1

RUNNING HEAD: FINANCIAL ADVISOR

Assessing a Career in Business

Assessing a Career in Business

As a financial advisor you meet with clients to help them through their finances. Many

financial advisors sit down one-on-one with their clients to make budgets, decide where to invest

their money, and places they can lower spending to increase money that can go into savings. A

financial advisor may also oversee placing their client’s funds in certain investments, meeting

with their client regularly to discuss what is happening with their investments. A financial

advisor is a verily new job as it didn’t really exist several decades ago. (Financial, 2019)

Job Description

“A financial advisor is an individual or an entity who is entrusted with the task of providing

advice or counsel in order to aid the process of investment and asset management.” (Iyer, 2018)

Financial advisors help their clients find the best way to invest and budget their money. They are

always watching their client’s investments to ensure they have put their money in the right place

and meet with their clients regularly to discuss investments and finances. A financial advisor

may also sit down face-to-face with their clients to create a monthly or annual budget for their

personal finances. When a financial advisor is putting together a client’s budget, they must assess

the client’s situation and circumstances to ensure they put together a budget that will work for

them in the long run and is easy for the client to stick to. The financial advisor must also build a

strong and trusting relationship with their client since they are handling the client’s personal

finances.

General Career Path

Becoming a financial advisor is not always easy, there is a lot to know about how to make the

best decision for your clients and their finances. All client’s stories and backgrounds are going to
 3
FINANCIAL ADVISOR

be different, as a financial advisor your client is going to trust that you will make the best

decision for them and their lifestyle. “Becoming a financial advisor requires a hefty amount of

education, testing, and experience.” (Kolakowski, 2018) If you push through the path it takes to

become a financial advisor it will pay off in the end, giving you many different opportunities and

experiences for advancement in your personal career. If you are interested in making a different

in others lives and enjoy building lifelong relationships a financial advisor may be the career for

you.

General Education Experience

Most financial advisors have a bachelor’s degree in finance, economics, statistics, or another

finance-related field. (Kolakowski, 2018) It is not required but it does give you a better

advantage when fighting for a job if you have a graduate’s degree or a master’s in business

administration. Students put in about 270 hours of study time to pass the exams, including the

series 7 and 66. (Avenue, 2018) If you are interested in becoming a financial advisor it may be

beneficial to investigate firms with entry level jobs available. Some firms provide different

resources or even paid training programs and classes that will help build the ladder in your

career. Financial advisors have the choice to obtain a Certified Financial Planner (CFP),

Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), or Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) certifications,

they may get one or all three, but they are not required. The CFA certification is the most valued

certification, but it is also the hardest to get, taking about four years to earn, which involves

passing three exams that require more than 300 hours of study time each. (Kolakowski, 2018)

“Exams to become a financial advisor are not cheap.” (Despain, 2019) The Series 7 fee is $305;

the 66 is $155; CFP exam is $595; training, materials, and classes can cost up to an extra $400

on top of the exams. (Avenue, 2018)

Average Salary

In May 2018. The median annual wage for personal financial advisors was $88,890.

(Summary, 2019) As a financial advisor you can work for a financial services firm, financial

investment firm or financial planning firms, depending on what kind of firm you work for

determines how you will get paid. Most financial services firms pay based on salary plus bonuses

and financial investment firms or financial planning firms usually make their profit off charging

a percentage of the client’s assets that they are managing. (Summary, 2019) The 10% annual

salary for financial advisors is around $208,000 and the bottom 10% annual salary is around

$40,800. (Kolakowski, 2018)

Career Outlook

Since becoming a financial advisor is not an easy task they are very highly looked upon.

Financial advisors job satisfaction rated by upward mobility, stress level and flexibility are all

ranged average or above average. The job has low stress level, good work-life balance, ability to

advance with higher promotion and higher salary. (Financial, 2019) “According to the U.S.

Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth for financial advisors is projected to be about 15 percent

for the decade ending in 2026… The expected growth is due largely to an increase in personal

retirement accounts and decrease in traditional pension funds.” (McKay, 2019) Most financial

advisors work normal business hours, Monday-Friday 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. There may be a few

occasions where they are required to work nights, weekends, and holidays but it is not likely.

Financial advisors also can work from home if needed. (Despain, 2019)

Dave Ramsey
 5
FINANCIAL ADVISOR

By the time Dave Ramsey was 26 years old he had a net worth of over a million dollars,

making $250,000 a year. (Dave, 2019) After getting in a lot of debt with his wife, Sharon, they

got to a point where they couldn’t afford their payments anymore and they lost everything.

Losing everything him and his family had really opened his eyes into the financial world. “I went

on a quest to find out how money really works, how I could take control of it, and how I could

have confidence in handling it.” (Dave, 2019) After a little bit of research a looking into the

questions he had he found out that everything came back to him. He was the one that was in

control of his money and he oversaw his own money problems. In 1992 Dave formed Ramsey

Solutions to counsel folks, like him, that were hurting from financial stress. He hoped to help

those that were in his shoes or possibly save people from getting to rock bottom like him and his

family experienced. Dave is now helping others get out of financial stress and budget their

money to keep from getting into debt. “…At Ramsey Solutions we defined our success by the

number of lives changed: listeners getting out of debt, readers taking their first Baby Step and

saving $1,000…We learned early on that if we help enough people, the money will come.”

(Dave, 2019)

Pros and Cons

Even though financial advisors make a decent amount of money there are many other pros

that come along with the job including: the opportunity to help others out of financial stress,

offering meaningful advice, potential to advance in your career, flexible work schedule, and

many more. (Horton, 2019) Like every job there must be some cons, and this is true with

working as a financial advisor. Depending on who you are the pros may weigh out the cons but

there always seems to be a few things that come a long with a job that not everybody is happy

with. One of the biggest cons that comes with being a financial advisor is having to deal with all
 6
FINANCIAL ADVISOR

sorts of personalities. There is a chance that your client may complain about your work and you

must be able to brush it off and not let it affect the rest of your work. At times, the job may get

stressful and frustrating if you are just starting out. Becoming a financial advisor also takes a lot

of patience and determination since so much work and time is needed to get the degree and/or

certifications.

Conclusion

In conclusion, being a financial advisor is a very rewarding job, most days. “I really enjoy

being a financial advisor, I’m able to help others while learning new things every day. It is a very

rewarding job. I love that I’m able to help others get out of financial stress, or even teach them

how to avoid those issues from the beginning.” (Despain, 2019) If you are able to put the hard

work and time into going through the schooling and testing to become a financial advisor the

pros will outweigh the cons in the end and you will be able to enjoy a very rewarding job, with a

great income. Don’t let the amount of schooling scare you because in the end it will be all worth

it. (Despain, 2019) I feel like this job would be a good fit for me. I love running numbers,

dealing with money and interacting with others on top of all of that is just a plus. The amount of

school that is required for the career doesn’t scare me. It motivates me to do the best I can do. I

feel like I would be a great financial advisor, but I want to put more thought into to make sure it

is the route I want to go for sure.

Sources

Avenue, N. (2018, January 19). Second Career: Becoming A Financial Adviser. Retrieved April
14, 2019, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2018/01/19/second-career-becoming-a-
financial-adviser/#443ece131ecb

Dave's Story. (2019). Retrieved April 14, 2019, from https://www.daveramsey.com/careers/about-

Despain, J. (2019, April 12). Personal interview.

Financial Advisor Ranks Among Best Jobs of 2019. (2019). Retrieved April 14, 2019, from
https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/financial-advisor

Iyer, A. (2018, June 03). Financial Advisor Job Description - Duties and Responsibilities.
Retrieved April 15, 2019, from https://careerstint.com/financial-advisor-job-description

Kolakowski, M. (2018, October 17). How to Become a Financial Advisor. Retrieved April 14,
2019, from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/financial-advisor-career-paths-1286989

Horton, M. (2019, April 12). Financial Advisor Career: Pros and Cons. Retrieved April 14, 2019,
from https://www.investopedia.com/articles/professionals/080515/pros-cons-financial-advisor-
career.asp

McKay, D. R. (2019, March 26). Financial Advisor Job Description: Salary, Skills, & More.
Retrieved April 14, 2019, from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/financial-advisor-career-
information-526017

Summary. (2019, April 12). Retrieved April 14, 2019, from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-
and-financial/personal-financial-advisors.htm

Writers, S. (2014, February 04). Finance Degrees & Careers | How to Become a Financial
Advisor. Retrieved April 14, 2019, from https://www.learnhowtobecome.org/financial-advisor/