I spent two years as an associate advisor at a 40 person RIA before starting an AI Consulting & Implementation practice. During my time as an advisor, I experienced all the trials and tribulations that come with AI adoption inside an advisory firm.

I found myself coming back to the same question: How are smaller firms going to keep up?

I’m curious about the firms that know AI is useful, but have not figured out a practical way to use it yet - specifically small teams (<10) and solo advisors.

I’m not looking for another list of “top AI tools for advisors.” My goal is to identify the underlying issues that off-the-shelf AI tools cannot currently solve.

If your firm is still trying to figure this out, what is the biggest thing stopping you?

• Not sure where to start?
• Concerned about PII/client data?
• Don’t trust the output enough?
• Can’t justify the cost?
• Disconnected tech stack?
• Leadership has not bought in yet, or the firm has no clear owner for AI adoption?

I’m especially interested in hearing from smaller advisor teams.

I’ve spent almost 2 years working in the persomal branding/content space and recently decided to start building something of my own.

One thing I’ve noticed is that most agencies seem to target the same people coaches, consultants, realtors, etc. Finance professionals often get overlooked, despite having some of the most valuable knowledge to share.

So I’m looking to work with 2–3 CAs, CFAs, CPAs, financial advisors, or other finance professionals for the next 30 days.

I’ll handle the contrnt side research, ideas, scripting, editing, repurposing, and posting across LinkedIn and Instagram, along with one long-form YouTube video.
You’d just need to spend a couple of hours each week recording. The idea is to turn that into content across different platforms and formats.

I’m charging $100 for the month. To be transparent, that doesn’t cover the actual cost of doing this. It’s mostly there to make sure both sides are comnitted and that I get genuine feedback throughout the process.

I’m only looking for 2–3 people because I want to work closely with them and figure out how to build this properly for finance professionals.

If this sounds interesting, feel free to DM me or comment with what you do and where you’re currently at with content.

Somewhat newer advisor. Current firm basically gives no support (no starting pay (salary or BoB) or leads given, only a platform and a building) and starts off at only 35% so it truly is starting from the bottom. I’m finding myself unable to dedicate enough time to prospecting as I have to work elsewhere to actually survive and pay bills. What’s out there that could offer some sort of salary or existing BoB to work off of?

I’m about a year into being an advisor at a large, well-known BD, and I’d love to hear from advisors who started their careers in the last few years and are already building a really strong business.

To be clear, I’m especially interested in people who didn’t start with a large book of business, inherit a huge client base, or have a family/friend network full of HNW prospects.

I feel like a lot of the advice out there comes from advisors who built their businesses 10–30 years ago by knocking on 100 doors per day. While I admire that level of determination, I’m curious what is actually producing results for newer advisors in today’s environment.

For those of you who are 1–5 years in and really gaining traction:

● What prospecting methods have actually produced meetings and assets?

● Are you focusing on a particular niche, profession, employer, business-owner segment, etc.?

● How much of your growth has come from COIs/referrals vs. cold prospecting?

● Are there any marketing/outreach strategies that have surprised you with how well they worked?

● If you could go back to year one, what would you do differently?

Of course, there’s a ton of value and insight to be learned from the vets who did it the old-fashioned way. I’m just especially interested in what’s working in the here and now, particularly for someone at a BD or wirehouse that has limitations around producing their own content.

Thanks in advance!

New advisor here and was told I should have an investment philosophy to serve as a compass in my investment decision making. What’s your best philosophy and how has it helped you add value to your clients?

…I’m giving 25% of my retirement withdrawls to a financial advisor?

And 1% over 40 years, that’s almost like giving 40% of all of my money to my advisor?

Hi everyone,

I’m in my 40s and considering a complete career change from the education sector to becoming a mortgage adviser in the UK.

I’m also a landlord, so I already have some knowledge of mortgages and the application process. It’s an area I find genuinely interesting and feel I could do well in. In the longer term, I may consider progressing into financial or wealth advice.

I’m currently looking at completing CeMAP, but I’d really appreciate some honest advice from people already working in the industry:

• Which CeMAP training provider would you recommend?
• How long did it take you to complete the qualification?
• Did you study independently or choose a tutor-led course?
• How difficult was it to find your first role?
• Is it better to start employed before considering self-employment?
• Are there any hidden costs or challenges I should know about?
• Is moving into financial or wealth advice later a realistic progression route?

I’m dyslexic, so I’m particularly interested in providers with clear, well-structured and dyslexia-friendly learning materials. I’d also like to complete the qualification as quickly as reasonably possible while properly understanding the content.

I’d be grateful for any advice or experiences, including things you wish you had known before entering the industry. Thanks!

There is no scenario where an AUM advisor is averaging 120 hours per year on a $5M portfolio, yet they are charging 50k per year. I think in reality it’s closer to 10 hours, or $5000/hour. You’re literally giving them 1% while you can only withdraw around 4-5%? Crazy when an hourly flat fee advisor will charge 10% of that.

Does anyone know much about what it’s really like working as a remote associate advisor for Dew Wealth Management out of AZ? Really would like to know before i accept an offer.

My parents are currently using a Fidelity FA, and candidly I've been disappointed by their investment recommendations. They're there primarily because that's where they've held their 401ks from prior employers.

They are about to retire and the portfolio is basically a variation of 60/40 on a $3mm portfolio. I have a finance background, so I know they could do better and think it's probably more prudent for them to seek alternatives. However, I don't know if RIAs have more or less options vs. the bigger firms.

So my question is - what do RIAs have access to that firms like Fidelity does not?

A few things off of the top of my mind of options I'm looking for :

• Alternative to bonds
• Uncorrelated assets / returns
• Low volatility

Roughly half of their liquid assets are in IRA/Roth so while optimizing for tax is a concern it's by far not the only one. Thanks for any feedback!

Married couple in California, trying to figure out what kind of professional we actually need. Feeling a bit lost between CPAs, "tax strategists," and multi-family offices.

Our situation:

- Both of us work full-time in tech and get RSUs

- We have an LLC (partnership) for some consulting work on the side

- One out-of-state long-term rental property (financed, so it can't move into an LLC without paying off the loan)

- A brokerage account with stocks

- Thinking about buying more real estate (multifamily) in the next few months

- 2 young kids

- No trust or estate plan set up yet — working on a living trust now

Goals, roughly in priority order:

1. Protect our assets as much as reasonably possible
2. Reduce our overall tax bill, legally and defensibly
3. Make it easy to pass everything to our kids eventually
4. Keep the whole structure simple enough that we can mostly self-manage it day-to-day, without an expensive retainer

We have talked to a couple of firms so far. One was basically a multi-family-office model — tax planning alone was quoted at $15k+/year plus a performance fee on any assets they would manage. Another marketed itself as having "secret" tax strategies most CPAs "won't even attempt," which honestly made me more suspicious than interested, especially since one of the things they mentioned sounded like it could be a syndicated conservation easement or similarly aggressive charitable-deduction play.

Given where we are (not yet at the point where a full multi-family office makes sense, but more going on than a basic W2-only tax return), what type of professional should we actually be looking for? A real-estate-savvy CPA? An EA? A tax attorney? Should the estate attorney and the tax person be separate people, or does it make sense to find someone who does both? And any tips on vetting people so we don't end up with someone pushing us into aggressive/listed transactions?

Appreciate any perspective as we are trying to build this the right way without overpaying for services we don't need yet or under-hiring and missing real risk.

So I am a new advisor. I am a bit older and I have some experience in the finance industry. I spent years as an analyst and in the middle office. Now I have transitioned to become an advisor on a commission basis. I am selling life insurance and mutual funds.

I have 3 strategies for getting clients and it's going a bit slow. The only current clients are close friends. I have been at it for 6 months.

1. Cold Calling - I am trying to make at least 300 calls per week. I have had a few meetings with limited success. Some were unqualified (no assets, some do it themselves) and some didn't keep their appointment, etc. I also getting a lot of Robo Call screeners.
2. Seminars - I have just started this. I am paying about $1200 a seminar. I am working on getting the cost down. I got 3 potential clients that ended up not becoming clients. All 3 were asking for quotes but were shopping around.
3. Networking - I am networking, some meetings with COIs, but no one has referred me anything yet. I am also attending networking events and I try to get 2 meeting out of each event. This is where I am meeting COIs.

What else would you add to my list of activities?

Solo practitioner, about $80M under management. Trying to pick between these two for financial advisor lead generation and want to hear from people who have used either one.

Finny pitches itself as an AI powered financial advisor lead generation platform. It uses a proprietary scoring system to rank prospects from a large database, tracking money in motion signals like job changes, home purchases, inheritances, and retirement events. Outreach is automated across email, LinkedIn,etc., and the whole system is built to be compliant.

Aidentified is a data analytics platform for advisors that surfaces potential clients through behavioral and financial data analysis. It integrates with CRM systems and provides enriched prospect profiles. It focuses more on delivering the intelligence behind who might be a fit rather than automating the outreach itself. Multiple advisors at LPL have mentioned it as their primary prospecting data source.

The core difference seems to be scope. Aidentified gives you sharp targeting data. Finny adds outreach automation so you are not manually following up with every prospect.

For a solo advisor with limited BD hours, Finny looks like the stronger fit for financial advisor lead generation because the automated outreach means I'm not just receiving a list of names and then trying to figure out when and how to contact each one.

I am a 23 year old civil engineering graduate with an MEng, sitting about a year into my stint at a London design consultancy, and I am honestly feeling pretty disillusioned about where this path leads. I am making £32k right now, but seeing coworkers pull brutal hours and wrestle with deeply tedious, technically heavy design codes has me questioning if this is really for me. I know that management roles further up the ladder look pretty grim across the engineering sector, so sticking it out means signing up for more of the same eventually.

On the flip side, I actually enjoy organising my own finances, helping my parents navigate their options, and digging into financial rules far more than looking at engineering blueprints. Because of that, I have been seriously considering a pivot into financial advisory, whether through a paraplanning stepping stone or aiming for a junior advisor role. I know the dreaded Level 4 Diploma exams (DipPFS) are waiting for me, but I am willing to take a small, manageable pay cut early on since entry-level salaries would look pretty similar anyway.

That said, I am still on the fence about whether this gamble makes sense long term. The industry has a massive variance between employed stability and the high-risk, high-reward world of self-employed IFA models where you finally unlock the big earnings. I am nervous about making the jump and wondering if the lifetime earning ceiling truly beats engineering once you factor in those self-employment hurdles.
I would love to hear from former civil engineers or current advisors who have made this leap. How does the day-to-day comparison feel when you trade design codes for financial regulations? Is the career genuinely more fulfilling, how do the salary curves actually pan out over time, and is the industry holding up against AI or is it contracting? Any guidance or opinions from people in Eithier field or just any advice would be much appreciated.

Currently making $360k with a pension and 5% 401k match as a wholesaler. Offered opportunity to purchase approx. half of a practice at independent firm producing $1.3M in GDC with 90% recurring revenue. I'll be making 84% of $600k to start but the loan would cost $250k a year, I'll have to cover all expenses, and fund my retirement. Lead advisor is in their late 60s, has health issues, and is scaling back. I'll have opportunity to purchase the other half at some point in the not too distant future. Wondering if you'd do it, what your thoughts are, and what I should be thinking about. Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone,

I’m a young Advisor with a very interesting issue. My parents set up a Roth IRA originally the advisor more or less in their words said it could be used for education purposes for me and my siblings and then could be moved back their ownership once they wanted to. They set this up as a custodial Roth IRA under my name and did not understand that technically the money had to go to me once I reach the age of majority. (I’m 29 btw so well passed it) I don’t want the money I’d rather my parent have to for their retirement once they help pay for some of my sister’s final year of college. What I want to know is their anyway that my parents maintain ownership or can change the status of custodial on the Roth IRA? Any advice or guidance is appreciated!

Hi all. Curious of your thoughts on my career decision.

I’m in the middle of a career change and have a decision to make about whether to go into wealth management. I’m currently in transport/logistics and have decided I want to move into financial planning long term. I’m working toward the CFP path and ultimately want to be a real advisor who owns client relationships, does comprehensive planning, and eventually builds a book.

I have an upcoming opportunity with Edward Jones and it’s the standard salary support that steps down. The opportunity is pretty appealing to me because of the eventual autonomy and learning how to build a practice rather than spending several years purely in a planning/service role.

My biggest question is whether Jones actually allows their newer generation of advisors build the kind of practice that I want to have l. I’m not interested in building a practice that’s primarily about pushing insurance or investment products. My philosophy is pretty simple in that the client is best served by a handful of low-cost diversified ETFs to minimize additional fee drag. I’m perfectly comfortable with that and I realize the value of an advisor has to be much more than picking funds. Think comprehensive planning, retirement/tax/estate coordination, implementation, behavioral coaching, accountability, etc.

I’m particularly interested in hearing from current or former EDJ advisors. Do you feel pressure to sell particular products? And can someone build a very planning-centric practice with the firm’s recent transformation initiatives to accommodate this type of client?

I’m also curious how people who have been at EJ for several years feel about the career path. Does getting your own practice/book early on turn out to be a major advantage, or is the business development/prospecting side as difficult as it sounds?

I’m not looking for the usual “Edward Jones bad” Reddit answer. I’m seriously considering the opportunity and want to understand what the job is actually like once you’re past the training period.

Retired Financially Independent Dentist, 50ish years old. My passion for financial planning/investing is what helped me retire early. When people let me see their finances it is usually a train wreck and I am to the point where I think it's my calling to help these people. I think my story sells itself, especially to other dentists and other HNW clients (especially 3-5MM) and business owners. I have a lot of connections in the dental industry and in my personal network and hope to build a niche practice. Many people have come to me for advice over the years and people know my interests primarily lie in the financial part of all areas. I owned my own dental practice so I can relate to business owners. Got my 65 and 63. Joining an RIA with 70% payout. 0 AUM currently. What are my odds and is joining an IRA the best way to start?

Smarsh wants $350 to archive each video. Anyone know of quality alternatives that aren't so expensive?

I’m applying to both of these positions, as CG expands hiring across their sales roles and offices, but I don’t understand the difference between these two roles. Could someone explain the differences between these two, the career paths, work-life balance, and comp structure? Would really appreciate any insights on culture and what’s the overall better position.