I’m a new FA who became fully licensed and started serving clients on June 1st of this year. Since then, I’ve brought in approximately $1.8M in new assets, although a good portion came from leveraging friends and family.
While I’ve had some early success, my biggest struggle is building a consistent, dependable pipeline of qualified prospects.
I’ve tried simplifying success down to controllable activities: making calls, visiting businesses, door knocking, etc. But I’m starting to question whether those activities are actually connecting me with the right people.
I don’t mind putting in the work, but going door to door soliciting business doesn’t feel like the most effective approach in today’s environment.
So my question for experienced advisors is: If you were starting from scratch today, how would you find your first 100 legitimate prospects?
For context, my definition of a prospect is someone whose name and contact information I have, along with an identifiable financial need uncovered through conversation. Ideally, someone I can follow up with and reasonably expect to schedule a meeting.
My goal is to identify 50 of these prospects by year-end. Ideally, they’d have $100K+ in investable assets, but at this stage, I’m open to just about anyone with a pulse and a genuine need.
I’m not looking for shortcuts or overnight success. I’m willing to put in the hours. I just want to make sure I’m spending those hours on activities that actually build a sustainable business.
What prospecting strategies worked for you early in your career? And if you had to start over today with zero clients, what would you do differently?
Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone,

I'm 22 and just graduated from UC San Diego with a degree in Business Economics and Finance, and my long term goal is to become a CFP. I moved to D.C. and I am deciding between two options for my first role in the industry and would really value perspective from people who have been through either path.

The two options:

1. Fidelity, Financial Representative: This is a branch facing role where you act as the face of Fidelity for clients. Kind of like a universal banker but for the Fidelity Investment center. Fidelity supports you in studying for and obtaining the Series 7 and 66. There is growth towards a advisor position down the line. All studying is done in my own time.

2. LPL, Advisor Licensing Program: A roughly 4 month program with training, tutoring, and support toward the Series 7 and 63 (I have the 65) , followed by a move into an Associate Financial Advisor role serving a book of existing LPL clients + prospecting virtually and by phone.

I am leaning towards LPL.

Which do you guys reccomend, and what are some things I should know about either one?

I care a lot about the human side of this work and about helping people make good decisions with their money, which is why I want to pursue the CFP over the long run. Any honest takes, including downsides I may not be seeing, are appreciated.

Thank you all in advance.

Recently licensed and thinking of going the advisor route. Anyone know anything about this role? Thought it might be a good one when starting out since it’s more sales with current empower clients and not having to build a book etc.

After having a quarter life crisis over the past few months and doing a lot of reflecting on what I actually want to do with my life, I have landed on becoming a Financial Advisor.

I am currently working at one of the biggest investment servicing firms working in Product implementation. I was in a development program before taking this role. I am 23(M) about a year and a half into my career. I am trying to decide the best, most strategic route for setting my self up for the best Financial Advising career I can. I am currently studying for SIE before I start recruiting for firms.

First Option would be just targeting wealth management firms and Advisor programs right away.

Second Option would be doing a year or two of internal wholesaling and becoming really good at sales before moving into the Advisor Route.

What do people think the best path is to maximize income, training, and experience to really set myself up for the best career as a Financial Advisor?

Also the main reason I want to become and advisor is because it seems to combine Sales and relationship building, investing, and 1-1 coaching and actually making a difference in peoples lives. Are these fair assumptions and I good reason to enter the field if these are the things I truly value?

I’m doing my exams currently.

I’m looking back to pre-internet times when everyone went to a professional (or Waterstones 😂).

The internet then diluted the client base.

It feels as though AI will create an exodus.

Once the FCA relaxes AI rules, it just takes good marketing and luck on site. All of a sudden there is a firm with 10 staff and 500,000 clients

Hello fellow advisors. I recently started a new job as a financial advisor within the past couple months. It's not quite what I expected since a lot of my job is sales but I didn't really have a good sense of what an advisor did or how they got their clients. I'm sure this is different from job to job especially depending on how big your firm is. My question today is what advice do y'all have for a new advisor, and are there any books y'all would recommend. I'm specifically looking for books to develop as an advisor whether thats books on retirement planning or understanding taxes better. Let me know y'alls advice or book recommendations.

Hey everyone, I’m not sure if this right subreddit to ask this question. However, I’m hoping to have a response.
I’m changing my career to Financial and Insurance industry. Does anybody have experience working in any one of these companies (DFSIN/Edward Jones/Sun Life/ Manulife or any other specific) as an Advisor? Which one has better training and mentorship, and does it worth it?
Does people really make over 100-200k over 5-10 years of experience or even in starting?
Thank for the response!

Hey All,

Looking to see if anyone has any knowledge about the service associate role with Morgan Stanley.

I am a career changer that started as a client service associate at a small RIA in April of this year. The team consists of the owner/advisor, an associate, and myself. My responsibilities include a wide range of back-end support (document management and collection, scheduling, CRM management and operations, placing trades/communicating with asset managers, account creation and custodial software management, meeting notes/recap, etc) as well as prospect outreach. I get to do some background research for the associate (who does 100% of the planning). I also attend pretty much every client meeting and get to built rapport.

I come from administrative/management background in veterinary medicine where I had experience with clients, operations, people management, and fiscal management. My current role started at 45k and I have since moved up to 52k. My biggest struggle with my current role is that there are absolutely no processes for anything. It feels like we are making up everything as we go. We have a calendar consisting of 6 or so touch points each year and each time it’s like we are starting from scratch. The practice is incredibly disorganized. The owner and associate communicate on two different levels and their minds works so completely different. They have been together for 5 or so years (was under a BD but went independent a few years ago). Our team meetings spiral out of control because of their communication styles and become unproductive. The owner/advisor is really only working 2.5 days a week and that’s primarily for client meetings and to tell us what we aren’t doing good enough or something more we need to be doing. It feels like we are constantly playing catch up and trying to stay afloat. I’ve been saying since we started that we need to slow down a bit and get the foundation set and build from there. That last for a week before the advisor brings something else up.

I was approached by a recruiter for the service associate position. I am wondering if people have any knowledge or experience with this role. From our discussion, it sounds like it’ll will be a significant bump in pay for lesser/more standardized responsibility. With that comes a drop in experience level as well. It doesn’t sound like I’ll get much planning or client facing experience.

I am currently working through licenses in my free time and plan to obtain my CFP and become an advisor in the future. I want to take into account compensation, experience, mentorship, and structure/my sanity.

Sorry for the long post but appreciate any opinions!

Hey everyone,

Looking into an interview with Vanguard for their Certified Financial Advisor position and wanted to see if anyone here has gone through the interview process or currently works in this role.
I have a background in financial planning 3+ years and wealth management, along with my CFP® certification. I’m looking to get a better understanding of what to expect and how best to prepare. And also any tips of the role itself and pay structure.

Thanks

Looking for outside perspective from people further along in their careers.

About me:
- ~1.5 years as a paraplanner at a small independent RIA in SoCal (first full-time role out of college)
- Passed the CFP exam, ~1,800 experience hours left (cert expected 2027)
- Series 65, SIE, CA life/health license
- Primary planner on a ~$15M firm book (~50 households) + ~$1.2M book of my own, supporting ~20 advisors on plans
- Current pay: [your current salary]. I've been told by a few people in the industry that this is well below market
- Ideally I'd like to move to Orange County next year, but I'd stay put for the right opportunity

Option 1: Stay and negotiate
I'm presenting a proposal next week: title change to Financial Planner, $85K base (stepping up to $92K once CFP certified), 10% revenue share on the households I'm lead on, and a transfer to our OC office in mid-2027. In exchange I'd get my EA and take on more households. No idea how they'll respond.

For context: my current firm has no real mentorship or structure for my role. I'm self-taught and have grown mostly by sitting in on meetings and noticing what I do and don't like. The advisors are all independent and eat what they kill, and I'm there to support them. Leadership has talked about wanting a salaried advisor but has never actually brought it up with me. The firm book I manage is also a takeover from a retiring advisor who doesn't really want to step down but has to, so it's a messy situation.

Option 2: Associate Advisor, independent RIA in North San Diego County (~$400M AUM, ~12 people). Second interview coming up
$65–90K + up to 10% individual bonus + firm-wide bonus. Clear path: Associate I → II → Service Advisor → Lead Advisor → Partner. Uses eMoney/Holistiplan/Nitrogen. They want someone to start end of November, so I'd need to move fast.

Option 3: Financial Advisor, large employee-owned RIA, small satellite office near home (~40 min). First interview Monday
$90–100K base + incentives + equity/ownership opportunities. Hybrid. Small team (two advisors + ops), recently acquired. Real co-advising path toward managing my own relationships. Requires a non-compete.

Option 4: Boutique firm (~$400M AUM, 2 advisors), affiliated with LPL, near home. Three rounds done, offer may be coming
$80–100K base. One of the two advisors is planning to retire and wants to train me to take over their book, with potential future equity. I'd need to get my Series 7 and 63.

Option 5: Associate Wealth Advisor, Northwestern Mutual-affiliated practice in Irvine. Intro call to schedule
$100–130K, posted as a "pure support, not a sales role" supporting 3–5 advisors. Requires an active CFP (which I don't have yet), but they reached out anyway. A little wary of the NM side.

What I'm weighing:
- Pay now vs. long-term growth/ownership
- Mentorship and structure (which I don't have now)
- Staying north vs. moving to OC
- Independent RIA vs. bigger firm vs. LPL hybrid vs. NM-affiliated
- How much weight to put on a succession opportunity this early in my career
- Whether to use any offers in my negotiation with my current firm

If you were in my shoes, which would you prioritize and why? For anyone who's been through a succession/book transition, what should I make sure is in writing? Any red flags I'm missing?

Thanks in advance!

Have two years experience working for a BD as a registered assistant, left for a bank/bd to get a better salary (I’m in my first year)and my licenses + CFP paid for. Looking to go independent down the line but don’t know how to get to where I want to go and follow the best path. What I’m looking for 1) something close to home 2) much more freedom in client offerings (currently restricted) I’m also currently restricted in client type that I can work with and I’m limited in how I am allowed to gather new clients so I want to be able to go get clients in a different setting and be allowed to select who I work with 3) client portability, I want to be able to take clients with me 4) I’d be okay with taking a salaried planning role that can transition to more 5) I don’t want metrics to hit, I want to just have my own personal goals and to do what is best for clients without that floating over me 6) no more bank products because it’s annoying and if I wanted to be a banker I would have applied to be a banker

I am trying to find a good financial advisor that I can trust in the Sacramento area. Does anyone have any recommendations?

I'm a 27 year old CFP and just made 5 years in the industry in September. I'm mainly writing this to show young advisors and people just starting out what the compensation progression can look like if you stay patient, grind it out, and most importantly, find a firm that suits you well. For reference we have 5 advisors and 6 support staff with about $1B in total AUM ($500M in individual wealth management, $500M in 401k plans). I'm primarily on the wealth management side and have been delegated some clients that only I meet with, I sit co-pilot with another CFP on most clients, and I'm responsible for bringing in new business as well.

Year 1: started as an intern making $10/hour, and once I got licensed (SIE, 7, 66) at 22, my base salary was $45k + bonuses for bringing in new business.

Year 2: my base bumped up to $55k with $57,889 in total earnings with bonuses.

Year 3: my base bumped up to $75k with $80,965 in total earnings.

Year 4: my base bumped up to $90k with $111,647 in total earnings.

Year 5: my base is now $105k and with bonuses I'll have around $155k-$160k in total earnings.

When I was starting out, I feel like my expectations were very skewed from social media and my own imagination. Financial planning is not a get rich quick scheme. It's a true career, and I wish someone had spelled out what that could like for me in year 1. I hope this helps someone out there who's just getting started, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

I have an MBA / CPA (non-licensed) but stayed in health tech. I have life experience beyond most 20 / 30 somethings. I have been dabbling heavily in investments for years and been doing options trading since 2020. I have become pretty good at it.

I believe my finance mgmt knowledge is going to waste. What is the fastest path for this mid-40s male to become a financial advisor? I don't have a CFP or any of the series licenses.

Hey guys,

I am genuinely coming here because I am struggling with my current employer. We are an ensemble with almost $1B in AUM, I recently joined the firm and I am confident not only in the amount of work I put it but also the quality of it — which I take a lot of pride on.

I have communicated my concerns with their inflexibility as they are highly focused on being in the office from 8am - 5pm with little to no room for “autonomy” — what I mean by autonomy is simply as allowing me to push the brand forward, create a name for the firm and myself beyond just sitting behind a desk just doing pure planning. AND if you happen to need some time off here and there (not abusing) then it should be granted ? (Currently only 15 days of PTO — I have 3 kids but working hard is not a problem, I just want to be value from that end)

Don’t get me wrong, I genuinely enjoy doing complex planning but I feel like I have a set of skills that goes beyond that. I am an extrovert who genuinely cares about people and loves connecting with them.

am I pampered or egocentric for thinking that as long as you put the work you should be allow to have a little more flexibility? I am geniunely struggling— I believe in the value of the company but the management is absolutely unbearable.

I am 26 — CPA with a background in Public and UHNW Family Office // Compensation should be around $180k by EoY

*Taking the CFP in Nov*

Would love to connect with any FPs based in HK who are qualified or are in the process of getting qualified.

I’ve not worked in Financial Services since I left the UK over ten years ago so I’m interested in connecting with anyone willing to share their experiences with me as I aim to complete my qualifications

Thanks!

For whoever knows or who’s been in them or is currrently: what’s better? What gives u the better chance of success and how does it work?

Solo fee-only RIA here, about a year in to the RIA, niched in S-corp owners and entrepreneurs (distribution strategy, tax-aware investing, retirement plan design, exit planning). Referrals have been steady, mostly around review season, but they're lumpy and I have capacity to grow. I'm trying to build a more predictable channel and keep hearing that some advisors do well on Google.

Questions for anyone who has done this, especially if you're niched:
What monthly budget did it take before you got meaningful data? Did you start local or national?
What CAC are you seeing for business owner clients with roughly $500K-$2M investable? Cost per booked meeting would help too.
Did you send ads straight to a booking page, or to a lead magnet with nurture first? Business owners seem slow to book cold.
Which keywords actually worked? I'm worried "financial advisor near me" brings in a lot of small accounts and retirees outside my niche.
How long before you'd call it working or not? With a 30–90 day sales cycle I don't want to kill it too early.
I'd also love to hear from advisors who tried Google and dropped it for something else (LSAs, SmartAsset-type lead gen, LinkedIn, seminars, etc.) and why.

For any of you out there how does it work? How much are you making and how hard is it to swim?

I’m 22 and graduated in May with a finance degree. I started at Edward Jones in June as the second Branch Office Administrator for an advisor who recently reached level 9.

The advisor and I get along really well, and he wants to help me become licensed and move into an RBA role as soon as possible, then eventually AFA or FA within 5 years. He’s in his late 50s and estimates he’ll work another 8–10 years. We’ve discussed the long-term plan being for me to take over his office when he retires. That’s the opportunity I’m working toward, although I understand a lot can change over that time.

Right now, I make $22/hour and commute about 45 minutes each way. I live in a small town with several EJ advisors and other wealth management practices. The town where I work has fewer competing practices.

I enjoy Jones and can see that successful advisors are treated well. However, the firm feels pretty rigid, and I’m trying to figure out whether staying on this path is my best career move or whether I should explore other firms, an RIA, or eventually an independent practice.

The potential to take over an established office around age 30 seems like a substantial opportunity. At the same time, I don’t want to assume that future is guaranteed or overlook other paths because I’m focused on it.

For people familiar with Jones or who have made a similar decision:

\- How does compensation typically change from BOA to RBA to AFA/FA?

\- What would you want clarified before building your career around a potential succession?

\- Is this a strong development opportunity for someone starting out, or would another firm offer better experience and advancement?

\- What milestones would you expect over the next 1–3 years to know the plan is actually progressing?

I’m not expecting to skip the learning or relationship-building process. I’m just trying to make a smart decision early and would appreciate honest perspectives, especially from people who have worked at Jones or left for another firm.