And thank you God for answering my prayers.

Zwing, I did the same calculations earlier in the year when last year’s final numbers came out. It was pretty eye opening. There were 3 decent producers and 13 more that were 250,000 pc’s or less for last year in my office. The numbers don’t lie.

Maybeee, good for you. I suspect that we newer advisors are at the end of an era… I’m not sure we aren’t too late entirely. There isn’t 30 years of future for the big wirehouse advisor business model, in my guess.

Good for you, Maybeeeeee… I’ll tell you this business is unbelievable. Isn’t it?! The ego’s are the size of football fields. The guys in my office pulling down $85-$125K/yr act as if they walk on water and are 10 ft tall.

But, here’s the thing: You’ve now seen it first hand and are that much the better for it. Chalk it up as a lesson learned and get to creating something you can be proud of. Onward and upward.

The beauty of America is you can work where you want. For me… I need to be my own boss. This is the greatest career. As a mentor once told me… “You can do well by doing good.”

Wouldn’t change this for anything

[quote=maybeeeeeeee][quote=Amber_M]

I hope it works for you, how long have you been in the business?

:)[/quote][/quote]

No “hope” about it… it IS working.
Independent.
Own office
Staff of two
Provide benefits
Funding retirement plan AND pension

10 years.

[quote=Amber_M]The beauty of America is you can work where you want. For me… I need to be my own boss. This is the greatest career. As a mentor once told me… “You can do well by doing good.”

Wouldn’t change this for anything :)[/quote]

I am curious how long you have been in the business. Also, curious if you think of yourself FIRST. Paying yourself FIRST. Trying to do the best for the client, but ALWAYS doing the best for YOU number ONE. It is those people who are successful in this business. They dont care if things in the long run dont work out for you, they reason in their heads that they are doing a better job than 80% of the other advisors out there and they really have no control over the future.
BUT they make SURE to get paid and PAID Well. Then they really stupidly blow it all on watches and suits. This business revolves around MONEY MONEY MONEY. And it that is your number one goal, at least you are in the right business. It does not however mean you will be successful in this business.

[quote=maybeeeeeeee][quote=Mr. Net New]Good for you, Maybeeeeee… I’ll tell you this business is unbelievable. Isn’t it?! The ego’s are the size of football fields. The guys in my office pulling down $85-$125K/yr act as if they walk on water and are 10 ft tall.

Thank you and I wish you the best. I AGREE I have NEVER been around so many weird people, strange people, goofy people in my life as in the FA business. NOT the type of people I enjoy spending my life around. Still, so dissappointed in myself that I allowed myself to be treated like an army recruit by those fatheads. onward and upward.

But, here’s the thing: You’ve now seen it first hand and are that much the better for it. Chalk it up as a lesson learned and get to creating something you can be proud of. Onward and upward.[/quote][/quote]

What a great feeling to be able to laugh at all this now. It was soooooo serious , life or death stuff. Success or HUGE FAILURE like it could ruin your life and your reputation and everything. Amazed that God rescued me. Honestly, I could never have conceived this on my own.

[quote=Amber_M][quote=maybeeeeeeee][quote=Amber_M]

I hope it works for you, how long have you been in the business?

:)[/quote][/quote]

No “hope” about it… it IS working.
Independent.
Own office
Staff of two
Provide benefits
Funding retirement plan AND pension

10 years.

:)[/quote]

Well, you either bought a book, or had some pretty big money from family and friends. Either way is OK, just don’t act like you did it all on your own.

[quote=ZwingDing][quote=Mr. Net New]Good for you, Maybeeeeee… I’ll tell you this business is unbelievable. Isn’t it?! The ego’s are the size of football fields. The guys in my office pulling down $85-$125K/yr act as if they walk on water and are 10 ft tall.

But, here’s the thing: You’ve now seen it first hand and are that much the better for it. Chalk it up as a lesson learned and get to creating something you can be proud of. Onward and upward.[/quote]

This is consistent with my experience. I had a guy brag to me about how he literally makes $100K. That is certainly an above average income but I found out later from others that he was a bank FA who built his book by sitting in branches and then basically stole that business from the bank and walked it over to our firm. He would be outraged if someone treated him like that.

I also thought: hmmmm, that used to be my base salary…plus commish… no unreimbursed expenses…office from home…dress how I want when I’m not on a sales call… come and go as I please… play some golf… do some fishing… make my quota…get paid…boss in a different time zone…no compliance drones

This person also has to come into an office every day. Dress up like Little Lord Fauntleroy.
Make sure someone knows where he is and how he can be reached while the market is open.
And the list goes on.

There are much better gigs out there unless you are one of the mathematically/statistically insignificant number of people who make it big time.[/quote]

[quote=maybeeeeeeee][quote=Amber_M]The beauty of America is you can work where you want. For me… I need to be my own boss. This is the greatest career. As a mentor once told me… “You can do well by doing good.”

Wouldn’t change this for anything :)[/quote]

I am curious how long you have been in the business. Also, curious if you think of yourself FIRST. Paying yourself FIRST. Trying to do the best for the client, but ALWAYS doing the best for YOU number ONE. It is those people who are successful in this business. They dont care if things in the long run dont work out for you, they reason in their heads that they are doing a better job than 80% of the other advisors out there and they really have no control over the future.
BUT they make SURE to get paid and PAID Well. Then they really stupidly blow it all on watches and suits. This business revolves around MONEY MONEY MONEY. And it that is your number one goal, at least you are in the right business. It does not however mean you will be successful in this business.[/quote]

If that is what you truly believe, then it IS time for you to leave the industry. Good luck in your next career.

[quote=maybeeeeeeee][quote=Amber_M][quote=maybeeeeeeee][quote=Amber_M]

I hope it works for you, how long have you been in the business?

:)[/quote][/quote]

No “hope” about it… it IS working.
Independent.
Own office
Staff of two
Provide benefits
Funding retirement plan AND pension

10 years.

:)[/quote]

Well, you either bought a book, or had some pretty big money from family and friends. Either way is OK, just don’t act like you did it all on your own.[/quote]

I didn’t buy a book and my family is all middle class. Today, I prob have less than a mil in family and friends money.

I built my business thru six years of seminars. My greatest “luck” was finding a super mentor. They believed in me, and helped me learn seminars. So no, I didn’t do it all myself, I had a mentor.

First four years I did 12 mailings a year. Each mailing offered three seminar options. Did Breakfast, dinner, refreshments & hor devours, Saturday AM coffee & rolls.

Everything went on the CC. My highest balance at one point was over $43,000. But i considered it an investment in my future. So I did it. Some seminars were good. Some were a total bust with no clients. But its the law of averages.

In the last few years, I only did work-place seminars. Those are MUCH less money and are much more successful. It also gets me in good with the HR folk who may refer me biz.

So I did do this myself with the help of an outstanding mentor who I think is one of the best in the biz for marketing. But I DID put in the effort. First three years I worked a LOT of hours including weekends. Its not an easy biz, but fortunately for those that stick it out, there IS a huge turnover. And when clients are dumped by an advisor who quit, they look for a new advisor. And there I am…

Amber did you start as an indy or move once you got your book big enough?

Amber did you start as an indy or move once you got your book big enough?

I worked for a big name for 4 years, then went indy. Clarification… by indy I mean with an independent BD. When I made the move, I went to 99% “fee based” as well.

For me, it was the right move.