How much can be made?
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...ughh...the mental image...
I don't discount the value of a nice conservative suit with some prospects. I have docker days and suit days, but I think I'll pass on clothing optional at this stage in my life.
Doberman, you still crack me up.
[quote=JCadieux] [quote=Scorpio]Ok SOMEONE needs to tell him. 9 out of 10 people who come into this business are fired within the first two years for not producing enough. How do you like your chances?
[/quote]
Scorpio is absolutely correct. The most optimistic industry-wide figure that I’ve heard is that eight out of ten fail.
If you join a top firm with good training and good local management, you also increase your chances of success. This situation is hard to find, but as a CPA you're a premium candidate. Be picky. Of the three categories mentioned above, good local management is the most critical. If you don't click with local management, then don't take the job.
Write your own marketing plan before you commit to one firm. As a CPA, you're a natural to work with small business owners. Your state probably has rules about CPA sponsored seminars and other kinds of "free advice". If you can work within the rules that's probably the best way to go. You may also consider setting up referral channels with other CPAs.
If your best marketing plan is generic, then your chances go way down. The best marketing plans take advantage of some unique "edge" that other few advisors share. Your CPA is a good example of an edge. Other advantages include natural markets, existing networks and existing referral channels.
If your best marketing plan depends mostly on cold calling, then walk away. Lots of smart people join this business thinking they can be good at either sales or financial planning and fake the rest. That's wrong. The job is part finance and part sales, and you must be good at both to make it at a top firm.
If you're not good at financial planning, then might fake it for a few years before a market correction eats you alive. A good firm can train you and give you tools for this part, so choose your firm carefully. If you're not good at sales, then you'll be gone within a year. Maybe less. Sales skills are critical for short term success. Planning skills and good support are critical for long term success.
Hope this helps.
Happy Hunting!
[/quote]
Now THIS is a good post! Thanks JC...
I am not seeing that failure rate, infact the numbers are
reversed. Maybe we are just better at picking advisors in our
office.
Right… If your picking better and developing then the management has to be better.
[quote=BankFC]
I picked up a $400,000 fee based account today (and closing on a $260,000 annuity at 5 pm), and I am wearing a polo and slacks.
Gotta love the bank.
[/quote]
You BETTER love the bank. You GIVE them 70% of YOUR money.
[quote=BankFC]
I picked up a $400,000 fee based account today (and closing on a $260,000 annuity at 5 pm), and I am wearing a polo and slacks.
Gotta love the bank.
[/quote]Well shoot when you work for the bank people most likely expect you to wear one of those institutional uniforms with the logo of your EMPLOYER on it. Do you also wear a little "Hi I'm BankFC can I ehlp you" nametags?
Either way I suppose if you're making bank and you're happy, who cares.
For established folks it's a little different. Shoot my office is in my home so there's days I work in sweats and a t-shirt if I dont' have meetings.
All I'm suggesting is that when you're starting out fresh, and especially if you're young(wish I was), that you should use EVERY tool at your disposal to make the best possible first impression. And...keep your wardrobe simple because you're going to be busy and working long hours. You don't want to find out the morning of your big meeting that you don't have the shirt that matches that 'special suit'....that you forgot to pick it up because you were very busy and worked late the night before. Just my 2 cents based upon experience.
"Shoot my office is in my home so there's days I work in sweats and a t-shirt if I dont' have meet"
dont you mean you work out of you trailer park? and that you sit on your tattered couch in your wife beater and ripped boxers, checking client accounts while drinking a natural light?
after all, you are originally from L.I right????
[quote=rightway]I am not seeing that failure rate, infact the numbers are
reversed. Maybe we are just better at picking advisors in our
office.
[/quote]
You are correct. The numbers change dramatically at the top firms.
The top-tier programs are very selective. They also give better training and more pay.
In fact, compensation is one of the top reasons that people leave “C” tier firms. They bust their butts to make their numbers, only to find that they can’t live on the tiny payouts. If they’re smart they’ll find a better firm. If not, then they leave the business entirely.
I’m seeing more and more trainees changing programs after only 6 or 12 months because they aren’t getting the support or compensation they deserve.
Could someone give me a breakdown of Teir 1, 2, and 3 firms… what
characterizes them and a few examples of each?
[quote=blarmston]
“Shoot my office is in my home so there’s days I work in sweats and a t-shirt if I dont’ have meet”
dont you mean you work out of you trailer park? and that you sit on your tattered couch in your wife beater and ripped boxers, checking client accounts while drinking a natural light?
after all, you are originally from L.I right????
[/quote]funny man.
nope lived there for a while but originally from the mid-west.
[quote=johnnieblack]Could someone give me a breakdown of Teir 1, 2, and 3 firms… what
characterizes them and a few examples of each?[/quote]
That question is enough to start a holy war on this board.
Without naming names, I believe that Tier one firms offer salaries, training and marketing support to their trainees. Tier 3 firms give you a phone book and wish you luck. Tier 2 falls somewhere in between.
Of course, everybody CLAIMS to be a tier one firm.
I'll GLADLY give the bank 60% of the revenue on a client I never would have met by not working at the bank.
If you are going to talk in terms of good deal/bad deal, then it's not the bank that's the problem. As a BankFC, I REALIZE I am an employee of the bank, and I do the few corporate things that are required of me in exchange for unlimited access to the clients of the bank, the resources of the marketing dept, as well as the favorable reputation instantly afforded to me by being associated with a large community bank.
The real rip off is the wires. My friends at ML with similar LOS get the same payout (around 40 percent, maybe SLIGHTLY higher, but not much at all), so they give ML (or insert whatever wirehouse you want here) 60% for what? A bunch of structured products 99% of people don't want, a dual screen desk top, and and office.
I'm not harping on ML. I truly liked working there. I just took a objective look, and decided if some is going to take 60% of my money (let's not even go into wirehouse haircuts) I might as well get the most value for it.
Apples to apples, my 60% is paying for a lot more at a bank than it would at a wire.
[quote=JCadieux] [quote=johnnieblack]Could someone give me a breakdown of Teir 1, 2, and 3 firms... what
characterizes them and a few examples of each?[/quote]
That question is enough to start a holy war on this board.
[/quote]
Go for it. Lets here it.
To answer the original question of how much can be made…
If you go to ML and somehow graduate their program, you will have 15
million in assets after two years. Off of this you will do about
150,000/yr in production, and at that production level you will get
roughly 35% so your annual income is $52,500. They want you to
practically kill yourself so that you can have a slim shot at making
50k a year. Still interested?
[quote=Scorpio]They want you to
practically kill yourself so that you can have a slim shot at making
50k a year. Still interested?
[/quote]
Scorpio. You are absolutely correct.
If you bust your butt for 18 months you’ll have $15M before the salary goes away.
But you’re assuming that everybody stops there.
The average advisor with Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Smith Barney or UBS makes between $200K and $300K per year. They do that because the DON’T sit on their butts at any time. Successful brokers balance their time between prospecting new clients, building referral networks and caring for existing customers.
If you’re the kind of person who plans to build a $15M book and then just coast along, then you’re in the wrong business.
Oh I agree completely.
I just meant that a person who graduates the program basically pulled
off the impossible, and their grand reward is to make significantly
below six figures for the next 3-4 years.
The income isn’t as compelling as people make it seem, when you factor
in the probability of making it and realistic production figures.
The original poster sounds like he’s got a decent job as an accountant
(I think), probably making upper 5 figures. If he leaves to roll
the dice as a FA, he’ll take an initial pay cut during his
hell-on-earth life as a ML trainee. Then if he’s lucky enough to
actually graduate he’ll be rewarded with a further paycut. It
seems illogical for someone in his position to abandon their career to
try out as a broker, but I see firms entice people like this all the
time by waiving fake dollar signs in their face.
[quote=johnnieblack]Could someone give me a breakdown of Teir 1, 2, and 3 firms... what
characterizes them and a few examples of each?[/quote]
Simple. On a scale of 1 to 3, Morgan Stanley is 1, Ed Jones is 4, Goldman is 2, and everyone else is 3. You can argue all you want about 2 down, but number is 1 is indisputable - I stake my name on that (in fact, I have staked my own sense of self worth on that belief).
[quote=JCadieux]
[quote=johnnieblack]Could someone give me a breakdown of Teir 1, 2, and 3 firms… what
characterizes them and a few examples of each?[/quote]
That question is enough to start a holy war on this board.
[/quote]
Here we go! Everybody hang on!
I guess MS’s a 1 because you can charge 3% for a mutual fund wrap acct. You CAN make a butt load of money at that rate. What I find interesting about MS is that Discover seems to be the best part of their business. One more shot - Blackrock didn’t seem to think MS was better than ML… Sorry about your career Mike.
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