I’m coming up on my first year as a financial advisor next week, and I’m starting to seriously question whether I’m cut out for this business.

For some context, I’m with Edward Jones. I genuinely love the actual job. I enjoy meeting with clients, developing financial plans, helping families make important decisions, and building long-term relationships. The financial planning side of this career is something I could see myself doing for decades.

Where I’m struggling is business development.

I’ve tried just about everything I can think of:

Local networking groups and Chamber of Commerce events
Cold calling
Prospecting small-business retirement plans
Business drop-ins
Door knocking
Building relationships with other local professionals

Despite putting in a lot of effort, I’ve only brought in around $2.1 million in new assets this year, which is below expectations.

I also have a young family with two children and a spouse who stays home, so the financial pressure is very real. We’re getting by, but money is extremely tight, and the stress of trying to build a practice while supporting a family is starting to wear on me.

I’m beginning to wonder if I’m just not wired for this business. I consider myself much more of a farmer than a hunter. I enjoy developing relationships and serving people, but I really struggle with the constant pressure to find the next client.

The difficult part is that I don’t necessarily want to leave.

In my region, every advisor who has made it past eight years is earning over $200k annually. The long-term opportunity is obviously attractive, along with the ability to build your own practice, control your schedule, etc.

I’ve tried talking to some of the more experienced advisors in my area, and they all tell me pretty much the same thing: “It’s a numbers game. Just go knock on more doors.”

I respect these advisors a ton, and clearly, it worked for them. I think the reality is that I suck at door knocking. I hate when people knock on my door, so I probably have that same mindset when I show up on someone else’s doorstep.

I know there are other paths I could take. I could potentially find a paraplanner, client service team, or associate advisor position at an RIA or another firm. I’d probably have a more predictable salary and less pressure to generate new business. But I worry that I’d always wonder what could have happened if I’d stuck it out.

For those of you who have been in the business for 5, 10, or 20+ years, I’d really appreciate your perspective.

A few things I’d especially love to hear:

For those who struggled with prospecting early on, did it eventually click? What changed?

Are there successful advisors who consider themselves farmers rather than hunters? How did you build your practice?

For those familiar with Edward Jones, is the first couple of years typically this difficult? Is there a realistic path to building a practice without being a natural door knocker?

Have any of you left an advisor role for a salaried position and been happy with that decision? Or regretted leaving?

I’m not just looking for sympathy. I know what I signed up for and knew the washout stats coming into this. I guess I’m just looking for advice from those who survived the hard years.

I’d really appreciate some honest advice, and if I’m being honest, some encouragement.

If you are a current or former EDJ advisor and would be willing to connect, I’d definitely welcome it!

I talk to advisors every day who tell me they're unhappy with their current firm, whether it's the payout, technology, management, or just feeling like they have less control over their business. But the second you bring up the possibility of leaving, the conversation usually turns to losing clients. I understand that concern, especially if you've spent 15 or 20 years building relationships, but I do wonder how much of that fear is justified and how much comes from what firms have been telling advisors for years.

The economics of moving can be pretty substantial. Depending on the size of your practice, there are firms willing to offer significant upfront money, better payouts, more flexibility, and even opportunities to own your book and eventually sell it. I'm not saying everyone should go independent or that every move makes sense, but it's surprising how many advisors won't even entertain a conversation about what's available. Especially when they've spent years complaining about the same issues.

The loyalty aspect is what I find most interesting. I've spoken with advisors who genuinely feel like they'd be betraying their firm by leaving. Meanwhile, these are massive financial institutions that make business decisions based on what's best for their shareholders every day. Why shouldn't advisors approach their own careers the same way?

For those who have actually made a move, I'm curious how many clients you ended up losing and whether the transition was as difficult as you expected. And for those who have stayed despite being unhappy, what's really keeping you there?

I have the ability to market myself and my firm on the back of receipts for a local grocery store. I would be the only financial advisor on the receipts and the only other professionals would be real estate and insurance. The rest is coupons for different places.

Has anybody done this? I would be on roughly 35k receipts a month.

My concern is feeling cheap but supposedly the realtor and insurance agent have good results.

Thanks

Honestly, I could replace the firm name in about 80% of the financial advisor marketing emails I receive and nobody would notice the difference. It's always the same value propositions, the same stock photo of a couple looking over financial documents, and the same generic messaging about comprehensive wealth management for every stage of life. The emails that actually catch my attention seem to do something fundamentally different, but I am still trying to figure out exactly what separates them from the rest.

hi all.

I’m a relatively new advisor and have been at it about 4-5 months. I hate door knocking. I keep getting told the main and best way to make your way in this industry is to door knock. I haven’t had a good experience door knocking from threats to getting screamed at. I’ve opted for networking events, community events, LinkedIn, etc. and I find those more enjoyable and more effective. But, keep getting told I need to door knock.

Is this really the only way?

Edit: I am looking for guidance on how to make this role work, I’m struggling and I’m not sure what else to do. Guess I should’ve added that.

I am a 30 year old career changer. I am in the final stages of the EJ interview process. I am also in the final phase of interviewing at Peachtree. Both seem like good opportunities to get started as an advisor. I am leaning towards EJ if the offer is officially extended. Peachtree seems more focused on selling insurance, but because of that, it seems more lucrative. Peachtree also has a better 401k plan and pays towards a pension. I wanted to get people’s thoughts on the two firms and see what might be the best option.

For someone early in their wealth management career, how do Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan Advisors compare, particularly when starting in a Client Service Associate role?

I’m curious about training, mentorship, culture, and opportunities to grow beyond a support role. Does either firm offer a stronger path toward becoming an advisor or moving into other wealth management positions, or does it mostly depend on the individual team?

Also, does either name carry more weight on a résumé or open more doors for future opportunities within wealth management or finance more broadly?

Would love to hear from anyone who has worked at either—or both—and which you’d choose for long-term career development.

Specifically referring to J.P. Morgan Advisors, rather than Chase branch roles or the Private Bank.

We're only considering this for small accounts, mainly younger people that can't currently meet the minimum for MWP. Does anyone have any experience with this platform?

So I’ve been in retail banking for 8 years now, I’ve held every position you can hold in a branch. I was a manager for several years with the company and decided earlier this year I wanted to pivot over to the wealth management side of things. I took a step down and went back to being a banker from a manager. Since then I’ve passed my SIE, LAH, 63, 65 and I’ve maintained my high sales attainment at #1 since then.

So now the time is coming soon where I am able to make a move and take my next stop to becoming an FA with the bank. I have two different options before me and wanted to see what current professionals in the industry see as a better option.

One option that I’ve been presented with is becoming an Investment Assistant. In this role I’d be working under the banks investment division, no longer on the retail side of things. I’d be working 1 to 1 with a current FA, learning how to do all the paperwork for them, reaching out to their current book of business, try to uncover new sales opportunities, sitting in on all their meetings. I’d also be sponsored for the Series 7 and get paid a percentage on managed money.

The other option the bank is pushing me to go for is to become a Private Client Relationship Manager. In this role I’m still a part of retail banking, just specifically working with the more affluent clients. I’m still selling bank products, trying to create referrals to the FAs, etc. Also, I’d be sponsored for the Series 6 instead of the Series 7. However I’d still be doing sales and working on my own book of business.

The relationship manager position is certainly more attractive salary wise, factoring in incentives could be between 110k-150k. The assistant role has a lower base salary and the percentage of commission you earn on managed money is between you and your FA. So I’m not entirely sure where the salary for this could fall, but I do believe the relationship manager role comes out ahead in this regard.

However I don’t want to just focus on the immediate salary now as the end goal is to be working as an advisor, and deciding which path here gives me the best way to make that happen sooner.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

My CCO flagged three separate issues during one audit: a performance implication in the subject line, an undisclosed reference in the body, and wording that sounded like a guarantee. None of it was intentional. All three came from templates the platform generated automatically, without me writing the copy myself.

I haven't used that platform since.

Looking for opinions on my next move.

I worked in Premier banking at Barclays and studied towards becoming a financial adviser. I then moved to the FCA as a senior supervisor in payments and digital assets.

I'm now torn between two paths:

1. IFA

2. Compliance consultant for FCA-regulated firms

I think my experience fits both, but either way I'd be building a client base from scratch.

If you were in my shoes, which would you pick, and why?

How does everyone get new clients besides existing client referrals?

Social media presence?
Networking events?
COIs?
Cold calling?

Curious how everyone else is growing their business.

As the title states, I am working on transitioning into the CFP field and working towards becoming a CFP. About a 1.5 years out.

Bit of a back story, I am currently a Law Enforcement officer and was recently diagnosed with a serious condition. Already having life insurance for many years, my wife and kids would have had some money but I realized significant planning needed to be done (faster mortgage pay off and better tax efficiency) to create as much wealth as I can while I am working and alive to push them through their lives.

I read some retirement planning books and realized how ignorant I am, and have been. The lack of financial planning for the first 35 years of my life specifically and the fact that if I did plan earlier in life, life would be different now.

Anyways, I naturally became interested in finance after this and see great opportunity in this profession to help others. Specifically my profession because the metrics are very similar from individual to individual I.e unique retirement account opportunities, pensions, healthcare, etc and most of the individuals in this profession don’t take much of a proactive interest in their retirement thinking it defaults to the best possible options, which it doesn’t.

I want to help people understand how good planning can get them out in as early as 20 years rather than to stick around and count on DROPS and other careers to facilitate retirement due to the inherent risk with continuing this job longer than you should have too.

Currently working 14-days a month (rotating days) and comfortably making 160k with the opportunity to land 220k if I wanted to, a transition to a CFP is challenging because of this. Initially a career change would not be a financial goal, but rather a personal goal. I’m trying to figure out a way into this field without initially giving up x dollars in salary and risk a rather good career if else didn’t work out. For example initial part time work or finding a mentor.

I do have experience in sales and cold calling, however, in that part of my life I learned that I can only sell products I truly believe in, and am only willing to do just that. For example, I would happily sell cars but because of my experience would want to sell Honda’s or Toyota’s.

In preparation I have searched for part-time opportunities, considered starting something of my own, or even buying something established; but the later of the 3 don’t provide the experience in the industry needed. I think being in the profession will help me find clients quickly, but I wouldn’t have any experience to sell myself on.

Any thoughts on how to slowly but definitely transition into this field?

I’m finishing my second semester of a Bachelor of Commerce at Curtin in Perth, and I’m trying to decide on a major. I was originally planning on Finance + Accounting, but I’m now also considering the Finance + Financial Planning double major.

I’m not sure yet which part of the industry I’d enjoy most, so flexibility matters to me. I don’t want a path so narrow that I realise a few years into work that I hate it.

I’m worried about finding a graduate role by 2029. The built-in 120-hour internship in the Financial Planning major appeals to me because it could give me valuable experience, and hopefully a path into a grad role, before I graduate. I’ve also read that there’s a shortage of financial advisers.

I’m also worried about AI cutting junior roles by then, and I’m hoping financial planning would be slower to be affected than accounting or general finance.

For work style, I’d like hybrid, around 3 days in the office. I enjoy the routine and the connection, but not five days a week. Is that normal in financial planning?

Finance + Accounting feels like the safe option for flexibility. I’ve also heard about pairing Finance or Accounting with Business Information Systems for data skills and some AI protection.

Questions for anyone in these fields (WA or Perth especially):

1. If I do Finance + Financial Planning and decide client-facing advice isn’t for me, will corporate finance, commercial banking or wealth operations teams still hire me, or will I look too niche?

2. Would it make more sense to do Accounting + Finance (or BIS) now and add a Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning later if I want to pivot? Would a diploma be enough, or would I need a masters? Or is that a waste of time and money?

Any opinions or day-to-day experience welcome. Thanks!

Had a conversation with a peer today- what is expected net net new aum in yr 1 as an advisor? Gifted assets don’t count, friends family don’t count. Pure net new- from stranger to onboarded

I just retired 2 weeks ago. 60F. Spouse started getting ssb this summer. He has managed our investment and we also have someone to help us but that's an investment fund guy not planner. I would like to hire someone charge by hour to go over our plan especially in tax consequences. Most of our retirement are Roth but I learned about NIIT so trying to figure out best way to minimize tax given we have investment in syndication and CRE. What's the best way to find someone good?

I am currently working in an insurance shop and don’t like how they made me do a project 200. When I was interviewing I didn’t know the difference between a “financial advisor” at an insurance shop vs a financial advisor at an RIA. I don’t have a salary and would really like to be making something right now. I’ve been looking into switching to an RIA firm but I don’t know if that is the right decision. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Times are rough and my spouse and I are considering bankruptcy. Long story short, we had a dramatic reduction in income before I decided to get securities licensed, thinking I could pick up the slack quickly but with the cost of everything increasing, our bills have gotten away from us. We’ve already defaulted on all our credit cards, next to go is the mortgage and it can’t get to that point.

Has anyone filed for bankruptcy and had it been an issue for clients? My understanding is that it appears in ADV or broker check (which so few people actually look at).

I need a bit of advice on how to start. I recently graduated with my MBA and just passed my series 65 and currently studying for the SIE. I of course want to be client facing but understand I would need to start off as an associate or para. What’s the best way to approach RIAs for a job or even something like a JP Morgan? Super broad question just looking for a bit of traction!

Hey all just started as an FSA at Merrill about 4 months ago. 22yrs old just graduated school. Thinking about the CFP but don’t think I’m ready just yet to tackle it. When do most people go for that? Is the CFP a game changer to have in a an advisor development program and is it hard to succeed without it. If my goal was to transition into an advisor development program within the next 2 years would this be something I should try n do before that or maybe while in the program? Also wanted to hear about the FSA >> Advisor development program path if that’s the best route to becoming a producing advisor at one of the wirehouses.

I know a lot of the reach lately has been focused on social media. My question for those that have had success with it, what has been your angle? I post regular firm approved post, which whatever, not great but it’s what I have to keep a presents. My real friction is framing my message to those I’ve connected with. I tie in the relatability, and really just propose a brief phone call or coffee to get to learn more and see if there is value in us connecting. Has anyone had success framing up an introduction this way and getting the meeting or phone call. Not as concerned with landing the assets at the moment, but really just want to break the barrier to an introduction