OLD Media Moves

From business journalist to financial planner

August 3, 2009

Joe Grimm, who writes a column on HR issues in journalism for the Poynter Institute, profiles former Providence Journal assistant business editor David McPherson, who made the career switch to financial planning two years ago.

Here’s a snippet:

How long between jobs: None. I left The Providence Journal in early January 2007 and immediately went about setting up the business, which had been in the planning stages for several months before I left the newspaper. I landed my first client within a couple months and have been seeing them nonstop ever since. In October 2007, I started writing a weekly personal finance column for ABCNews.com after being contacted by a former Journal colleague who works there.

Hardest thing about the transition: Going from the security of a regular paycheck to the uncertainty of self-employment income. Early in the transition, I did quite a bit of freelance financial writing to supplement my financial planning income. I’ve scaled back on the writing with the exception of the ABCNews.com column.

Read more here.

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