If any of you have thought of becoming a financial planner, then this article is for you! You will learn everything about the process of becoming a financial planner, the work environment, the salary, seeking higher education for a better future in the field, the risks involved in the job, what you should except when you retire and the benefits of being a financial planner.
A career in financial planning is about creating sincere connections, and helping people have a great financial status. Also, a financial planner can help individuals, as well as companies. The main purpose of a financial planner is to make a solid plan so that the clients are able to achieve their financial goals.
In general, financial planners examine the financial history (past and present) of the client's assets. After doing as such, they will be able to suggest some steps that the client needs to take in the future to meet their long-term financial goal. Also, financial planning is a collaborative job which means that the people professing this job have to meet with many specialists (attorneys, accountants, etc.) to make sure that the clients mapped out plan goes in concordance with other investments already made.
On a typical day, the financial planner must train his communication skills. He will start by discussing with his client. He will then elaborate questionnaires, and conduct various interviews in order to create the perfect detailed plan for the client. The plan that will be redacted for the client consist in a multitude of recommendations that the client can choose to follow or disregard. Throughout the day, the financial planner must always keep up to date with trends and statistics because it can effect all of his clients and their plans. At the end of the day, the financial planner must make sure that he creates a good and long-lasting bond with his clients because it can change the future of his career. In brief, planners typically spend most of their time, in descending order, advising clients on investment plans, retirement plans, tax plans, estate plans, and risk management.
Financial planners work in a variety of places. Financial planners will be working for banks, mutual fund companies, or investment firms. Ten years out, the financial planner can work a major investment firms and work in the management of these firms. The advantages of this is that financial planners that were able to keep many clients satisfied with their work, and that were able to keep a good track record, they will see themselves earning a six-figure income.
Any person can become a financial planner by earning a bachelor's degree in any discipline. However, it is always better to have a bachelor's degree in any disciple related to science or business. Some financial planners decide to become certified by the Certified Financial Planners (CFP) board because most clients believe that they can only trust people with higher education and certification.
These past recent years there has been an increase in the financial planning profession by banks, brokerage houses, and mutual funds. In fact, people and companies (especially small businesses) seek more and more for financial plans in order to keep up with this financial boom. In the past five years, financial planners have managed over $282 billion worth of assets. This is great news to people that are interested in the financial planning industry. The highest salaries can reach up to $200, 000 and more.
As I mentioned earlier, to stay up-to-date, most financial planners choose to become certified by the Certified Financial Planners (CFP) Board. "The CFP Board is an independent professional organization that extends licenses to those planners who pass the CFP certification examination". The financial planners that are certified have a bachelor's degree, three years of financial planning-related experience, and completed several courses in financial planning. Also, the financial planner has to carefully watch the market for trends.
Being a financial planner isn't easy for the following reasons: it is stressful, research-heavy, hard to gain trust of clients, uncomfortable for clients at times when they feel like the plan isn't solid, etc.
There is 45% chance that it can happen, but it is very less likely. In fact, the market for trends are unpredictable and in constant evolution, and it requires insight from an educated human to understand how to deal with that. Robots will struggle, whereas humans have this ability to overcome and adapt.
The average retirement age is at 65 years old. After this financial planning experience, you will have gained good interpersonal skills, a good track record, great communication skills and a lump sum of money for your retirement. Also, I would have established great client-planner relationships, and I would be glad that I made some people and some companies to have a better life financially speaking. If I decide not to be certified by the CFP, I would definitely regret because I know that I would've passed up plenty of beautiful opportunities to better more people's lives.
As you can see, becoming a financial planner isn't easy. You will always have to keep up to date with trends and maintain great relationships with clients and their other advisors. However, you will get to improve many of people's financial status, and you will get a six figure salary. It just demands effort, hard work, and motivation.
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