In January 2010, the IRS rocked the individual tax preparer world with proposed new requirements.  According to the IRS, there are up to 1.2 million paid tax preparers.  Beginning in 2011, these paid preparers would be required to meet various registration, licensing, testing and continuing education rules.  Failure to do so, and a preparer could be working the bread line, not the taxable income line.

Think of the job market life cycle as being similar to that of salmon.  Born in upriver fresh water, salmon swim the currents downstream to the ocean to spend their free youth.  Upon reaching full maturity, they migrate hundreds or thousands of miles back upriver to their origin.  They battle the currents, natural obstacles and any number of predators.  Most don’t make it, those that do spawn, then usually die.  The salmon migration is exciting, dramatic and mysterious.