You are doing excellent with those assets after one year.  You might want to start mixing in some prospecting for larger accounts to try to speed things up. Perhaps foundations but you have to really know that you are doing before going after them.  If you are at a wire house you can find some good help in that area. 

If you are indy you can do some good seminars.  They are very good for raising assets but you have to learn how to do them well.  You must be able to use a good invitation.  You could also spend $5000 and do a great seminar.  I used to use a firm out of Florida and have 150 people show up over three seminars done with one mailing.  Inexpensive seminars were also geat for me.  I used to spend about $1500 for each one and they were very profitable.  Semianrs were worth the investment and it got things moving fast in my business.  For three years I was doing ten a year. The company that is more expensive but very effective for me was Response Technology.  I assume they are still around.   

Good luck, I know it is tough.  You are doing great though. 

[quote=Brendan64]This is a second career for me - boy do I regret not getting started when I was younger.  VERY difficult with wife and kid and one on the way.  Can anyone share experiences in getting into the biz at this point.  been in for 1yr $8.5mm under mgmt - need to get to $30mm FAST.  Can anyone relate?  [/quote]

If you are up to 8.5 mil in a year that's a damn good start.  Go back and re-profile all the clients in the first half(chronologically) that you opened.  Confirm that they are happy with the programs you've set up for them, see if they have any other assets at other firms or in old 401k's, and then have a subtle, low-pressure, high class referral speech to lay on them.

Keep your head down and keep working, you'll be fine.  Maybe if you propose something like the above to your b.m. he'll even support you with a lunch allowance.

FYI, at your age(which is also approximately mine) many of your peers have now accumulated decent 401k balances, are changing jobs, and have realized they don't have the time to manage their own money.  They are also at a stage where they are realizing that they are certainly not getting any younger, and they need to start thinking about how to get serious about their retirement $$.  Think about how you can ramp up your social prospecting a bit.

[quote=Brendan64]This is a second career for me - boy do I regret not getting started when I was younger.  VERY difficult with wife and kid and one on the way.  Can anyone share experiences in getting into the biz at this point.  been in for 1yr $8.5mm under mgmt - need to get to $30mm FAST.  Can anyone relate?  [/quote]

Thats a great start however your idea of getting to 30M fast is flawed. This business is an endurance race not a sprint. I am at a little over 20M being out 3 yrs. My goal is 40M at 5 yrs. I have a wife who stays home and one child. Stay with it, make traction every day and before you know it you will be at your goal. Good luck!

I started in the biz at age 38 in the spring of 2002 from scratch. Inheirited a small book of about 3 mill in my 1st year. Today I have about 25 mill after almost 4 years. My wife stays home, and I have two kids. BTW my wife has never worked throughout this little venture, so it can be done. You just have to live lean an mean.

8 mill after one year is great. Keep up the great work. I know it's tough.

[quote=ezmoney]

I started in the biz at age 38 in the spring of 2002 from scratch. Inheirited a small book of about 3 mill in my 1st year. Today I have about 25 mill after almost 4 years. My wife stays home, and I have two kids. BTW my wife has never worked throughout this little venture, so it can be done. You just have to live lean an mean.

8 mill after one year is great. Keep up the great work. I know it's tough.

[/quote]

You are off to a great start! I am a little younger, 32, but my wife stays home with the kids also. My goal is for life to easier at 35 and much easier at 40. Right now we just have to watch every dollar.

Right now I am growing my business through several angles. Like a lot of other folks I do a lot of cold walking. I still come across tons of business owners that have NEVER been called on. The indy firm I came to the first of the year has a bank relationship and I am about to start working with them a day or two a week. Of course I still try to network like nobody's business and starting next month I will back to two seminars every month.

If I work 55 hours a week, I have realized that about 35 of those hours need to be involved in propsecting and the other 20 need need to used seeing about 15 clients/prospects. When I focus on these numbers, and dont go elephant hunting, my business grows at a steady rate.

I'm 38 and in my 2nd full year in my practice.

Don't fret you entered this business at your age....look forward not back!!!

I have about 13M AUM after being handed a small book of around 2.5M.

It's hard to put a finger on it, but I can sort of feel the momentum building.

scrim

Life is easy when your wife makes six figures.....

Brendan -

What did you do to get to 8 mil?  You've done great. Can you do more of what got you to this point? 

If not, can you leverage your time by hiring an intern, or streamlining your client service, or limiting the products you sell to buy yourself more time?  How many hours are you now working - can you add an hour a day to prospect?

How are you prospecting - if it's been cold calling, consider trying to call on CPAs and Attys, HR people, Real Estate people that see lots of people on a daily basis that they might be able to refer to you.  Look for younger (in the biz) people, looking also to grow their business.

If you are doing seminars, can you do workshops at companies instead (not have to fill the room).

It's hard to say how to get where you need to be without knowing what you're doing.

I also think 30 mil is a longshot, but go for it.  Was that your goal or management?  Why 30 mil?  And why need that amount FAST?  What's going on?  Tell us more.....

Yes, Yes, Yes, let us all stroke you. And stroke you some more. And then

we can stroke more. What is your point?



Rah, Rah Rah. Hip, Hip, Hooray! Wahoooooooooo!!!

I can tell you 30 mill is not the magic number. It’s not the number when business just knocks down your door everyday with no effort. If you think so you’ll be sadly dissappointed. It gets easier but there is still alot of work (prospecting) to do to generate income. Good luck.

New rookie and everyone –

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Thank you for your kind words – as far as what I am doing is cold calling, networking with CPA’s, investment bankers and estate attnys, and company specific seminars around stock options and NUA – so for seminars have had limited success with has surprised me.  Cold calling is working best.  I agree $30mm is not a magic number by any means but that is the point where I think you at least have your head above water.  I reason I need to get there FAST is having a family and living in the northeast with a high cost of living - it is my goal not mgmt. 

As for my process I require prospects to do a full financial plan with me.  Assets, liabilities, insurance, estate planning (opportunity to make a referral), education planning and long-term care.  Simply put if you don’t agree to do a financial plan I will not be your advisor – period.  Not one person has said no to this BTW.  I charge 1-2% on assets. 

I love this business and my other goal is in 10 years to be on the Barron’s list of top financial advisors in the US doing 2.5mm in production and having great clients.  A friend of mine is a top producer nationally at ML – I see first hand that at the high-end this is the greatest job in the world.  Comments welcome. 

I am starting from scratch at 34 with a wife and kid (wife works).   Its going to be tough but you gotta have stamina and have to keep prospecting.