u/Adventurous-Dog-6158

I am only a consumer of financial services and have no intention of getting into the field but am curious about the CFP vs the FINRA exams (7, 63, 65, 66, etc.). I may not have all the correct terminology, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

If someone has passed all FINRA and other exams that allow him to be licensed to provide financial advice, how much more difficult would the CFP be? And would the CFP really be needed if the rep has many years of experience? I see a lot of FAs advertise that they are a CFP but I have yet to see anyone put "FINRA licensed" or anything like that on their profile/business cards.

My understanding is that the CFP is not required by any gov regulation. I know that the CPA is required to sign off on certain financial reports and to represent clients to the IRS (along with EAs and tax attorneys).

Purely from a knowledge standpoint, if someone has all the relevant FINRA qualifications and has been a successful FA for 10 years, is he really going to learn anything significant by getting the CFP? This would assume that the FA has been taking continuing education courses and is up to date on tax strategies, etc. I understand that there is a marketing aspect to the CFP, but that's not what I'm asking about.

I am Viet. A few weeks ago at a kids sports event, I ran into another Viet father. I initiated a conversation wit him and we found that we had a mutual Asian acquaintance in common. His wife was also Viet. I would say that 75% of the conversation was me asking about him. I found out that he grew up in an area that had a very large Viet population (prob top 3 in the US), yet he claimed to not speak Viet well which I found odd. So we only spoke English to each other. Was he trying to be white and not speak Viet when growing up? If so, why'd he marry a Viet woman, and wouldn't they speak Viet at home? A few weeks passed and I saw him again. We said hi and he went to sit down in an area far away from me. It irked me. Am I not cool enough for him? I see myself as a presentable middle-aged Asian male and am at least upper middle class. Not sure what his deal was. I didn't try to get his phone number or connect with him on social media, so stalking should not have been a concern. It would have been cool if we could have become more acquainted. I was looking forward to my kids having more Asian/Viet friends. The event that we went to is over now so I probably won't run into the father or the kids again. This was not the first time that something like this has happened to me. It's like some people don't give a F about being friends with people of their own ethnicity. Just venting.

Edit: People commenting that I'm an asshole and judgmental, etc. Some of the things I mentioned were in retrospect. I didn't interrogate this guy and I didn't react negatively or say anything about it when he told me he didn't speak Viet well; we simply talked in English. People also commenting that I'm a snob or think I'm better than him when I feel it's the other way around. It appeared to me that he didn't prioritize retaining his native language/culture and for his kids to be friends with other Viet kids. I was not trying to be best friends with this guy; it was for my kids. Everybody has the right to think whatever they want. My philosophy is if I meet someone who is Asian or Viet, I prioritize socializing with them. That's all. Maybe if I lived in Orange County CA where there are 100k Viet people, I may think differently.

I can't get a straight answer on this. If I get hail in may area and an adjuster from the insurance company looks at my roof and determines that there's no damage, or the damage is minimal so it wouldn't be worth me filing a claim with a $1k deductible, will my premium go up just because the adjuster came out? Are there regulations that insurance companies must follow before they raise premiums? I get it that claims can raise premiums. I am in New Jersey. Thank you.

I can't get a straight answer on this. If I get hail in may area and an adjuster from the insurance company looks at my roof and determines that there's no damage, or the damage is minimal so it wouldn't be worth me filing a claim with a $1k deductible, will my premium go up just because the adjuster came out? Are there regulations that insurance companies must follow before they raise premiums? I get it that claims can raise premiums. I am in New Jersey. Thank you.

$300 off list price. I should be able to pick mine up from Best Buy later today. I would have never thought to try Best Buy, but Panasonic and B&H are out of stock, so I clicked on the "shop authorized dealers" button and saw that Best Buy had them at the sale price. I already rented this lens and it's good for amateur soccer photography so I'm buying it now.

https://shop.panasonic.com/products/g-series-100-300mm-f4-0-5-6-asph-lens

https://www.bestbuy.com/product/panasonic-lumix-g-vario-100-300mm-f-4-0-5-6-power-o-i-s-telephoto-zoom-lens-h-fsa100300-black/J3Z7HPV56R

I just saw the below this morning. Really? A "mini-CTO/CIO?" And you get to lead one IT person. Really cute.

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Reporting directly to the CFO, the Director of Information Technology is DanceOne's most senior technology leader — a hands-on "mini-CTO/CIO" responsible for setting and executing technology strategy across a global, highly decentralized live-events business.

You will lead one direct report — a skilled IT Operations Manager who also oversees the IT help desk.

I recently purchased an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV as a starter camera for sports photography. Someone recommended another Olympus on Reddit and it seemed like a decent brand. I knew M43 was not as popular of a lens mount format but the idea of a standard physical lens mount format shared by multiple manufactures appealed to me. I also liked the old school look of Olympus cameras.

Recently, I contacted multiple camera stores in two large cities and none rented out M43 lenses. I wanted to rent a nice zoom lens for a soccer tournament but I'm SOL now. Yes, there are online rentals but I don't like the idea of renting something like a lens online.

If I'm still interested in photography in the future and want to upgrade, I'm seriously looking at not going with OM/Olympus. I don't like jumping on the bandwagon, but I think I will have to go with Canon or Sony next time.

I was shocked when I saw the info packet for my rising 9th grade son who will be in HS next year. All levels/teams have practice M-F for over 2.5 hrs and also a Saturday session, so 6 days a week. If they have a game, that will take the place of a practice. I'm not sure how intense the practices will be, but how are they going to recovery with only a break on Sunday? Is this common for HS sports in general? My son plays club soccer and they only practice 3 days a week. We're in southern NJ.

I finally got around to looking into this. Over a year ago, I had the siding replaced and didn't want to keep this window in my bedroom because it lets in a lot of intense afternoon sunlight and the exterior is wood which was rotting.

Instead of removing the entire window and having to perform interior repairs, I decided to keep the interior part as a faux window. That would have been OK, but when they nailed on new exterior plywood sheathing, they nailed into the right side of the window so that side protrudes out 1 5/8".

I don't want to go through with trying to repair so I'm looking at putting a framed picture over the window (red outline). Does that make sense? Where can I get a frame that is deep enough to cover the 1 5/8" protrusion? Are there other options? Note: I have static cling tint on the actual glass which is why its dark, and the bed was pulled out several feet from the wall so that I could work on the window.

Thank you.

https://preview.redd.it/rd6i7p4ew24h1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6c725bc445ebe1679dbe5f50ae647b976cc31486

I have an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV and M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f4.0-5.6 R. The lens is a bit short for a large 11v11 pitch. Sigma doesn't make any large M43 lenses and Tamron doesn't seem to have any M43 lenses. Besides Panasonic and M.Zuiko, is there any other brand that makes decent zoom lenses for sports? I like the idea of M43 that's why I got the camera, but the choices for lenses seem to be limited and I'm wondering if I should eventually move away from M43.

I've experimented with C-AF+TR (continuous auto-focus with tracking) and it doesn't seem to work well. Anyone have advice on particular settings that may work well? Also, for shutter, I don't think 1/1250 is fast enough sometimes. If it's a bright sunny day, is it OK to increase that? I shoot with this lens: M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f4.0-5.6 R.