Financial Planning Career

Finance: Financial Planning

Financial planning is an exciting career within the broader field of finance. The 2001 Jobs Rated Almanac chose financial planning as the top career choice in the country (jobweb.com). Financial planners help people plan their finances, with a focus on long-term goals such as providing for children’s college tuition or having a comfortable retirement. Financial planners differ from money managers, who directly invest people’s money as they see fit. As long as money is important to people, financial planning for the future will also be important. The question of how to keep one’s money and even make it grow is extremely interesting to most people. The stock-market craze of the late 1990s and then the real estate boom of the past five years have made people think seriously about financial planning in their own lives. Suffering large losses in the stock market, many people learned one of the key commandments of financial planning: Thou Shall Diversify Your Assets! Fortunes are to be made or lost depending on how one plans financially. This paper will present an overview of the nature of financial planning work, the general requirements of the profession, the specific requirements for certification, the level of demand for financial planners, and useful resources for job hunting and career issues.

The work environment and income of financial planners can vary greatly. Some are self-employed, while others find employment in large financial services institutions such as American Express. Most choose to be independent or work with a few other planners in a relatively small organization such as Yeske & Company in San Francisco. Financial planners may receive an hourly pay or commissions or both. They may also be compensated by a given percentage of the client’s portfolio, for example 1% for assets below $1 million but as low as 0.5% for assets above $5 million (Miller 2004). According to a recent survey, the median salary for financial planners is about $55,000, but the top 10% of financial planners make $150,000 or above per year (Careers in Finance 2005).

Financial planners help clients create a plan that enables them to meet their personal and financial goals. To achieve this goal, planners review assets, liabilities, and earnings. They also perform periodic checks of progress toward goals. Financial planners can provide advice on a wide range of topics such as insurance products, investments, estate planning, loans, mortgages, and taxes. A good planner will therefore have a long-term relationship with his or her clients. A common reason that people consult a planner is to ensure that they have enough assets for a secure, comfortable retirement.

Business skills are a must in this line of work, as are interpersonal and communication