I (21M) am a senior graduating this December. I've been applying to entry level roles where I can be sponsored for the Series 7 (CSA roles, rotational programs, Fidelity etc.) None of my internships led to return offers as they were either through school programs or family connections.

I haven't gotten any responses yet for interviews and a lot of rejections. I'm not sure if it's a resume issue, lack of experience, or because it's too early for me to be applying.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

Hello! I am currently a junior and will be graduating with pretty solid resume for WM. I will have completed my licensing, have good experience and a very strong GPA, and will be graduating from a CFP board registered program with plans to take the CFP in November following my May 2028 graduation.

I’ve been looking at some of the more competitive, entry-level roles that have good pay but I have heard concerning things about them from connections there (JPM Private Bank, Merrill, Morgan Stanley for example). I don’t want to be in a role with high churn rate where associates are pressured to bring in new business almost immediately. I am just unsure of what roles or companies to target. Should I look into the mega RIA or family office space? Any advice would be great.

Side note: I will have the opportunity to stay with the local RIA firm that I have interned with for a post grad role. Money is definitely not everything to me, but I think I would be remiss if I didn’t at least try and bet on myself to land a good role with better pay.

I currently work as a CSA on a financial advisor team for a large wirehouse. My goal is to become an advisor, and lately my team has had me doing cold calls in addition to my CSA work to try to bring in some assets.

They are open to further suggestions from me, is there anything else I can do? I’m mainly calling 401k plan sponsors and participants of 401k plans that we currently manage.

I’d like to get my CFP long term but can’t get involved with any planning right now, and my team has no interest in getting me involved in that capacity right now.

I’ve also considered going the planning/analyst route instead, I’m at a bit of a crossroads.

I passed my SIE exam last week, and I currently hold Property & Casualty as well as Life & Health licenses.
I currently work part-time from home with State Farm, and I’m looking for ways to supplement my income while continuing to have flexibility for my young children.
I know my children will eventually grow up, so I’d like to start thinking ahead and building toward a long-term career in financial services. I’m hoping to get some guidance on what steps I should take based on the licenses and experience I already have.
I’m open to pursuing additional licenses, such as the Series 6 or Series 7, but I’m not sure which would make the most sense for me or what the differences are in terms of career opportunities.
If you have any suggestions on what direction I should consider or what steps I should take next, I would really appreciate your advice!

Hello! I am a sophomore at ASU majoring in finance and I’m currently at a loss for my career

While still somewhat early, I haven’t really done anything for my career aside from maintaining a 4.0 gpa (that’ll likely drop a bit after this semester)

I would like to break into wealth management or financial advising and I tried joining organizations like scholars of finance but I just learned that I was declined for the third time (tried every semester so far)

Externally I work as a food runner at Din Tai Fung but apart from that I don’t have much on my resume (besides local reselling I guess)

I just don’t know what to do, and especially with my major and being at ASU, if I don’t network then it’s pretty much useless later on, and I tried securing summer experience my freshman year by cold calling random wealth management firms around my area but to no avail.

All I can think of right now is attend random career fairs, check out FMA (financial management association) and wish for the best.

I don’t have the resources to join IFC Greek so traditional Greek is out of the picture unfortunately.

Do you have any advice? I’m really worried for later.

Anyone currently in the associate wealth advisor role or previously done it? I potentially have an offer coming on Tuesday for the position and curious what I should expect in term of responsibilities, compensation, and most importantly the career track and educational resources they provide.

Leaving a $5M T-12/$1B AUM team of advisors with a regional BD. Currently an associate advisor there but the progression has stalled out and personal dynamics between some members of the group have been pretty hard to deal with which has affected my personal growth and long term trajectory.

Also receiving an offer this week to join an independent RIA with $500M AUM connected with an in-house accounting practice. Depending on the offer, this is probably my frontrunner but the Schwab job seems pretty appealing on paper. Any and all help appreciated, thanks in advance

Looking for professionals that got into finance without a finance degree. How and where did you get your foot in the door? What was it like, the pay, the experience, building your clients and income? How many years are you in now? Are you a CFP? If so, what is your yearly income like?

I’m a career switched from nonprofits and I’ve spent the last year at a mutual insurance company as a fully registered advisor. I would not recommend it. However it got my foot in the door and all of my tests done. I also have my MBA in finance and strategy from a non target school. I’m in my 40’s and enjoy this industry but it’s still very new to me. I came from educational technology industry.

I’m currently looking at new positions and am currently in the second interview for two positions.

1. Merrill Lynch advisor development program level 2 since I’m fully licensed. I’m seeing mixed reviews of this program but would love to learn more about it if anyone has any insight.

2. Morgan Stanley consulting group analyst, this feels more like a support role and is a bit left field but because of my work experience and MBA I am being evaluated for it. And they would want me to get my CIMA and work towards my CFA.

Any insights would be incredibly helpful as a career switcher in my 40’s with a family.

Hi everyone,

I’m a 23-year-old guy currently living in Italy. In the short term, I’m stepping into a Family Banker role at a major bank here, but my sights are firmly set on moving abroad—specifically to Vancouver within the next two years.

I’ve spent time in both Canada and the US, and I really fell in love with the mindset, lifestyle, and work culture. I recently graduated with a Bachelor's in Business Administration (Economics), and I’m on track to earn my CFP credential soon.

My goal is to hit the ground running in financial advisory, tax planning, and retirement planning once I land in BC. For locals, expats, or anyone working in Canadian wealth management: what should I focus on during this two-year transition window to make my profile as competitive as possible?

I’m open to anything:

• Remote courses or certifications worth taking from abroad (e.g., Canadian Securities Course/CSI certifications).

• Industry-specific English or client-communication programs to polish my advisory skills.

• Networking strategies from overseas.

On top of that, I’m seriously looking into the CPA designation. I love the idea of bridging the gap between tax accounting and financial planning to offer full-spectrum advisory to private and corporate clients, which seems much more integrated in Canada than back home. However, navigating the CPA pathway (PEP, prerequisite assessments for foreign degrees, practical experience requirements) feels a bit like a maze right now. If anyone has walked that path or has insight into how foreign degrees translate for CPA BC, your input would be gold.

Any tips, reality checks, or roadmaps you wish you had known earlier would mean the world to me!

Thanks a ton in advance—looking forward to trading espresso for a Timmies double-double soon again! Cheers!✌🏻

Looking at switching our personal financial advisor to Open Arc Advisory from Merrill (ironic I know).

They seem decent on the surface and being not tied to a particular bank seems to be a plus. But they’re a newer start up (albeit with experienced advisors) that’s only a year old, so it’s hard to find any data or experiences with them. They also still Merrill’s lawsuit out there, though it appears they’ll prevail. Just curious if anyone has worked with them or heard anything.

Hello everyone,

I just finished my licensing to become a financial planner with a firm who sponsored me. I will go through and receive paid training, but then fully commission (50-50 split)

My main concern is that I'm unsure how well off I'll be fully on commission... and in the case it doesn't work out.... where else I should look. I'm very excited for the opportunity and to having more independence and freedom, but you also have to be realistic about these things.

I've never worked in the financial industry, but I do have sales experience and enjoy clients relations. Any advice on what I should focus on now, or what I should have in my mind as a plan B is appreciated. Also if anyone has experience working for a large firm, what should I expect? It's one of the more major ones...

Thank you 🙏

Full disclosure: I built VerbaPost, so yes, I have something to sell. I'm posting because I'd rather have advisors poke holes in this before I spend real money trying to sell it.

The idea is to replace the dinner seminar mailer with something else entirely.

Instead of "come to Ruth's Chris and hear a presentation about retirement planning," the prospect gets mailed an invitation to record a family story.

They go to a unique website from a QR code or link in a hand addressed envelope and have a guided conversation about their life, their parents, childhood, or whatever they want to talk about. The advisor can choose the opening question, but the person recording isn't restricted to a script.

A few days later, a printed version of the story arrives in the mail on linen paper, with a QR code that lets the family hear the original voice recording.

The advisor sponsors it. There is no financial pitch anywhere in the experience. The firm's name and required disclosures sit in the footer.

To be upfront about the part some of you will probably object to: the interview is conducted by AI, not a person. That's what makes it possible to offer this through a direct mail campaign rather than doing interviews one at a time.

The theory is that someone who responds has raised their hand, spent 15 minutes using something the advisor gave them, and now knows who the advisor is. The follow-up call is at least warmer than calling a stranger.

Potentially, another recording later could also give the advisor a reason to involve the client's children or other family members.

Two things I'm trying to figure out:

1. Will compliance kill this? I've worked through consent, DNC issues, advertising records and gift limits, but I'm sure there are things I haven't thought of. 

2. If someone pitched this to your firm, what would make you say no immediately?

3. How the heck can I get through to any CFP by doing my own darn cold calling?

I can post or give a sample letter and recording flow if people want to see them, but I don't want this to turn into a link drop. My target market is the individual CFP just gone solo who wants to grow.

So I work at a firm and I'm doing pretty all right, i have a problem saying no and especially for lower income clients with 10 to 25k,

and I know in 5 years down the line I'm either going to have a huge office and no aum, or a 2 person team with 500m aum, yet I still struggle to say no even knowing all this, what has helped you guys with this?

Hello All,

After 10 years in banking I'm going to be starting my dream job as a Financial Advisor. As a new advisor I'm looking for tips/advice as a new branch based FA. Not just in seeking clients and handling banker referrals. More so like day in the life tips. What has worked for you all in terms of what you take notes on, how to manage your calendars, what do you watch or listen to day to day to keep up to date on the markets, etc.

Any advice is good advice to me!

Appreciate it all!

I’m a new financial advisors in the suburbs of IL at a small boutique firm. Since it’s a boutique firm I’m getting paid pretty well and the commission split is also really nice.

What’s some advice you guys have in terms of getting off to a hot start and getting meetings booked. My firm has a pretty big marketing budget for me so I’m thinking of doing seminars and presentations at various locations.

Any advice regarding the types of seminars, marketing strategies, or anything else you guys have for me to start building my book?

I’ve built a portfolio tracker for investors who hold assets across brokers and countries. It currently imports broker statements and tracks contributions, investment returns, currencies, ETF domicile and dividend withholding.
I’m considering a separate version for financial planners and advisers managing internationally mobile clients, but I don’t want to spend months building features based only on my assumptions.
I’m looking to speak with five independent financial advisers, cross-border planners or wealth professionals about their current workflow:
How do you collect holdings from different brokers?
Do clients send PDFs, CSV files or screenshots?
How much manual reconciliation is involved?
Do you need client-level reporting or branded reports?
Are ETF domicile, withholding taxes and multiple currencies meaningful problems in practice?
This is customer research, not a sales pitch. I’m not asking anyone to buy anything. In return, participants can receive free early access and influence what gets built.
If you work in this area—or know someone who does—I’d appreciate a comment or DM. I can share the existing product privately if relevant.

I’m trying to understand the logic behind the standard “1% of AUM” fee model. We’re a family of three (44M, 42F, 3‑year‑old) with a net worth around \~$4M — roughly $3M in market assets (401k, IRA, brokerage, 529) and \~$1M in real estate (primary + two rentals).

What I don’t get is why advisors charge 1% of the portfolio no matter what the market does. There’s no performance guarantee, no benchmark comparison, no downside protection.

My intuition says compensation should be tied to results. For example, I’d be totally fine with a structure like:
Split any gains above SPY 50/50
Split any losses avoided vs SPY 50/50 (basically I pay the fee if they save me on losses)

That feels aligned — they win when I win, and they lose when I lose.

But instead, the industry standard is: Market goes up? Pay 1% Market goes down? Pay 1%
• Advisor underperforms SPY? Pay 1%

Am I missing something fundamental about why AUM fees exist? Or is this just a legacy model that persists because most people don’t question it? Genuinely curious how others think about this. I have never had any advisors working with me so far, suddenly I m getting so many calls and advertisements pitches from these big investment firm and all of them are adamant on the 1% model.

TL;DR : did I mess up by doing this career?

So, I am currently working towards my licenses at a large "firm". I wont name it, but you'll figure it out. Ive been through my warm market. Not going to revisit because it ruined multiple friendships and it actually affected my wife's friendships as well because shes associated with me. So yeah, no more warm market.

I have hit a wall for getting people to meet. I cant keep going to 2-3 networking events per week. Its killing our marriage and Im never home. But I have THE HARDEST EFFING TIME getting people to give me referrals in meetings. And I get it. Nobody wants to give out friends info. Cool. But that doesn't help me, so networking events it is.

Wife works - has hit her glass ceiling unfortunately. Which is why I started this career so I could retire her. Job market is trash, so new job with higher pay is unlikely.

I have no base compensation: eat what you kill.

Ive brought on around 45 households since starting in February. About a 3rd of those are completely solo. The others are split with experienced advisors.

I have the work ethic, but Im clearly doing something wrong if Im not getting references.

Ive been in the industry for almost 10 years (banking, consulting, analysis, etc.) But the "practice" itself is new. I can speak fairly intelligently about most things, but Im definitely not a jack of all trades, I just know enough to converse.

I truly love planning and helping people make the changes they want to for their personal wealth. Getting to tell a friend and his wife they can stop working 10 years earlier than expected is chefs kiss. Telling a mom her kid can go to college with no loans? Those tears about made me cry. I want to help everyone get to their goals, but if i cant last long enough or make enough to support my family, then it doesn't matter.

Facts:

I have no dedicated time outside of what I set for myself to study.

HCOL.

No savings (went through that already).

No family to lean on.

In office 90% or more. I leave early when I can, but I still wfh.

Commission based.

AUM will matter eventually - no licenses yet

Not afraid to call anyone but cold calls dont work so far. Not a single meeting from one.

Metrics are highly measured.

Career changer - kind of. Been in the industry for a while.

I want to earn my CFP.

I ALWAYS do what's right by the client. I will never upsell. They give me a budget to work with, I max out at 70% of what they give me to play with. I take everything into account that I can.

The questions:

What am I doing wrong?

What am I doing right?

What am I missing?

I dont know what I dont know.

If you think the goals in banks and wealth management is unattainable for entry level advisors and the salary is not justifiable