those were the account openers and cold callers...the brokers which had 10 account openers under them were making 10 calls a day and making 300k a month gross and they were 23-30 years old...im just refering to a poster which made a reference to needing special skills....they made closers out of you using the "boxing in" technique....to bad they closed shop and some got slapped with the RICO act.... :eek: my point isnt how or why or when...my point is I closed tons of people on a cold call from hard work and not so much skill....peace
the failure rate is high, but on par with traders and any other small businesses. sure it's hard, but once you get the first 10-15 years under your belt and start working off referrals, it's easy sailing and you can have a great lifestyle through your golden years. most of the older financial advisors work half days, with many having another team member to help. plus, some of the characterizations of financial advisors on here are a little unfair. the majority of the public doesn't even know where to start when it comes to the stock market, nor have the time or desire to learn. they devote their time to their career, their family, and their businesses. good financial advisors add value in ways other than simply finding good mutal funds and stocks, such as comparing college saving plans, whether to use HSAs, screening alternative investments, tax efficient planning, etc.
Cash - you are telemarketing at the beginning to grow your book. Once your book is established, it's actually not a bad gig at all. The saying we had when I was at the firm was - you are grossly underpaid your first 1-2 years and grossly overpaid later. (the thing we left out was that assuming you are still here after 2 years... )
Stock Brokers, Investment advisors, Financial planners, etc... are all titles built to hide the term: "Salesman" to paraphrase Brian Tracy. Any form of self employment allows you to make good money. Sales just happens to be one of the few where you don't need any capital or experience to get started. I would stick with trading over any stockbroker type positions. The non group customers of today are a pain in the rear. They want to be self actualizing, they want to invest only with seasoned pros who don't accept people of their income level as clients, they assume anyone cold calling is a scammer, they make appointments just to get you off the phone and don't show up, ad nauseam ad infinitum.... As well, you can't advise your client properly unless you can offer products from other companies, and related industries, so you're back to starting your own bluishness again, which of course you need capital, experience, and clients to do. Sales is a great business for some. If you make it to the top 20% your good, and you will probably never have to worry about money again. Of course not everyone can be a Joe Gerard or Zig Ziglar.