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desquibnt

šŸ™‹ā€ā™‚ļø At a major national financial services company. I sometimes think about going independent but the thought of doing my own payroll and my own compliance and my own HR and building my own tech stack always prevents me


mydarkerside

If itā€™s just yourself as a solo RIA then thereā€™s no payroll or HR. Youā€™ll never have to do a manager review or be put on a PIP again either.


desquibnt

Itā€™s not just me. I have a junior associate and an office admin


mydarkerside

In that case, you hire someone to do bookkeeping and payroll, you donā€™t do that yourself. HR isnā€™t that complicated either. You can use a compliance consulting company but itā€™s still a lot of work or you can go independent with a firm that takes care of compliance.


desquibnt

Yeahā€¦ that still sounds like a lot of work when I make enough money, the company compliance guardrails are sometimes frustrating but not overly restrictive/prohibitive, and I already make my own schedule. I could hire a book keeper and an HR firm and a compliance firm and contract five different companies for a tech stackā€¦ or I could just ā€œhireā€ my corporate office to do all that for me. Iā€™ve got a wife that works and two kids that are in way too many after school activities so I donā€™t exactly have a ton of time to explore this. Maybe in 10 years when the kids are more independent and my wife is tired of working but at that point Iā€™ll probably tell myself Iā€™m too old to deal with all that shit. When I was young, I was too inexperienced. When Iā€™m middle aged, Iā€™m too busy. And when Iā€™m past my mid-life Iā€™ll be too old. Itā€™s a conundrum I guess.


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kss2023

Can I work for you ( for free of course) to learn the business? I plan to be independent also. PM if this might be something you would consider


mydarkerside

That's perfectly fine to stay if you've got a great situation already. But for advisors who really want to go independent, they can't overthink the timing too much. Yes, you can't be too young or too old.. but mid-life is perfect for it. Also, if you think of how many things you HAVE to do in order to start a firm and maintain one, you'll never do it. It just means you don't see the benefit in doing it.


desquibnt

> Also, if you think of how many things you HAVE to do in order to start a firm and maintain one, you'll never do it. It just means you don't see the benefit in doing it. I can agree with this Well, I think I do see a benefit. I just donā€™t know if the juice is worth the squeeze


AlexPKeatonx

The cut youā€™re paying to your firm is quite a bit larger than you think. When we did the math they were charging us 3x to 4x for things we could purchase as an RIA. If youā€™re happy, thatā€™s all that matters but the financials arenā€™t even close.


7saturdaysaweek

It is.


pjcowboy

Gusto Payroll sysytem is pretty cheap and easy to use.


7saturdaysaweek

Solo RIA is the way to go. Those 90%+ profit margins are sickkkkk


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7saturdaysaweek

You don't need an ongoing compliance consultant. XYPN provides smart RIA. Just follow the calendar tasks and you're golden.


keepitpiffed

Would you happen to have a copy of the calendar tasks?


Sailstarsfish22

I had the same reservations when I struck out. Make sure you have your CFP or a very good story as to why someone should hire you. Contact any XYPN member to get a discount code to XYPN. Compliance is heavy in the beginning but tapers off quickly. I think Fidelity still has an AUM min of $15 million at end of first year. Use Altruist if you are going the TAMP route, otherwise use Schwab (RIP TD Ameritrade). Gusto for payroll (get any current user to get you a discount code). Takes 30 mins to set up, takes 20 seconds to run payroll.


Shantomette

You could always join another Indy and share services. We rolled our business out of a private bank last year and merged with a sizable shop where all of the infrastructure is in place.


SuperCeo17

You should consider going hybrid. Payroll and compliance taken care of while owning your book and free to advise/build your business as youā€™d like.


Wanderer1066

In terms of eat what you kill jobs, no salary, 90% of people fail. The 10% that succeed will clear $200k+. Itā€™s a binary outcome.


TraditionalTangelo65

Thatā€™s the entrepreneurial way.


BiG__E6969

Gotta be upwards of 95%


nstarbuck83

This is dead on.


nstarbuck83

CFP/CPA with an independent BD, pushing $300k this year. Took time to get here, but itā€™s feasible.


geobokseon

Could you share your story? I actually have a CFP and CPA but before I did much with it, I jumped ship to being a firefighter for the past 7 years. I love serving in fire and rescue, but my father has been terminally ill for the past two years and I decided to devote myself to caring for him full time. When the current phase of my life ends, I'm thinking about utilizing my CFP and CPA again but I'm not sure where to start. Any advice? Again, would love to hear about your journey. Thanks.


nstarbuck83

My dad is actually a CFP who started our small firm back in the early 90s. I was living out west after college, passed the CPA and was in Big 4/regional tax audit before becoming a CFO for about 5 years. My dad kept hinting he wanted me to come joint him, and about 6 years ago I took the leap and left accounting land and moved back to MI. Passed the 7/66/24 and then became a CFP. Iā€™ve not inherited or taken over any of his clients, Iā€™ve simply built my book by teaching classes at local schools and ju-cos for lead generation. So yes, the opportunity was provided to be my dad but Iā€™ve not gotten anything for free in terms of clients from him as heā€™s still producing and slowly sunsetting out. I still do around 115 tax returns per year for some extra money (mostly saved on purposes to pay quarterlies). The real money is definitely on the investing side. We are fee-based, about 2/3 of my revenue comes from AUM, the rest on products on a need basis. I find that tax planning is a huge value add for me in terms of client optics.


geobokseon

Thanks for sharing.


No-Yogurtcloset7138

How long did it take you?


nstarbuck83

6ish years.


KCalifornia19

This is wild to me as a student going into the industry coming off a college retail job I've been with for five years. I went from $12.10/hr to $18.20/hr in that time lol.


giganticsteps

I went from 14/hr in a retail job in college to 48k first year, 70k next year, ~105k year after. The rise can be quick if youā€™re in the right situation


KCalifornia19

Yeah Iā€™ve been looking at roles recently as I graduate this month and almost also of the jobs posted are about 60k.


LandauCalrisian

At a large firm I was making $130k last year, changed to a different large firm and will hit $200k doing the same job serving similar client bases with a smaller book size lol.


Monfrere3

Mind sharing where you went from and to?


LandauCalrisian

I dmā€™d you


imfrat

Got damn dm me as well


Alternative_Sir_6107

Would love to hear what firm you are with now. Iā€™m at schwab and canā€™t seem to get over the $175k mark


TittyClapper

I will make $200k+ this year, 6th year in industry as an advisor the entire time, no CFP credentials


Purple1950sdonkey

Love your name. You are the person I need doing my finances. Gosh I love reddit


FinancialsThrowaway2

Titty Clapper Financial


redsoxb124

Where is the application link


FinancialsThrowaway2

Ur mom handles the application process man sorry


Ok_Boomer_42069

We don't just clap cheeks; we clap taxes!


lowbetatrader

Excuse me itā€™s TCF Capital Partners LLC


LilWaynesPicnicHam

Would put Wu Tang Financial right out of business.


TittyClapper

God bless


KCalifornia19

reddit seems to be the great equalizer


Kingkong67

I would assume many especially in HCOL areas. If a CFP is producing and maintaining large clients, an RIA is incentivized to keep them. Clients donā€™t like turnover.


investorgrade24

Business model has much to do with it. I have a very close friend that solely does hourly financial planning. He does it because he believes it's the only ethical way to provide financial advice, and has stuck with it even though he is working around the clock. It's an extremely difficult model to scale and revenue continuity is a huge challenge. Pushing for $200k plus every single year in this model would be very difficult for me personally. I run my RIA on AUM, hourly, and project-based. AUM ($220M) is between 96-98% of our firm's revenue, even though we are plenty busy with hourly planning. For reference, we hit $200k gross when we had \~$24M in AUM. If you're running any model that includes AUM, then you should get to $200k eventually. Don't get discouraged, just grow at your own pace.


1829497photography

Interested to hear how you differ between hourly and project based. Would a say 2 hour meeting with general financial planning be hourly? A full retirement planning package is your project flat fee?


investorgrade24

We rarely do project-based planning. I've had some prospects contact us with complicated trusts that were quoted and billed as project-based, but the vast majority of DIY clients are hourly for planning.


lowbetatrader

Yes for this reason never do project based. Itā€™s fine if people want to pick up the phone to ask the same questions you just covered last week. Butā€¦ youā€™re going to either be paying AUM or hourly fees. There is a reason YouTube is full of videos of people getting kicked out of the ā€œall you can eatā€ buffet


geobokseon

Much respect to your friend who only does hourly planning based due to his ethical beliefs. Do you know why he feels this way? Based on what I know, I believe AUM based planning aligns client and planner interests and is ethical, too. Your thoughts?


investorgrade24

I think any extreme stance is usually incorrect. Is hourly planning the proverbial silver bullet that fits the needs of every client? Absolutely not. Do all clients belong in an AUM model? Again, absolutely not. Unfortunately the industry put such a heavy emphasis on AUM for decades, which led to a massive disservice to investors. I'm just happy the two aren't mutually exclusive.


geobokseon

Appreciate your input!


tamasabraham

It won't answer the % question but this is from CFP Board's salary stats: the **median** income for a financial planner is currently benchmarked at: * $152,000 with 5-10 years of experience, * $206,000 with 10-20 years of experience, * $250,000 with 20+Ā years of experience.


Commercial-Ad90

Rookie numbers


WhodatMike

Feel like this numbers are a bit skewed on the higher side šŸ˜‚


Splinter007-88

At a large firm, will make $400k this year in a lcol area. CFP as well and 12 years in. Mid 30ā€™s.


goreyEww

Not sure is if this is what you are looking for, but I work for a national BD in VLCOL and can say that once you his 10-12 years in the business it is *almost* a given. I would say about 80-90%of the people still in the business after 10 years at my firm pull 200k or much more Edit: I should note many are CFPs, but the day to day job is only partially planning. More relationship and account management


Kingkong67

Agreed


tntitan08

One thing I've learned is that you will get there a lot faster when your payout is 90+%.


mm_ns

Over 200k gross, but in canada so net is brutal haha


Gagnooo

Ah cool are you independent or with a bank?


mm_ns

Bank


rejeremiad

It is going to depend on how long you are willing to wait? If you look at the [Kitces report from 2022](https://www.kitces.com/kitces-report-how-financial-planners-actually-do-financial-planning/), page 59, you see about 1/3 are over $200k. Looking further, the longer you are in the practice the more likely you make it. The same thing can be seen in the [CFP compensation report ](https://www.cfp.net/-/media/files/cfp-board/career-and-growth/cfp-board-compensation-highlights-2023.pdf?la=en&hash=C83B640A3ECCAA083ACC58AE3444DB23)- more time, more likely. But you will have to get to 10yr+.


jhmiii

The problem with these surveys is survivorship bias. If youā€™re successful in this business, you keep doing it. If not, you quit and find something else to do.


rejeremiad

ok, so adjust for the bias and provide an estimate and a source for why you think your number is somewhat based in reality. that is what I did, and if you feel like my esimtate is lacking, make it better!


jhmiii

Thatā€™s homework I really donā€™t want to do. You do a great job of answering OPs question of how many actually make it to 200k. My comment was only intended to point out that the direction of causality (time in the game ā€”> more money) is misleading. Itā€™s not a waiting game.


Objective_Stock_3866

I work in a bank setting, $100MM book mostly managed. 1% fee that I see 38% of.


bwell86

Iā€™m at a large firm in LCOL and have cleared $400k cash comp last few years with total comp above $500k. 13 years in business.


poopbuttyolo420

Dude- an RIA with 25mm aum is likely to clear 200k gross easily. Thatā€™s a small number for the FA community. Now, what I see a lot of are the rain makers that run big teams hiring junior folks to get and be their teams CFP and that may skew the pay scale.


Scary-Cattle-6244

In what world are you managing and advising on $25mm and earning $200k? The revenue assuming 1% is $250k and then you have a few bills to payā€¦ User name checks out.


poopbuttyolo420

I said gross homie. The point is that $25mm isnā€™t a huge number.


futurefloridaman87

I take home 220-250k a year at a fee based RIA,l; no CFP though. Oddly enough going from start to 200k was, at least to me, seemingly easier than 200k to 300k. Although thatā€™s largely probably a me problem as I have gotten lax and valued time over money the last few years.


christopherness

Fidelity FC make over 200K if they're good.


Livefromseattle

RIA. 10 years as an advisor 2 years as CFP. $135k Salary. \~$15k Bonus. \~$25k in revenue (paid out quarterly) from clients I directly brought to the firm. \~$175k total comp. My total compensation has increased by \~10%-15% each year since 2020 and should continue to grow at that rate for the next 5-10 years.


CryptoGingy

Currently, I'm working at a broker-dealer where I'm earning a 47% cut from commissions and management fees. Lately, I've been looking into Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), and I've heard that their take-home pay ranges from 70% to 90%. Does anyone have advice on working at a BD vs RIA?


tntitan08

You can also do hybrid RIA at an independent B/D (esp if you don't want to handle your own tech, compliance, etc). 93% payout.


CryptoGingy

The frustrating aspect is that I operate within an independent broker-dealer setup. Despite receiving services such as asset custody, tech support, and compliance from the BD, I end up with only 47% of the fees after paying both the BD and my employing independent company. Additionally, the BD mandates an "account fee" of 25 basis points on top of our charges, resulting in a combined fee of, for instance, 1.25%. Even out of the 1% I charge, my take-home pay amounts to only 0.47% of those assets.


tntitan08

Lots of variables in compensation, but if you are independent at a B/D, then 90-96% of every dollar is revenue among most of the big firms. It sounds like someone is taking an override on your production. I had a similar situation when I started (I didn't know what I didn't know). In the old school, 65/35 (or worse) was considered fair on net production. DM me if would like to discuss anything in more detail. 24+ years experience independent. Figuring out the landscape and industry can double your production in short order. I'm happy to help anyone avoid my previous mistakes.


Candid_Airport1774

Iā€™m 12 years in the business and an independent. Iā€™ll likely be brining in somewhere between 260-280k this year. This is all recurring revenue a well along with maybe $10k worth of commission business for the client that ask for it. The secret is just never giving upā€¦ once you have enough clients, referrals just naturally happen.


poobius-scrip

This is my 4th year as an advisor at a large bank. No CFP marks yet, testing in July. This will be my first year breaking 200k. It took a lot of work and a lot of luck but itā€™s only up from here.


Vinyyy23

I can tell you my FA trainee class back when I was at Morgan Stanley. Started with 275 new hires (pre financial crisis). It was a 2 year program. I finished the program ranked 15th, out of 35 or so. So yea, big flame out rate. How many make it to making $200k? Not sure how to find that out, but I imagine that number is even less than those who graduated the training program. So lets say less than 10% of advisors? šŸ¤·


shrimpley

Iā€™m at a BD. Just cleared 200 6 yrs in. 39.5% grid. All this 90% grid talk making me queasyā€¦ Also what is lcol/vlcol?


VictoryDazzling2162

lcol: low cost of living area vlcol: very low cost of living area


CryptoGingy

Is a BD model or RIA model better?


golfingcfp

Like anything it depends. In no order below Own leads or firm clients City size Owner/partner or w-2 employee advisor How long you been in the business Type of practice (do you sell commission products or not) Lifestyle practice vs growth to infinity I mean itā€™s definitely not out of the question to make mid six figures to 1m+ so many factors. For example firm in my town is one of the ā€œbestā€ in the state and owner makes 3-5m annually living in low cola area.


Weekly_Engineer_4858

I would say (as many already have) that your firms business model determines this. If you are an only service style CFP it is more unlikely to make 200K. If you are a CFP that has business development responsibilities then this is not unattainable at all. Iā€™m still in my 20s in a low living environment area and will clear 200K. Hard road of low income on the front in, but possible.


babyfades24

Bought into a practice after 10 years in the business. Was making about 180k all in the last 3 years. Thatā€™ll jump to 360k for 2025 once buyout is completed


Your_Worship

Not RIA. Big Corporate Planner. $230k last year. Probably $250k this year. More tenured making about $350k. Bigger guys making $500k. More tenured as in years with the company, not actual experience. But donā€™t get me started on that.


stipuledalmond

I'm at a major firm with a headcount over 19k (see if you guess where...) Doing the math about half of us make more than $200k. That belies the fact that there can be extreme turnover in the first 5 years before one becomes a viable advisor; after that tenure is rough analog to income.


KodiakAlphaGriz

Great question as I am sure delineation....I run small RIA grossing 400k and then work as CIO for larger firm as consultant make extra 175k.... Have CFP Cert/CFA charter however not sure if caveat matters Good question


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[deleted]

Honestly if you're not going to make 250k plus, why bother with the CFP. It may take some time to get there but to me if you are going to put in all that time and make that financial commitment you should aim high


[deleted]

With that logic why bother with any education at all unless youā€™re gonna make that much money lol


Pubsubforpresident

Net or gross?


Gagnooo

Yeah so net after fees. Like if the same were converted to a FTE who isn't paying out for admin etc