Financial Advisor Career Guide and Counseling

Question: Financial advisor? What does anybody know about being a financial advisor or planner? do you have to get a degree for it or is there just a class for it specificaly?

Answer: You are asking a very general question. It is as simple as getting the proper license (your state's Department of Insurance). Then there are specialized trainings that will give you the letters after your name to make you more important. You can sell products or be a fee consultant.

Question: Does financial advisor positions being offered has time flexibility on when I could start working? What I mean is that, in any financial companies like AXA financial or Metlife, if they offer you the job as a financial advisor, is it possible to negotiate with them about my starting date? For example, if they offer me a job right now, will they accept if I could start on a specific date like weeks or a month from now for some important reasons I will tell them?

Answer: yes. negotiations for the joining date can be done on some personal grounds.

Question: What are the top financial advisor firms to work for in South Florida? I am a recent college grad lookin to work for a financial advisor firm. I live in Ft laduerdale and i need a firm that will be able to start me off with a small base salary.

Answer: Morgan Stanley , UBS, Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney, Raymond James, research these, some may have base for awhile and then go straight comm. hope this helps a little.

Question: What is is the average fee paid to a financial advisor? we are interviewing financial advisors to help us invest about 250k in mostly cash some stocks/mutual funds. what is a reasonable fee to expect to be charged on an account of this small size by a fee-only financial advisor? is it worth it?

Answer: Let me give you some advice, that i believe will prove useful. First off, insist that the financial advisor give you several different options for your money. They love to put their clients into mutual funds because that is where they make their highest commissions. The truth is, about 75% of all mutual funds under perform the market. All of them have management fees and some have sales loads. They just aren't that good of an investment vehicle anymore. In my opinion. I would look at DRIP Plans (which I personally love) instead of mutual funds. Or look at ETF's, which are basically the same thing as mutual funds, except with lower overall average fees. Just insist that they give you many options, and pay attention to how strong he pushes you toward mutual funds. Best of Luck

Question: Can you be a financial advisor without cold calling? I'm very interested in financial advising, but I don't want to have to hassle and annoy people to get clients. Is there any way to be a financial advisor but not have to build a client base from the ground up?

Answer: you could buy existing clientele from a retiring advisor. Contact advisors in your area and see if you can shadow them or assist them and then their clients will become familiar with you if you take over.

Question: How do I choose a financial advisor? I will soon be getting a fairly large inheritence from the death of a relative. I'm in my mid twenties, still have two years of college left, so I'll need to get a financial advisor but I've heard of a lot of advisors ripping people off or not working for their best interest. How do I choose a reliable one?

Answer: Make yourself into one. That is the best advisor you will ever get. Take and put the money into liquid funds at Schwab or Fidelity. Then invest it as you learn how. Small amounts at a time. Liquid funds at these brokerages pay 4.92 Yield on money market (5.03 APY) and on Yield Plus the yield on that is 5.68% and an APY of 5.88 Dont let the banks or the Merril Lynch's steal from you.

Question: What can a person expect from a financial advisor? I am considering employing the services of a Financial Advisor. What exactly do they do? Are they helping you budget? Improve your credit? Invest your dollars? What can I expect, as I need to make sure I get my money's worth! Thanks!

Answer: The essence of Personal Financial Advising So the answer you are looking for as you read this is "What specifically is http://personal-financial-advising.blogs… This term means different things to different individuals and I'm here to inform you about what Personal Financial Advising is and how it can help you on your way to personal financial freedom. The NAPFA defines Personal Financial Advising as situation where industry professionals help people to manage their money for both the the near future and long term by helping them in deciding which stocks, bonds, and mutual funds to invest in. This is an excellent definition of Personal Financial Advising in general terms but does explain everything. Personal Financial Advising is needed when someone needs assistance in managing their money but does not have the time, knowledge, or resources to do it in the most effective way. When this happens a Personal Financial Advisor is needed. The goal of a Personal Financial Advisor is to help their customers in attaining all of their financial goals. A Personal Financial Advisor should be involved in all areas of a customers financial situation beyond their day-to-day situations. In doing this one might be involved in helping customers invest for retirement, invest for a childs college, make the proper general investment choices, or even help with home loans (mortgages) or car loan advice. When people uses a Personal Financial Advisor there is often a charge associated with the use of services. Often times though the charge is greatly outweighed by the financial gains one sees from the advice they receive. In the end Personal Financial Advisors is just as they seem. They are simply advisors who give clients advice on how they should handle their finance so that their money works for them instead of them working forever because they don't have any money. When it comes down to it, it is ultimately the individuals decision on how they want their money to be handled. Personal Financial Advising is a great tool for anyone who wants to experience financial freedom but does not have the knowledge, time, or resources to do it on their own. I hope this article has at least give you an idea of what Personal Financial Advising is. This article was very brief on the topic of Personal Financial Advising and a book could most certainly be written to explain it in full detail. If you have any questions about what Personal Financial Advising please feel free to visit my newly started blog regarding it. I plan to post information about it, including advice, every couple days. http://personal-financial-advising.blogs…

Question: How can I start my career in Financial Advisor ? Hi. I am currently a Finance student seeking a future job as a Financial Advisor. I am still in school but would like to start building my experience in the Finance industry. Where can I start (entry level positions)? Any advise would be helpful. Thanks!!

Answer: find a securities firm that will back help you become licensed... then study and pass your series 7 license... thne find 20 million dollars of other peoples money to invest and be paid 1% per year to manage it while dealing with everyone hind sight and second guessing as other brokers actively recruit your clients and you sit on the phone cold calling people and asking them to give you money to invest.... find another 10 million from strangers and get paid 1% of that each year also..only keep 1/3 of what the client pays..if that... then get layed off for not producing enough comissions and have the company that hired you bad mouth you and try to keep all of the clients your recruited... get hired by another firm... have your income cut by 75% .. start cold calling rinse and repeat... then become a mortgage broker at the peak of the re-fi market...

Question: What is a typical commision for a financial advisor? I'm looking to invest my money. Seeing as I have no idea where to start i'm looking for a financial advisor. What could I expect to pay as far as commissions go?

Answer: That depends. There are financial managers who are paid commission on what they sell, and there are those who charge an hourly fee to discuss the issues, draw up the plan, and suggest some places to go or people to see -- otherwise leaving it to you to get others to fill the orders. Then again, some sell the stuff themselves, but since they are fee-based, and no commission charge on the product (like insurance or annuities) they ought to be proud to point out the improved interest, reduced load, etc. that you save by getting the financial product without a commission. Most of these are glorified insurance salesmen, but some of the really good ones are very much more. Back when I was in the business, the fee was a sliding scale and ran from $50 to $150 an hour (usually two-hours, an hour to talk and an hour to get that colossally slow early generation computer and dot matrix (or daisy wheel) printer to spit out the proposal. The guys with the initials behind their names, like chartered financial -- this or that, they will charge extra and get you a spiffier set of proposals (likely with glossy pictures). If you are charged more than $250, then they darned sure better have something solid and good.

Question: How does a new financial advisor build a client base? What are the different ways that a financial advisor builds a client base?

Answer: if you are starting out alone, its tough to do unless you have some good education and experience to back it up i suggest you talk to your friends and family.. network through them and so you can get in contact with their friends etc. its going to be lot of sales call process in the beginning