When Chasing the Dream Won't Do

It's been way too long since I've written on here. Life has been a little crazy and this blog has been pushed to the back burner.

Life is changing in big ways around here. My husband is retiring from the military and I am going back to work for the first time in seven years. And all that changing has my mind racing and thinking about things more than I have in the past few years. 

And one of those things I've been thinking and re-thinking is my dream job. 

If you've known me for a little while, you probably know that I am super passionate about helping people be in a better place financially. The great news is that there is a profession for this exact thing. The bad thing is I'm not sure it is worth pursuing anymore. 

Hear me out on this before you just tell me to chase after the dream. 

When I think back to a decade ago, there wasn't a huge group of people openly talking about their finances on social media. Now, you see friends openly talking about their debt free journey and how much debt they have paid off. 

And this is great because it encourages more people to do the same. However, most of the posts I have seen aren't pointing their friends in the direction of a financial counselor with an office in their area. Most of these posts are directing people to a big "financial guru" (ie Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman, etc) who they can follow on social media and read any books they have written. 

Then add in the amazing things we can do with technology now. I can listen to a podcast about finances, read a book about budgeting on my phone, and take financial classes from these "gurus" without leaving my house. 

Because these "financial gurus" are easily accessible through social media and technology, I wonder (because I don't know exactly how to research this) how many people choose to go that way over talking to a financial counselor personally. And that wondering makes me wonder if this job is something we are going to see fade away because it isn't being utilized. 

Yes, there will always be a need for financial counselors. There will always be people who have debt that they don't know how to pay off or people who want to save more money but are unsure how to do it. And there will always be people who need help investing and getting ready for retirement. But are there already enough professionals to help them with that?

Obviously, I am not going to stop being passionate about finances. It's not something that is just going to fade away so I'll still do it in some form or fashion, but I don't know if doing it for a job is feasible.

Here's a little bit more on that. To become a financial counselor, I would need to be certified. The certification process takes a couple years, a couple thousand dollars, and a lot of internship hours. I would also need to complete my Bachelor's degree either before or soon after finishing the certification process. So add in a few more thousand dollars (at least) to that. 

And then I would have to cross my fingers and hope that there is a job opening for me. And I personally think we are going to see less openings for this sort of work in the future because more people are going to utilize the stuff they can find online and do it on their own, even if the financial counselor could help them do it better or faster.

But will I resent not chasing after my dream and doing what actually makes me happy? Will I wake up one day twenty years from now hating the job I go to every day? Will I constantly wonder what my life would look like if I had chased my dream?

So I think I may have to figure out help people with their finances as a hobby while I work a job that can actually consistently pay the bills. 

What are you thoughts on this? Am I giving up because I think something might be hard? Or am I making an important decision to ensure my family's financial security?