What does it take to be a successful financial advisor?
Question:
Answer:
Largely this depends on what you mean by successful and the type of financial adviser you will be. If you are working for a retail outlet that pays you on commission for selling their product then the measure of success will be how much product do you move. If you are going to be an independent financial adviser working for a flat fee the measure of success will be you ability to attract and retain customers who will get referrals for you. The latter will depend much more on the quality of the advise you give and the former will rely more heavily on your salesmanship although both are true to some extent for both types of advisers.
Then of course there is the registered investment adviser which is much more involved, requires passing certain certifying exams and may be regulated by the SEC depending on the nature of the firm for which you work. In that capacity having a vast or highly specialized knowledge of securities/trading and the ability to consistently match or surpass a benchmark index with investment strategies that you develop and implement will be the measure of success.
determination
lots of contacts
determination
willingness to work eveings and weekends when people with day jobs have the time to sit down with you to discuss their finances
a stake to carry you over until your royalties start to roll in
My brother-in-law had a pretty successful financial planning operation going, it took him about 8 months to start seeing earnings and about 3 years to really start earning a good living
the real thing that matters is finding the clients. once there, knowing your stuff. you NEVER want to be asked a question and have to respond, "I'll get back to you on that one." leaves little faith with the clients and they will certainly not want to trust their money to you. It's sales, but be honest as possible. It's other peoples money and all are skeptical about those who handle their money. build trust and constantly keep educating yourself.
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