Financial Adviser in mid-twenties Makes $20k

In every industry, there will be the successful, the mediocre and those who shouldn't be in it. What you read are some of the ones who made it good. I have a friend who was a professional banker and he decided to leave his cushy job and became a financial adviser. It was tough going for him for the first 2 years but he was very persistent, worked hard, honestly and was eventually successful.

He now makes more than $50k per mth consistently from his past sales and new sales as well as comm from the agents under him.

I believe that the financial advisory industry is very rosy for the devoted and good ones. There are many people in Singapore who are good at what they are doing e.g. being a lawyer, a doctor, teacher, etc but are not good at managing their own financial investments and need help in financial advice and planning. Over time, these people would accept the fact that they will need professional help in this area - and good help are few and far in between. Their names will surface by word of mouth.

This is a tough year. Its not easy making money but this is where the men and the boys will be separated. Good luck everyone.

Tough times don't last, but tough guys do. A life not stretched, is a life not worth living. By the way if anyone here is keen to explore further about the financial planning industry, you can drop me a mail at [email protected]. Looking forward to sharing more with you folks. Cheers!

All these sucess and at what price? How much is enough for the FA to have? The common man is caught up with buying more, upgrading more in the name of financial planning.

I guess it boils down to individual's goals and desire. There's no right or wrong. The Map is not the territory, everyone has their own perception of the world. But it is about choices. Stay Happy bro!

Having spoken to a couple of friends in the industry (not in Sg), I believe being a good and successful financial consultant/adviser requires very good communication skills and hard work. My friend from HK who gained his MDRT status works hard, even early breakfast appointments on weekends to get his clients. And it is true that graduates can earn HKD$100k (= SGD$20k) in a month as he has told me from one that he supervises. While my other friend in M'sia struggles to 'win' clients. There is no minimum pay but there is also an unlimited amt that you can earn each month. You must be able to 'sell' your product... Hard work will pay off!

the system is flawed. how can you have the same person advising and selling to you at the same time? it only encourages product selling not needs based. yes we have the FA act to help curb such things but honestly, does anyone think it helps? even the most honest advisor who wants to do a good job analysing will have no time because he is busy meeting potential clients. and after a few "fruitless" meetings, the "die die must sell something" pressure emerges..if not no money to buy kids milk powder this month.

it's a numbers game - eg even for mediocre advisors for every 10 people he meets, 1 will buy. work hard and meet 1000 people, 100 will buy. but question we have to ask ourselves is whether the advise dispensed, the time spent really analysing the clients needs,etc...justifies rewarding such advisors such big pay packets? work hard = mediocre advice = soemthing is wrong. the guys who spend time doing thorough anlaysis of their clients and thus sacrifice meeting new potential clients are penalized with less sales (for "wasting time" on analysis vs selling)...strange but true.

Well...then don't u think investment bankers also succeed by 'selling' their products? Private doctors also earn by 'selling' their operations? Otherwise everyone cld just work under govt...

Kudos to you Sally! In our knowledge-based economy today, product-selling will not get you too far. Sure you may get the instant gratification if you managed to "push" some products. But how long can you last? Perhaps that's why Sunny mentioned that some has to meet 10 to sell 1. A good adviser is one who knows how to ask the right questions, analyze his client's needs and to uncover his areas of concern. The fact is that the deeper you're able to analyze, the stronger will be the relationship, and so will your business. The majority of the MDRT producers strives on getting strong referrals due to their characters and competency. From long term success, there's no place for product-pushing. Hope you guys will meet your trusted Adviser.

sally, i am against the system. investment bankers are the same. i have seen them shoving instruments down clients throats for the very reason the more they sell, the fatter the bonuses. Same for private bankers...Doctors are governed by a strict code of conduct espcially morally & for practical reasons - they cannot just sell you more medicine if they wanted to make money!! what if you kena overdose!!???