or more? Not unless you really want to for personal satisfaction. You won't have nearly as many years to utilize the credential….unless you plan to work until age 75-80. And actually at the law firm I work at right now two of the attorneys are in their 70s. So there ya go.

I don't understand why a video would be made about a 34 year old taking the exam. That's really silly.

[Missy]

Leon its not silly at all. Plenty of people come here very early on before they've even decided to pursue the license or not trying to get input to make a decision, I know I did. Its a question that comes up over and over again and one that Jeff chooses to adddress.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Author]

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