Is age really just a number?
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I have worked in my B/D's home office for three years and have my licenses. I am very interested in going out into the field to be an FA and build a long term career. I enjoy sales, right now I double my income selling high end landscaping in my spare time. My sales mostly come from other contractors/realtors that I have gotten to refer me. I've done cold calling and door knocking as well. Problem is I'm 21. Am I stupid to start this career now? Simply because of my age...
Honest question, please keep the BS to yourself.I would say you are in a great position to start. You have time on your side and you can weather any storms that may be caused by your age. The market is low so you are going to look like a hero to anyone you can start a relationship with. You have a good foundation with the 3 yrs in the home office and your sales experience. I wish I started at your age. Go for it !!
I would keep doing what you’re doing and stockpile money for a few more years before making the leap. It would be a benefit to start at 24 with $50,000 more in the bank than you have now for example. We also don’t know for a fact that we’re on our way to recovery. If this market heads lower and tests the March lows in the coming months after you take a jump into the field that home office job you gave up would be looking pretty good.
Don't listen to the gloom and doomers. Anyone with a 5 year time horizon is going to make money if they get in the equity market now. With all of the uncertainty out there it is much easier to build a book of business when people are mad at their advisors then when they are happy because of all time highs. You don't need 50k saved because you probably don't have any expenses. Jump in.
Wife house and baby, only need about 40k to live on for a few years. My deal is I find my own prospects to make sales to (upper middle class folks with $$) and then the company i work for makes 5x what i make then they f*** the job up and make me look bad (obviously this isn’t a long term thing). I need to be in business for myself. I know I can prospect and do grunt work, but don’t know if a 50 year old will write me a check for 300k…
Anybody else start under 25? Or 21?[quote=opsassociate]
I have worked in my B/D's home office for three years and have my licenses. I am very interested in going out into the field to be an FA and build a long term career. I enjoy sales, right now I double my income selling high end landscaping in my spare time. My sales mostly come from other contractors/realtors that I have gotten to refer me. I've done cold calling and door knocking as well. Problem is I'm 21. Am I stupid to start this career now? Simply because of my age...
Honest question, please keep the BS to yourself.[/quote] Did you finish your undergrad while working in the home office? If not, I would try to finish that up and get tuition reimbursement, in the field most firms will not pay for it until you are generating x amount of commision which could take a few years. I know people will jump on me for saying that and claim it does not matter, but it really does. I get asked all the time where I went to school, sometime just small talk but I'm sure sometimes they are sizing me up. You will have more confidence if you finish school and not worry about every large prospect asking the question and blowing the deal at the 11th hour. You are 21, have a lot of time ahead of you, build your base (education, knowlege, experience, confidence) before gowing out there. I remember last fall when Sh@t was hitting the fan and a lot of FA's were asking me how to get a position in corporate because I had spent a few years starting out there. They were looking for a place to hide and pay bills, but corporate had put a hiring freeze on. I am not doom and gloom, I agree with Ron14 this is a great time, but once you leave your cozy cube you may not be able to go back if selling does not work out for you. Get your education if you have not, save some money for the ups and downs and hit the field at 23, 24 and you will still be one of the youngest guys out. Alright, ICECOLD, take your best shot at my latest comment.[quote=Ron 14]
Don’t listen to the gloom and doomers. Anyone with a 5 year time horizon is going to make money if they get in the equity market now. With all of the uncertainty out there it is much easier to build a book of business when people are mad at their advisors then when they are happy because of all time highs. You don’t need 50k saved because you probably don’t have any expenses. Jump in.
[/quote]This dipsh*t quit EDJ because he ran out of money and became a teller. Dont listen to his advice. He’s a piker.
[quote=LA Broker]
Did you finish your undergrad while working in the home office? If not, I would try to finish that up and get tuition reimbursement, in the field most firms will not pay for it until you are generating x amount of commision which could take a few years. I know people will jump on me for saying that and claim it does not matter, but it really does. I get asked all the time where I went to school, sometime just small talk but I'm sure sometimes they are sizing me up. You will have more confidence if you finish school and not worry about every large prospect asking the question and blowing the deal at the 11th hour. You are 21, have a lot of time ahead of you, build your base (education, knowlege, experience, confidence) before gowing out there. I remember last fall when Sh@t was hitting the fan and a lot of FA's were asking me how to get a position in corporate because I had spent a few years starting out there. They were looking for a place to hide and play with my balls, but corporate had put a hiring freeze on. I am not doom and gloom, I agree with Ron14 this is a great time, but once you leave your cozy cube you may not be able to go back if selling does not work out for you. Get your education if you have not, save some money for the ups and downs and hit the field at 23, 24 and you will still be one of the youngest guys out. Alright, ICECOLD, take your best shot at my latest comment. [/quote]Hey Polesmoker... WTF is wrong with you dude!!If you are working in the home office and you are doing a good job (if you’ve been there 3 years, you are certainly making them money), they have no incentive to move you anywhere.
If you want to be an advisor, you’re going to have to fight for it…just like you are going to have to fight for assets for the rest of your financial advisor career…you need to convince your boss that staying where you are is bad; and being a full-time FA is good!
think of it as your first sale!
I was 20 when I got my can-sell. It didn’t hold me back much though. I was married but no mortgage, low low debt, and never made much money before that. It was a pretty easy situation to get started in.
If your in some sort of home office, would they give you some assetts to get started with? I think Jones does that sometimes when people leave the homeoffice to go into the field.If you didn’t have the wife and kid I’d say go for it. But you have responsibilities buddy. You’re going to have to eat it for a few years.
[quote=hotair1] [quote=Ron 14]
Don't listen to the gloom and doomers. Anyone with a 5 year time horizon is going to make money if they get in the equity market now. With all of the uncertainty out there it is much easier to build a book of business when people are mad at their advisors then when they are happy because of all time highs. You don't need 50k saved because you probably don't have any expenses. Jump in.
[/quote]This dipsh*t quit EDJ because he ran out of money and became a teller. Dont listen to his advice. He's a piker.
[/quote] I assumed at 21 you weren't married with a kid. That is a totally different story. I would hold off for a few years and get some money socked away. Hotair1 - you are the biggest blow hard on this site. At first you said I was fired from EJ, now I am a dipsh*t for quitting and now I am a teller.
I’d tell you to keep selling landscaping. Shrubs don’t cause people to lose sleep, get ulcers, worry endlessly, or file compliants because there’s an ad running on TV that tells them they can. If you’re making good money selling landscaping, why not go into business for yourself in that business. You already have the contacts and the referrals coming in. That’s the hard part. The investment business has a tremendously high attrition rate. A good landscaper I would guess will always have a job.
I started right out of college at age 21 green as can be. It can pose an obstacle, but 20 years later I am still in the business. The trick I think is to not act like some 20 year old kid, but to dress the part and act the part. Selling is mainly about confidence. You present options and plans to clients with the confidence behind it and that is what sells. This is an excellent time to enter the business, but it is not easy that is for sure.