The Financial Advisor – A Career with a Great Outlook for the Future

One Of The Fastest-Growing Careers Is In Desperate Need Of Young Talent
8/08/2012
Halah Touryalai, Forbes Staff

The profession is in need of new advisors to fill both the expanding market and the shoes of retiring advisors.  “The demand for financial advice is increasing as Baby Boomers approach retirement and seek help getting there. Couple that with the fact that the average financial advisor (FA) is 50-years-old and you’ve a golden career opportunity for young graduates and professionals.”

Despite all the sunny prospects of this profession, many of today’s fresh new talent are not considering this career.  When college graduates are seeking a career in the financial industry, they tend to ignore jobs listing for “financial advisors,” assuming it to be a cold, hard, sales and commission based job.  Young professionally don’t feel secure in the idea of selling products to make a living, preferring the security of a salary based on services rendered.

While careers in brokerage firms might still start with cold calling sales tactics, there are other business models available for a college graduate to start on the path to becoming a financial advisor.  “Where there tends to be more mentoring and less of a “eat what you kill” mentality is on the independent side of the financial advice industry. Independent advisors are entrepreneurs who run their own advisory business–they’re paying their own rent, turning on the lights in the morning and hiring their own staff. Unlike Wall Street’s brokerage firms where advisors are paid on salary and commission theses advisors are typically paid on a fee-only model where clients pay them a percentage on the assets they manage.”

If you are a veteran in the industry, you need to attract fresh new talent for your practice.  Providing a mentoring environment is important to help draw young professional, allowing them to learn and grow with the help of your expertise.  Remember, you have someone else’s retirement plan to work on – your own!  “The average advisor at age 50 is going to start thinking about his or her own retirement and will need a successor in place. Ideally, that advisor wants to transfer the business to an advisor he’s trained himself and who knows and understands the client base.”

—–

If you are a new advisor, or looking to improve your interview techniques,

and financial planning processes, check out our free planner guides.

Click the image below to download now!