Good luck to you.  You probably have made the best decision for your career and your personal life at this time.  As “he who should not be named” says if you are young you should get your initial start at a life insurance firm and get your feet wet before jumping into the deep end of the pool.  Actually I added that last part.

/wave

Just damn.  Tell us again how old are you, and what was your background before giving it a try?

[quote=NASD Newbie]Just damn.  Tell us again how old are you, and what was your background before giving it a try?[/quote]

What does that have to do with anything ..... except what little dress your pooch is wearing for dinner tonight?

[quote=dude]

I'm leaving the business.  Looks like I'm going to work for an insurance agency, less hours, more time for kids etc.... 

I'm definitely dissappointed, I LOVE this business and intend to come back in five or more years.  I just decided that right now my family is priority and the income to work ratio is too low (and will be for at least 3 more years).  Plus, since I just moved to the area about a year ago my network is pretty thin and this area is OWNED by Smith Barney by a large margin.  They are some tough competitors and much of the money has been entrenched there for years. 

Oh well, such is life.

[/quote]

Too bad you couldn't hack it. I wonder if it's because you spent too much time on this forum.

You should've found a weak spot in SB and exploited the crap out of it. Asset-based fees is an easy Achilles tendon to hit. I wish MY area were dominated by one firm.

[quote=xej1984]

[quote=NASD Newbie]Just damn.  Tell us again how old are you, and what was your background before giving it a try?[/quote]

What does that have to do with anything ..... except what little dress your pooch is wearing for dinner tonight?

[/quote]

It's always good to know what hurdles people were able to overcome and which ones proved insurmountable (sp?) at the time.  This is exactly the type of knowledge that potential and new advisors come to this type of forum in order to learn and prepare themselves for.

It seemed like an honest question from Newb and the answer could benefit a lot of young reps (and some older ones as well, I expect).

Good luck dude!!!

dude,

Did you have what Ameriprise calls a "natural market?"

Was your wife supportive?

Are creditors closing in?

Were you on a guaranteed salary that ran out?  If so, how long ago did it run out?

Do you think your firm could have given you more support?  If so, what?

Can you identify an event or action that was a turning point?

Had you emotionally given up some time ago?

These are the kinds of things that I would talk to you about if you were working for me--some of the, of course, I would know and would not have asked.

Guys like me have seen hundreds, perhaps thousands, of guys give it a try and leave.

Whenever it happens it's like a death in the family.  You can only imagine what dude is dealing with--but I want him to know he's not the Lone Ranger and his attitude that he'll be back is admirable.

I hope you didn't burn any bridges, you never know when some guy around the office can help you somewhere else along the way.

Heck…guys like me have seen dozens and dozens come and go. Out of a group of a hundred, I would not be surprised that only 30 are still in the business and with the same firm in 2 years. Rough out there…good luck.

[quote=knucklehead][quote=dude]

I'm leaving the business.  Looks like I'm going to work for an insurance agency, less hours, more time for kids etc.... 

I'm definitely dissappointed, I LOVE this business and intend to come back in five or more years.  I just decided that right now my family is priority and the income to work ratio is too low (and will be for at least 3 more years).  Plus, since I just moved to the area about a year ago my network is pretty thin and this area is OWNED by Smith Barney by a large margin.  They are some tough competitors and much of the money has been entrenched there for years. 

Oh well, such is life.

[/quote]

Too bad you couldn't hack it. I wonder if it's because you spent too much time on this forum.

You should've found a weak spot in SB and exploited the crap out of it. Asset-based fees is an easy Achilles tendon to hit. I wish MY area were dominated by one firm.

[/quote]

In all honesty it has to do more with family support issues and age related issues (network etc...) than this forum (although I could have spent less time here duking it out with y'all, lol). 

You let a bunch of self-defeating thoughts defeat you. You just got beat by a bunch of words on your computer monitor that include “NASD newbie.” Turn of your f**king computer and clear your head. Old guys fail, too. Age has nothing to do with it. Work ethic has everything to do with it.

[quote=NASD Newbie]

dude,

Did you have what Ameriprise calls a "natural market?"

Was your wife supportive?

Are creditors closing in?

Were you on a guaranteed salary that ran out?  If so, how long ago did it run out?

Do you think your firm could have given you more support?  If so, what?

Can you identify an event or action that was a turning point?

Had you emotionally given up some time ago?

These are the kinds of things that I would talk to you about if you were working for me--some of the, of course, I would know and would not have asked.

[/quote]

No natural market, all cold calling.

Wife is definitely high maitenance.

Had to float myself for awhile on credit cards, but no vultures hovering.

Salary was running out and fee based business wasn't generating enough income to feel comfortable.

As far as firm support, I'm a believer that it's the individual....although I believe that there should be more of a push to pair young brokers up with teams, even though my natural market is not that great, I do bring to the table a lot of other strengths that could have really benefitted a team.

No major turning point other than the realization that I'd have to really knock the ball out of the park just to make a suitable living on fee based business.

I'd say that three months ago I started to get discouraged,  I've been in this business for 4 years now and due to life circumstances, I moved to a new area and had to start all over....leaving behind around $5 million in assets at Morgan (in another state) that could have helped. 

I'd be glad to answer any questions, if it would be helpful for others.

[quote=NASD Newbie]Just damn.  Tell us again how old are you, and what was your background before giving it a try?[/quote]

I am 29 years old, no college degree with about 10 years of sales experience and 6 of those years being finance related (mortgage broker and personal banker). 

I decided after spending a year remodeling my home to take a 4 month sabbatical back in 2002 and decided that I wanted to become a Financial Advisor.  I learned as much as I could about the business and started studying for the series 7 with a passion before I got hired. 

I applied at every major firm in a 40 mile radius and honed my pitch.  Every manager I talked to received persistent phone calls from me moving the hiring process along.

I got rejected alot but didn't care.  I convinced Morgan Stanley to hire me while they were firing a bunch of brokers during the bear market.  I was one of two hired that year.  The other guy was a 55 year old retired mid level executive at a nationally recognized company and had a directory of all his 'buddies' at the company.  He had a Master's degree, CFP, CFA and was a CPA, plus a nice pension.  Quite odd in retrospect that they hired me.  He's doing O.K. (much better than I was, but not where he should be at).

I counted my blessings for sure.

I worked my a*s off, 70 hours a week cold calling and running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  I was doing alright, but it would have been nice to get some better direction (Morgan was notorious for poor sales and business training at that time), but ultimately it comes down to who you know, what you're involved in and how much respect you carry with your target market.  I was a young unknown kid with big eyes and dreams and an intense work ethic. 

Frankly, I'm quite frustrated about it all since I defied all odds just getting into the business and here I am jumping ship....in retrospect I should have done it a year ago, but I can be quite stubborn and chronically optimistic.

Quit doing asset-based fees. It’s not working for you. Work for commissions and you can afford to stay in business. Besides…it’s too easy to steal accounts from brokers that charge fees. If I get a commish and the client decides to move, it’s no big deal. I’ve already been paid for my work.

I'm sorry to hear that dude.

Best of luck at the insurance agency.

[quote=knucklehead] You let a bunch of self-defeating thoughts defeat you. You just got beat by a bunch of words on your computer monitor that include "NASD newbie." Turn of your f**king computer and clear your head. Old guys fail, too. Age has nothing to do with it. Work ethic has everything to do with it. [/quote]

Perhaps there is truth in your comment, although it has virtually nothing to do with what others are saying on this board.  I think  the self defeating thoughts came more from being nagged all the time by my wife and seeing how hard it was on my kids to be honest. 

The sad fact is that a very high percentage of brokers entering this business today will not be around in 5 years...something like 80-90% depending on your source.

From what I'm reading there are empty offices at just about every wirehouse branch office because of the difficulty of the business climate.

All of the old time brokers in my branch {image of NASD pops up here} keep telling me that it's allot harder today to make it than it was 10-15 years ago. Do you buy that or is that just a cop out excuse from doing the hard work of capturing assets? 

[quote=knucklehead] Quit doing asset-based fees. It's not working for you. Work for commissions and you can afford to stay in business. Besides...it's too easy to steal accounts from brokers that charge fees. If I get a commish and the client decides to move, it's no big deal. I've already been paid for my work. [/quote]

Yeah, I certainly understand your point.  I'm actually going to be doing quite a bit of annuity business it seems.  Not my favorite (I'm a stock broker at heart), but the client generation system and sales process they have in place is pretty nice and appears very ethical.  Plus the payouts are better than at a wirehouse.

[quote=Registered Rep]

The sad fact is that a very high percentage of brokers entering this business today will not be around in 5 years...something like 80-90% depending on your source.

From what I'm reading there are empty offices at just about every wirehouse branch office because of the difficulty of the business climate.

All of the old time brokers in my branch {image of NASD pops up here} keep telling me that it's allot harder today to make it than it was 10-15 years ago. Do you buy that or is that just a cop out excuse from doing the hard work of capturing assets? 

[/quote]

I have heard the same thing and am not sure whether I fully embrace that position since it is somewhat self defeating.  Although I will say that cold calling 15 years ago was certainly more viable than it is now.  Also, I think it is harder to build a suitable income with fee based business in a short time.

[quote=dude]

[quote=knucklehead] Quit doing asset-based fees. It's not working for you. Work for commissions and you can afford to stay in business. Besides...it's too easy to steal accounts from brokers that charge fees. If I get a commish and the client decides to move, it's no big deal. I've already been paid for my work. [/quote]

Yeah, I certainly understand your point.  I'm actually going to be doing quite a bit of annuity business it seems.  Not my favorite (I'm a stock broker at heart), but the client generation system and sales process they have in place is pretty nice and appears very ethical.  Plus the payouts are better than at a wirehouse.

[/quote]

I think you may have trouble selling something that you don't believe in.