Career Information for Becoming a Financial Advisor

Career Information for Becoming a Financial Advisor Becoming a financial advisor can lead to a rewarding and life-long career path for individuals who are savvy with money-handling skills and who understand how to budget and invest money. Financial advisors play a key role in the lives of many people by helping families to create a financial plan that will sustain them, and also by helping businesses to achieve business goals.

Choose a Specific Career Path

“How much does a financial advisor make?” is a common question asked by people who are looking into becoming a financial advisor. Since there are many different fields and areas of interest that a professional financial advisor can pursue, it’s helpful to first do some research and collect as much career information for becoming a financial advisor as possible. From there, an individual who is considering a career in financial advising can establish what type of specific career path he or she wants to take, starting with deciding on classes and a focus of education to concentrate on while pursuing a degree.

People who are focusing on a career of helping individuals and families to establish a solid financial plan and to become financially independent will want to focus on sociology classes combined with consumer science, family budgeting, and estate management courses. Tax planning and advanced financial planning courses will also be beneficial and will help a person to become prepared to effectively counsel and advise families to become financially independent and stable.

Business Financial Advising

Business financial advising is a competitive field and typically requires a minimum of a Master’s degree in Business Finance, International Finance, Corporate Finance, or another closely related field in order for a person to be considered eligible to be hired by a large company. Investment policies, business law, ethics, and advanced risk management courses will prepare a student to become a successful business financial advisor.

Financial Planning Job Duties

If you are wondering what specific types of duties you will have as a financial planner, the specific duties will often be dependent upon what type of finance you are concentrating on. If a person is working with individuals and families, teaching these people about tax preparation, how to create a budget, and how to save for retirement and college funds will generally be a big part of your job duties. If you are working in business finance, job duties often center on tax preparation and planning, creating financial goals for a business and then establishing a business plan to achieve them. Business evaluations, profit and margin recording, and assessing investment risks are other common duties you will have as a business financial planner.

Income Potential and Job Demand for Financial Planners

Financial planners can be self-employed and can offer freelance services, or they can also go to work for a small or large firm. Banks, manufacturing companies, retail corporations, and investment companies are common types of businesses that hire financial planners. Financial planners can make anywhere from $50,000 per year up to $180,000 annually, depending upon where the person works and what type of finance industry the person has chosen. How much a financial advisor makes is largely dependent upon the area of career focus the person chooses.

Related Article: How To Become A Financial Advisor