Career Planner: Wealth Management

Financial planner

*Field Description

Financial planners and wealth managers help individuals plan their financial futures. How are you going to cover your retirement needs? What do you have to do today to put your children through college? This work can be personally and financially rewarding and requires excellent interpersonal skills. A good financial planner understands investments, taxes, estate planning issues and knows how to listen. This work can be done within a company such as IDS Financial Services or by yourself, as a sole proprietorship.

*Common Job Titles

Administrative Assistant

EARNINGS $25,000 to $35,000 a year

REQUIREMENTS

• University degree or college diploma

• Computer skills

RESPONSIBILITIES

Providing administrative support for senior advisors, including faxing, photocopying, and mailing.

Beginning Financial Planner

EARNINGS $35,000 to $45,000 a year

REQUIREMENTS • Experience in the field

RESPONSIBILITIES

Providing administrative support for senior advisors, including faxing, photocopying, and mailing; doing some preparation of financial plan reports.

Assistant Consultant

EARNINGS $40,000 to $55,000 a year

REQUIREMENTS

• Skills and experience

• Completion of financial planning courses

RESPONSIBILITIES

Preparing complete financial plan reports from notes by senior financial consultants.

Financial Consultant / Planner

EARNINGS $55,000 to $80,000 a year

REQUIREMENTS

• Ability to work independently with clients

• Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation recommended

RESPONSIBILITIES

Taking on direct responsibility for clients; meeting with and advising clients; managing junior planners.

Vice-President

EARNINGS $80,000 to $150,000 a year

REQUIREMENTS Experience in team management

RESPONSIBILITIES

Meeting with and advising clients; managing a team; expanding the business through sales contacts.

*General Accountabilities & Duties

 Assess clients’ financial needs for retirement, tax and estate planning.

 Formulate financial plans and solutions to fulfill client objectives.

 Implement financial plans that are monitored and reviewed regularly.

 Stay informed on current investment products and changes in the markets and tax laws.

 Provide comprehensive wealth management advice, including guidance on investment and portfolio management issues, to high net worth clients.

 Refer to, or consult with, tax, legal and estate planning specialists as needed.

 Prospect for new clients and build an established business.

*Key Skill Requirements

A good financial planner understands investments, taxes, estate planning issues and knows how to listen. In order to be effective, financial planners must be familiar with legal restrictions and laws concerning retirement plans, tax shelters, insurance, and trusts. They must be skilled at working with numbers and budgets and be able to understand complicated financial and legal documents. In addition, they should be articulate, persuasive, and have some decent selling ability. To make it in financial planning you need to know the details of various investments, tax law, estate planning strategies and you need to be good at marketing yourself and listening to your customers.
*Estimated Range Of Salaries

The median salary for financial planners job rankings issue was $70,000 in 2008. People that work for companies earn somewhat less and franchisees do the worst. The salary distribution in this business is highly skewed.

Bear in mind, of course, that it takes a number of years to build a strong clientele so that in the early days money will not flow quickly into a practice.

*Education, Certification & Licenses

If you’re thinking about becoming a financial planner, you should have at least a bachelors degree in a business related area. An MBA can be helpful but is not required at all.

To receive professional accreditation, they are expected to first complete financial planning courses such as those leading to CSI’s Financial Management Advisor Designation, which are the Canadian Securities Course (CSC), the Professional Financial Planning Course (PFPC) and the Wealth Management Techniques (WMT) course.

Financial planners are increasingly called on to have the CFP (Certified Financial Planner) designation. To become a CFP, you must past an exam approved by the CFP Board of Standards which covers over 175 topics in investing and financial planning. Today, there are approximately 59,000 CFP’s. The number has more than doubled in the last decade.

*Additional Information

U. S. News and World Report listed the position of financial planner as one of the twenty hottest professions for the future. They note that the entry of baby-boomers into middle age with a bewildering array of investment choices will make financially planning a really hot profession in the future. This said, financial planners interviewed recently point out that getting a solo practice going as a financial planner today can be difficult and highly competitive.