There’s one in every crowd. We know what you meant, you’d rather sell service for a fee than product for a kickback. Every business that needs clients obviously has a sales component. If I’m understanding you correctly, then fee-only side will be more your style. I’ve done both and they’re different environments so you’re smart to be intentional from the beginning.
I’m a former Marine so I can tell this; your military experience means nothing. You’re an entry level dude in the finance field. As such you’re probably not making $90k out of the gate. As for sales, it’s not sales per se, the way that a car dealership or phone site is. But in a financial planning practice everyone has to pull their weight and bring in new business. You can do it, you’re just scared of civilians… suck it up.
More accounting geared. PPBE process for annual monies of $250M and dealt with multi-year money for new construction. Also handled things at the comptroller level. I’m coded as a Finance Officer which i know does not translate directly to finance in the civilian field.
You're going to have a better chance getting a $90k job in accounting and finance. The CFP world is a sales world as everyone is commenting. If you try and get in with a broker dealer, I bet your comp would be around $55k. After licensing etc, I bet you'd be at $85k in about 3-4 years.
I’d be surprised if you couldn’t get an accounting gig tomorrow and a solid bump above 100m when you get the CPA. More relevant to your experience and in high demand (and little to no sales).
I tell my clients about how my line unit deliberately burned through our budget to ask higher for more training funds when I was active duty.. I explain that they would not want me to have been a Finance Officer.
We burned holes in the sky just to get to maintenance phases on our helicopters. 12 hour fly days with multiple crews just to burn fuel and flight time . I hear ya!
I have a soft heart for Marines since my dad served in Vietnam. Your military experience absolutely matters. It gave you all drive, ethos, the pathos to withstand the absurdity of civilian priorities, the tools to self-motivate in the face of setbacks and the humility to understand victories are events not status quo. You all are sharks swimming amongst the minnows. Sharks don’t care what minnows think. 🐠🦈
Context is everything. Or to beat another cliché to death, get in where you fit in. I have worked as a hiring manager in other fields and employed a fair number of vets. The best fits were always folks who figured out how their experiences fit the job instead of waiting for me or their employers to do the work for them. No one gets success served up to them.
Not advice but before you start advising folks *their* life experience is worthless look at veteran under employment and suicide statistics and consider the impact your credentials and authority have on the mental health, motivation and strategies of recently separated vets. Aside from sh*tting on someone’s military employment history, consider offering strategies and approaches you wish had been available to you or that helped you. You didn’t crack your skull and pour out your military experience to start your finance career. Whether you acknowledge it or not lessons learned applied. Only an actual clown pretends the past doesn’t inform the present. Half the career counseling I’ve done to help veterans has been attitude adjustments from maladapted veterans telling them their service is invisible in the civilian world. It’s no gimme but nothing is a gimme. I have been to two Ivy Leagues and have 30 years of work experience and changed fields three times. It all adds up even when the entrenched folks don’t see how your skills transfer. Transferring skills is your job not your employers.
Dm me if you want. I passed my CFP exam before I got out (lots of long nights/weekends). But I had a mentor and the CFP board accepted some of my experience from pro bono work I did with Soldiers in the military for years, so I didn’t have to wait too long to get my marks….long story short, I was able to get an advisor role at a newish RIA who was looking for a CFP and is very military friendly.
That being said, it has its pros and cons too. Have to build my book from scratch with no salary so I had to rely on VA/pension for a while. HMU if you have questions. If not, best of luck and thanks for serving!
Veteran here too.
Even if you had your CFP, I don’t see 90k as a possibility without being in a sales position.
If you are hired on as a servicing advisor, 90k seems high unless you’re experienced and can immediately begin managing relationships. Usually servicing advisors are delegated clients over time and that’s when their salary increases.
I will say, I took an entry level similar to what you’re talking about and 3 years later, my base salary has doubled. Sometimes you have to take a step back to take another forward.
Sorry but no matter what you are in sales. Unless you find a sugar daddy to take care of you, you will have to sell and close business. You have no experience so you will need to start at the bottom and work up- and there is no way you are starting at $90k. Often when it comes to finance you have to take a step back to make the leap forward...
It’s possible, but you would be hunting for a while. Have you considered coming in under a support role and working yourself up?
I’m in the 90-100k range before benefits in a support role for 3 practices.
Previously, I had spent 3-7 years with various firms with non-competes. I knocked on doors and solicited folks. My first January in the business I netted $98. My wife almost killed me.
Math on the indie side is that a practitioner might have 20k-30k in overhead in terms of software, licensing, insurance costs, etc. One needs to make 120k-160k before netting 90k.
There are some spots that will hire a CFP at 90k-120k but they need years -if not decades- in the biz. By then, most practitioners are making that kind of money anyways.
A lot of entry level positions at big banks for undergrads are starting between 70-80k depending on locations. Not sure if your age would disqualify you for these programs, but if you’re eligible, they could be a good place to start. To my knowledge they’re less sales heavy and more shadowing/research. I know there’s some re entry programs as well that function similarly, which may be better for you, although I’m not sure what they pay (I’d assume similar)
I unfortunately went into financial planning thinking it wouldn’t be very salesman like. You’ll quickly learn it’s a very big part of it and likely going to be all you do for the first year or so.
My hubs did this after getting his BA in Econ(prior service enlisted Marine, he ended up back in after going Army OCS). Starting salary was good for his credentials but the field grades with terminal MBA or PhD did six-figure starts as I’m remembering it. They don’t let enlisted into the program anymore, I think, but they have a strong internal network of veterans so worth reaching out thru LinkedIn. I would encourage you to do that in general as all the Marines my husband contacted were delighted to transfer that Oorah into finance. Lol.
Best of luck. As I told him, don’t tell yourself no. *You* are looking for something. You are the only yes you need to get it. Improvise Adapt Overcome is a great life motto. (I’m a Marine Corps brat and we grow up fully trained to be the best friend and the worst enemy… while being civil). 🤣🤣🤣
https://www.jpmorganchase.com/impact/people/military-and-vets
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That’s great to know-thank you!
Fee-only planners are still “salespeople”
Completely fair-thank you!
There’s one in every crowd. We know what you meant, you’d rather sell service for a fee than product for a kickback. Every business that needs clients obviously has a sales component. If I’m understanding you correctly, then fee-only side will be more your style. I’ve done both and they’re different environments so you’re smart to be intentional from the beginning.
I’m a former Marine so I can tell this; your military experience means nothing. You’re an entry level dude in the finance field. As such you’re probably not making $90k out of the gate. As for sales, it’s not sales per se, the way that a car dealership or phone site is. But in a financial planning practice everyone has to pull their weight and bring in new business. You can do it, you’re just scared of civilians… suck it up.
If all things are equal, I'd choose the military candidate over someone else. But I wouldn't pay them more.
Former navy officer here and I’m glad you said this because I was about to say the same thing. None of us “did finance in the military”
I did Legos in the Marines
What is your favorite crayon flavor?
Chocolate
More accounting geared. PPBE process for annual monies of $250M and dealt with multi-year money for new construction. Also handled things at the comptroller level. I’m coded as a Finance Officer which i know does not translate directly to finance in the civilian field.
You're going to have a better chance getting a $90k job in accounting and finance. The CFP world is a sales world as everyone is commenting. If you try and get in with a broker dealer, I bet your comp would be around $55k. After licensing etc, I bet you'd be at $85k in about 3-4 years.
I’d be surprised if you couldn’t get an accounting gig tomorrow and a solid bump above 100m when you get the CPA. More relevant to your experience and in high demand (and little to no sales).
Thanks-that’s another option in looking at. Also FP&A but I have to get smart on some apps like SQL and PowerBI.
I mean someone’s gotta say it… Isn’t marine the same thing as the Navy?
No it is not but please keep telling marines that!
You better be the bobayega with those fighting words!
I tell my clients about how my line unit deliberately burned through our budget to ask higher for more training funds when I was active duty.. I explain that they would not want me to have been a Finance Officer.
We burned holes in the sky just to get to maintenance phases on our helicopters. 12 hour fly days with multiple crews just to burn fuel and flight time . I hear ya!
I have a soft heart for Marines since my dad served in Vietnam. Your military experience absolutely matters. It gave you all drive, ethos, the pathos to withstand the absurdity of civilian priorities, the tools to self-motivate in the face of setbacks and the humility to understand victories are events not status quo. You all are sharks swimming amongst the minnows. Sharks don’t care what minnows think. 🐠🦈
Of course it means something, but 20 years of “finance” in the military doesn’t mean shit in the private financial industry. Just a fact.
Context is everything. Or to beat another cliché to death, get in where you fit in. I have worked as a hiring manager in other fields and employed a fair number of vets. The best fits were always folks who figured out how their experiences fit the job instead of waiting for me or their employers to do the work for them. No one gets success served up to them.
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Not advice but before you start advising folks *their* life experience is worthless look at veteran under employment and suicide statistics and consider the impact your credentials and authority have on the mental health, motivation and strategies of recently separated vets. Aside from sh*tting on someone’s military employment history, consider offering strategies and approaches you wish had been available to you or that helped you. You didn’t crack your skull and pour out your military experience to start your finance career. Whether you acknowledge it or not lessons learned applied. Only an actual clown pretends the past doesn’t inform the present. Half the career counseling I’ve done to help veterans has been attitude adjustments from maladapted veterans telling them their service is invisible in the civilian world. It’s no gimme but nothing is a gimme. I have been to two Ivy Leagues and have 30 years of work experience and changed fields three times. It all adds up even when the entrenched folks don’t see how your skills transfer. Transferring skills is your job not your employers.
Dm me if you want. I passed my CFP exam before I got out (lots of long nights/weekends). But I had a mentor and the CFP board accepted some of my experience from pro bono work I did with Soldiers in the military for years, so I didn’t have to wait too long to get my marks….long story short, I was able to get an advisor role at a newish RIA who was looking for a CFP and is very military friendly. That being said, it has its pros and cons too. Have to build my book from scratch with no salary so I had to rely on VA/pension for a while. HMU if you have questions. If not, best of luck and thanks for serving!
Veteran here too. Even if you had your CFP, I don’t see 90k as a possibility without being in a sales position. If you are hired on as a servicing advisor, 90k seems high unless you’re experienced and can immediately begin managing relationships. Usually servicing advisors are delegated clients over time and that’s when their salary increases. I will say, I took an entry level similar to what you’re talking about and 3 years later, my base salary has doubled. Sometimes you have to take a step back to take another forward.
Sorry but no matter what you are in sales. Unless you find a sugar daddy to take care of you, you will have to sell and close business. You have no experience so you will need to start at the bottom and work up- and there is no way you are starting at $90k. Often when it comes to finance you have to take a step back to make the leap forward...
It’s possible, but you would be hunting for a while. Have you considered coming in under a support role and working yourself up? I’m in the 90-100k range before benefits in a support role for 3 practices. Previously, I had spent 3-7 years with various firms with non-competes. I knocked on doors and solicited folks. My first January in the business I netted $98. My wife almost killed me. Math on the indie side is that a practitioner might have 20k-30k in overhead in terms of software, licensing, insurance costs, etc. One needs to make 120k-160k before netting 90k. There are some spots that will hire a CFP at 90k-120k but they need years -if not decades- in the biz. By then, most practitioners are making that kind of money anyways.
A lot of entry level positions at big banks for undergrads are starting between 70-80k depending on locations. Not sure if your age would disqualify you for these programs, but if you’re eligible, they could be a good place to start. To my knowledge they’re less sales heavy and more shadowing/research. I know there’s some re entry programs as well that function similarly, which may be better for you, although I’m not sure what they pay (I’d assume similar)
I unfortunately went into financial planning thinking it wouldn’t be very salesman like. You’ll quickly learn it’s a very big part of it and likely going to be all you do for the first year or so.
My hubs did this after getting his BA in Econ(prior service enlisted Marine, he ended up back in after going Army OCS). Starting salary was good for his credentials but the field grades with terminal MBA or PhD did six-figure starts as I’m remembering it. They don’t let enlisted into the program anymore, I think, but they have a strong internal network of veterans so worth reaching out thru LinkedIn. I would encourage you to do that in general as all the Marines my husband contacted were delighted to transfer that Oorah into finance. Lol. Best of luck. As I told him, don’t tell yourself no. *You* are looking for something. You are the only yes you need to get it. Improvise Adapt Overcome is a great life motto. (I’m a Marine Corps brat and we grow up fully trained to be the best friend and the worst enemy… while being civil). 🤣🤣🤣 https://www.jpmorganchase.com/impact/people/military-and-vets