A Day in the Life of a Financial Advisor

My Typical Day

When I worked as a financial advisor, nights were more productive than days. That’s because I spend the mornings and afternoons responding to clients’ inquiries. It was a part of my job to be available whenever the clients needed some advice.

Existing clients took most of my daylight. I checked my emails and responded to them as quickly as possible. There were also face-to-face meetings and phone calls where I updated the clients about their investment portfolio, new financial services, or some news that they might find useful.

In the initial stages, a good chunk of my day was dedicated to researching new prospects. When you get stuck with the same clients, your career starts to stagnate. Most of us don’t want to risk that.

At night, I would review the day’s work, analyze the strategies that failed, and come up with improvements. This was also the time where I would read a book on personal finance or listen to a podcast.

Pros

You’re basically self-employed and not associated with a firm. You can be flexible with hours and choose to have as much workload as you want.

It’s relatively inexpensive to start your career as a financial advisor. There are some licensing requirements but even there, the cost is extremely low.

You get to see the difference you’re making. When a client is able to achieve financial stability with your help, it’s a rewarding experience to see them prosper. Of course, you get a good commission for it as well.

Cons

There’s a lot of stress that comes with being a financial advisor. Every client has different financial goals and managing them all at once can take a toll on your mind.

It can be difficult to find clients at first. I have seen my fellow advisors put in 60 hours a week to land good clients.

Self-employment takes a lot of discipline. You could be distracted by things at home, TV shows, and other things. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the little pleasures of life for work.

Advice to aspiring Financial Advisors

Being a financial advisor is like being a salesman. You need to have good interpersonal skills. People are first going to buy you as a person before anything else.

Students who are interested in this career should look for internships at smaller financial advisory firms. You would be mostly doing research or making cold calls but it would be a great learning experience. Of course, as with most careers, you wouldn’t make much money at first. But once you land the first client, the opportunities will keep coming.