I was a broker back in 1996 and it really sucked cold calling to sell crap that no one wanted or had a need for.Nowadays,it must be really tough with online discount brokers and their 1 cent per share commissions and the do not call list.
Just like anything worth while those who put their nose to the grindstone and work at it, have the right personality, and a bit of good fortune and luck can do wonderfully well. That;s assuming you call low six figures to the mid/high six figures doing well, as I would call it. Build a good book for yourself, keep your existing clients happy and you get more and more referrals for new business. Remember that the active/aggressive traders who frequent this message board are by far a tiny minority in the financial world. The vast majority of wealth is in the hands of more conservative types who rely on the full service they demand from their client/broker relationship.
zero personal risk? wait till the firm gets busted for selling some shitbox deal and they make the brokers the fall guys. watched Shearson do this to a guy a few years ago, before I stopped paying attention to such things (it goes on all the time). That's Shearson, for the guy who thinks that there's such a thing as a firm that does right by its clients all the time.
actually my brothers a broker and has been for 14 years. commissions on 1 k ibm are stil $1000. 90% of brokers now do all managed money annuties and mutual funds. much like an insurance man. the market has to be in a 90's buill market to really trade stocks with those commissions