First, a little about myself so you can respond with all of the facts:

35yr old with family of 5.  Have been employed in various customer service/direct sales positions for 17 years with a little college under my belt.  I feel I've had a severe string of bad luck due to down sizing a companies closing causing a very low income.  I currently just suffered a 30% cut in pay at my current position and now am looking for something better with more freedom.  I'm now down to $30,000 with excellent benefits.

I'm looking at Edward Jones and like the (even at the low end) income potential and freedom I would have for my family once I was up and running.  I'm highly intelligent and not affraid of hard work.

I'm spent countless hours on here reading everything I can find about EJ (yes, with not only a cup of coffee but several pots of java).  From what I gather, EJ has the best staring program to get your feet wet.  I'm looking for suggestion, comments, etc?  I've looked into some of the other firms and it doesn't seem that they want what I have to offer or I'd starve my children by starting at those companies.

Therefore, is it feasible to make $40,000 in your first year?  I know to some of you this may seem like poverty level, however, for my family's lifestyle and our location, $40,000 is not too shabby.  Would $60,000 in your second year be realistic? 

The reason I received a pay cut at my current position is because I was focusing on relationship building and doing what was right for my customers, not selling them products they didn't need.  How likely am I to run into the same BS with EJ?  I've read a lot of good things on here about them, but I've seen the bad too. 

Thanks for your input.

Trumpy