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May 18, 2005 6:57 pm

Hi, I'm leaving a very successful career in the car business after 20yrs. in Sales, F&I, and Sales Management. The only other passion for work I  have is for Financial Sales.(Wish I would have taken the leap 10 yrs. ago) I am 45 yrs. old with no degree and we will be moving to a small metro area where we know no one. (Wifes transfer)

Questions:

1-Is it possible to get hired by a bank with no degree? Do banks train brokers from scratch? I would like to go the Bank route other than wirehouse because of the Banks existing client base and I will have no network of influence when I get there.

2-Am I just too damned old to start from scratch in this business? I know in the car business I see new guys come in and I think, man I would hate to have to start over again from zero with all I've learned and how that business has changed in the past 20yrs. It seems like a daunting task to try to compete for business with the veterans.

Comments or advise appreciated.

May 18, 2005 8:27 pm

[quote=kobekee]

Hi, I’m leaving a very successful career in
the car business after 20yrs. in Sales, F&I, and Sales Management.
The only other passion for work I  have is for Financial
Sales.(Wish I would have taken the leap 10 yrs. ago) I am 45 yrs. old
with no degree and we will be moving to a small metro area where we
know no one. (Wifes transfer)

Questions:

1-Is it possible to get hired by a bank with no degree? Do banks train brokers from scratch? I would like to go the Bank route other than wirehouse because of the Banks existing client base and I will have no network of influence when I get there.

2-Am I just too damned old to start from scratch in this business? I know in the car business I see new guys come in and I think, man I would hate to have to start over again from zero with all I've learned and how that business has changed in the past 20yrs. It seems like a daunting task to try to compete for business with the veterans.

Comments or advise appreciated.

[/quote]
This is going to be a mixed message.  First you're not too old to start out--as is one of my themes this is a business where age is an asset in spite of what all the kids who prowl this forum sneer.

However, I do wonder about your ability to succeed in the absence of a network of potential clients.  You must remember that while you may have hundreds, even thousands, of names those people know you as a car salesman, which is not the traditional route to Wall Street.

Will a bank hire you without a degree?  I think so, they have an awful lot of former tellers and platform clerks who somehow found their way to the mutual fund sales side--the legendary "promote from within" culture of a bank.

++++

One side of me wishes I had never stumbled on this forum.  I am appalled at the lack of basic skills, much less a formal education, being exhibited by the young people contributing to this forum.

It is truly sad to me that it is possible to become a stock broker without basic skills such as spelling and sentence construction.

It may just be me, but if I were to become aware that my registered rep did not know the difference between "advice" and "advise" I would close my account immediately.
May 18, 2005 8:37 pm

I do know the difference.

Thanks, Put.

May 18, 2005 8:57 pm

"It may just be me, but if I were to become aware that my registered rep did not know the difference between "advice" and "advise" I would close my account immediately."

For some reason or another, I always get a kick out of that. 

My .02, this business isn't like the car business.  You don't have to claw over the other brokers in the office to get an "up", like you would on a car lot. 

Clients do not find you (as they would on a car lot), you are responsible for finding them.  Unless you live in a really tiny town, working for the only firm in the town, chances are you can find a market of your own.

A very close friend of mine has been in the car business for 8 years.  He makes $200K+ a year, selling 30-40 cars a month.  He hates his job, but each time he tries something new he fails.  In his words "He has been tainted by the car business."  That's probably not true of everyone, but I believe it won't be the easiest transition.

May 18, 2005 9:36 pm

Thanks for the reply. If your friend is making $200k a year and he’s selling and not management then he is also working off of referrals and cold calling. If you just catch the lot you’ll starve. You must market yourself and the dealership.

May 18, 2005 9:56 pm

[quote=kobekee]Thanks for the reply. If your friend is making $200k a year and he's selling and not management then he is also working off of referrals and cold calling. If you just catch the lot you'll starve. You must market yourself and the dealership.[/quote]

Wrong.  He never cold calls and never gets referrals.... ever.

It's all from lot traffic.

May 18, 2005 10:03 pm

He's B.S.ing you.

But hey!! He's a car salesman and it's your forum.

May 18, 2005 11:45 pm

Put Off,

Get off your high horse!! This is a message board where we type fast and furious. We're not writing a thesis assh@le! BTW I have a masters degree in business which is probably more education then you have.

May 19, 2005 12:21 am

[quote=ezmoney]

Put Off,

Get off your high horse!! This is a message board where we type fast and furious. We're not writing a thesis assh@le! BTW I have a masters degree in business which is probably more education then you have.

[/quote]
Getting any degree from the dumbed down schools of the 1970s and later is a joke.

I earned my Masters before you were born, when they still taught us stuff instead of just handing out diplomas.
May 19, 2005 3:01 am

[quote=kobekee]

He’s B.S.ing you.

But hey!! He's a car salesman and it's your forum.

[/quote]

You need a reality check.  I wouldn't be so arrogant when you walk into a bank trying to get a job.  Stick to the car business, based on your personality it seems like you fit in there.

I used to work with him, as a salesman.  I worked with him for over 9 months.  I would watch him do it month after month.  He would NEVER cold call, and he would NEVER get even a single referral. 

Just because YOU can't do it, doesn't mean others can't.
May 19, 2005 2:15 pm

" First you're not too old to start out--as is one of my themes this is a business where age is an asset in spite of what all the kids who prowl this forum sneer."

The fact is, we realize that being older in this business is an advantage. Your posts, however, take the tone that ALL younger people starting in this business are destined to fail. They take on a negative tone ( you say realistic) instead of attempting to encourage younger reps to be confident and try to succeed. As I have posted before, I agree that having life experience is an advantage to some reps. Again, if this was the stance you took, I would agree. Instead, you make broad geneeralizations that contribute nothing to this forum ( although you will say that you have'achieved the pinnacle of both education and experience in this field, and everyone should adopt my views'. Youre a joke. )

"One side of me wishes I had never stumbled on this forum."

So you think that way too??? Thats great, welcome to the club of 20-25 of us who wholeheartedly agree with you. 

May 19, 2005 2:18 pm

20-25… No, those are just the members who have I have personally traded PM’s back and forth with… If we post a topic and more than 50 people request that you lose this website address, CAN YOU GO AWAY ???

May 19, 2005 3:01 pm

[quote=blarmston]20-25… No, those are just the members who have I
have personally traded PM’s back and forth with… If we post a topic
and more than 50 people request that you lose this website address, CAN
YOU GO AWAY ???[/quote]



So the little man wants to kill the messenger because he can’t deal with the message?



Sorry kid, but I’ll be around long after you’ve moved on to a forum for
used car salesmen or wherever you land as a forty year old Wall Street
cast off.

May 19, 2005 3:40 pm

200 posts in a little over a month.  Poser.

May 19, 2005 3:43 pm

[quote=es four] [quote=kobekee]

He's B.S.ing you.

But hey!! He's a car salesman and it's your forum.

[/quote]

You need a reality check.  I wouldn't be so arrogant when you walk into a bank trying to get a job.  Stick to the car business, based on your personality it seems like you fit in there.

I used to work with him, as a salesman.  I worked with him for over 9 months.  I would watch him do it month after month.  He would NEVER cold call, and he would NEVER get even a single referral. 

Just because YOU can't do it, doesn't mean others can't.
[/quote]

Arrogant? I guess producers in any field are a little arrogant.

Reality check? Reality starts for you now my friend as I see you just passed your 7. Now pick up the phone!

" I would WATCH him do it month after month".

Better stop WATCHING Junior and start doing. You have to sell or your going to be back at the car dealership begging your buddy( Who will make more than you this year.) to put in a good word for you in the detail dept.

No need to reply es four as I will not be posting. Not my forum.

I'm sure in less than 90 you will hear those dreaded words "You're Fired"

"Seacrest Out"

May 19, 2005 3:47 pm

By the way Put tells it like it is.

May 19, 2005 3:51 pm

[quote=blarmston]

" First you’re not too old to start out–as
is one of my themes this is a business where age is an asset in spite
of what all the kids who prowl this forum sneer."

The fact is, we realize that being older in this business is an advantage. Your posts, however, take the tone that ALL younger people starting in this business are destined to fail. They take on a negative tone ( you say realistic) instead of attempting to encourage younger reps to be confident and try to succeed. As I have posted before, I agree that having life experience is an advantage to some reps. Again, if this was the stance you took, I would agree. Instead, you make broad geneeralizations that contribute nothing to this forum ( although you will say that you have'achieved the pinnacle of both education and experience in this field, and everyone should adopt my views'. Youre a joke. )

[/quote]

Miss Anna, Miss Polly Anna, please pick up the nearest red phone for a message.  You may not believe this Blarmston, or you may not be able to deal with it, but you are now in the world of grown ups.

Boys and girls, Wall Street is a cut throat place.  The guy sitting next to you will steal your prospects if they can, clients will leave you in a heartbeat for a more intelligent sounding advisor, your manager may  hate you, you may get all the paperwork signed only to have a client change their mind.  There are zillions of opportunities to be emotionally slam dunked.

Indulge me for a moment.  About 1980 I was dealing with a group of CPAs who used to refer business to me--they were not allowed to sell product then like they can now. Anyway, I got an opportunity to present a tax advantaged investment to a fellow who had made $100 million dollars in peanuts and he was interested in sheltering that income.

We showed him an offshore oil and gas partnership that had very specific financing available to US citizens.  He was an Egyptian, but his company that had been profitable was a US corporation.  I went back to the office with signed paperwork agreeing to buy the entire offering--not one of the units he wanted the entire thing, $50 million dollars worth.

For a month it went back and forth regarding the availablity of the financing to an Egyptian even though he was buying it as a US corporation.  Eventually it was ruled that he was not entitled and the deal came unglued.  I don't know who was more distraught, me, my manager or my wife who had already picked out a new house.

Most of the kids reading this board have not even taken their Series 7 exam.  It's great to be filled with youthful enthusiasm, but trust me it's going to turn into day after day after day of one of the most difficult things you've ever done.

I am not a fool, I've spent my life around young men and women and know that 99% of you do not have what it takes to succeed over a great many years.

What is a joke to us old timers is how many brokers there are that have been around for ten or so years who think they're established.

You may have heard that the stock market is cyclical.  Some cycles are long, others are short.  We have been in a bull phase since August, 1982--I know, I know there have been down markets for a month or two, but the trend has been higher for more than twenty years.

Your cliens will flee like rats from a sinking ship if the market goes down for two or three years. They will not trust you for sure, and they very well may not trust anybody.

What seems to have happened is the bull market has lasted long enough that naive brokers have become naive managers--and entire offices are composed of people with the motto, "What, me worry?"  It's become a case of the blind leading the blind--and scares the bejeezus out of those of us who have the better educations, both formal and practical.

Tell us kiddos, what do you think your parents would do if their retirement fund suddenly lost 80% of its value?  Pull out of the market  Put their money in a bank?  Put it in a jar in the back yard?

That's exactly what your clients will do too.
May 19, 2005 4:25 pm

"You may have heard that the stock market is cyclical.  Some cycles are long, others are short.  We have been in a bull phase since August, 1982--I know, I know there have been down markets for a month or two, but the trend has been higher for more than twenty years."

Were you in some Geritol-induced coma from 2000 to 2003?

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=%5EDJI&t=5y&l=on&amp ;z=l&q=l&c=

If my broker made such a freakin' bone-headed statement of fact like that, he'd be fired and I'd kick his Depends-swaddled a$$ out the door.

Pompous old fart.

May 19, 2005 4:31 pm

Once again, Put, outwitted. 

May 19, 2005 5:41 pm

[quote=Put Sucks]Once again, Put, outwitted.  [/quote]



Wow, I am pissing the kiddos off so much that they’re getting around to inventing names–Put Rules!



Again, boys and girls–seemingly two or three young boys with anger
management issues–what would your parents do with their stock market
based investments in the event they lost 80% of their value?



The idea that a 26 year old kid is going to convince a 50 year old of anything is specious.



Go to the Dow chart for the last five years.  Yes it dropped from
mid 2001 to early 2003, and yes from year to year the Dow was lower in
both 2001 and 2002.  However, there were plenty of bounces in
there–as I said the Dow did not go down for more than a few months
without a rally.



Go to the chart again and click the maximum link.  Take a look at
the period from 1965 to 1982–sideways, year after year after year of
sideways.



How many of you numbnuts think you could have made it in those days?



Youthful exuberance is charming in children–but among adults it’s called inexperience and immaturity.



I suggest that ten years from now the Dow will be within 5% of where it
is now–how many of you uneducated fools are going to be able to
explain to your clients why their retirement is no more likely then
than it is today?