Right. So in short I am over 40 and the Financial Planning industry is forcing us to do 4 years of full time study. First off...I am not aruguing about the fact Planners should have a higher level of minimim requirements. They/We totally should. I think they have gone a bit far in forcing it to be effectively a Bachelor's, but hey thats their call. I am not in a position to be able to commit to 4 years of full time study, on top of full time work, family etc. I have tried by doing my normal 40 hours CPD over the last few weeks...and ti just isn't going to happen...for that and many other reasons (and to be fair I won't be the only one as around 50% of planners I have spoken to are in the process of leaving as well).

Will I be able to survive on Apprenticeship wages? I can..it will be tough and several years of "no fun". I mean golf will probably have to be given a wide berth etc...but that's life.

But I have tried contacting several Apprenticeship companies both locally and state based. They are ****ing useless. I mean borderline incompetent. No advice...nothing.

This is all pretty daunting....so how the hell do I go about this??

Do I just start walking into businesses again like I did when I was 17? Resumes? Is there anyone who has had anything to do with this sort of thing for "older" apprentices.

Having worked in offices my whole life I have realised, I really need to get out of them. I need something new to sort me out. The idea of starting from scratch is something that sort of appeals to me. Any suggestions on where the hell to start???