New Job, an update on my life

Whoa, two posts in one week?  I better not strain myself.  It's like the first time you return to the gym after sitting on your couch for two months.  Better take it slow there, big fella.

So, before I went on what we will call a sabbatical, maybe too strong a word.  We'll call it a hiatus from blogging.  Anyway, before I disappeared, there were a couple of things that I had been discussing.  I don't want to try to give updates on everything (wedding plans, Hilton Honors points, net worth, misc personal finance), after all, better take it slow there, big fella.  What I do want to update you on is my career status.

I found a new job, and I am very excited for my future there.  As usual, I can't go into too much detail, as I am still opting to remain anonymous.  However, even that may change.  Whoa!  Wouldn't that be weird?

About the new job.

I am, newly minted CFP certificate in hand (I'm not sure there's an actual certificate), a financial planner for a small independent firm right in my hometown.  I am the fourth employee (owner included), and only the second financial planner (again, owner included).  In other words, the owner is a financial planner/wealth manager, he had a staff of two, one office manager type and another bookkeeping, trading, operations heavy type.  I am basically his right hand guy.  I will be going on all client meetings with him, working on the financial plans, giving input on broad strategic decisions for the firm.  Currently, I am on a straight salary with some profit sharing, but ownership down the road is a real possibility.

Let me rewind a bit and give you a bit about my background and what I have learned in this industry.  Early in my career I worked at two different commission based places, one was a life insurance company, the other a full service brokerage house.  In both cases, my fiduciary duty was to my firm, not my clients (still the case for employees at those type of firms).  I was to sell commission based products, and the more commission the better.  That sort of arrangement is just bursting with conflicts of interest.

I worked for some time at a discount broker and was thrilled to provide advice without the conflicts of my previous companies.  The problem was that the pay was meager and the opportunities somewhat limited.  I then worked for a fee based Registered Investment Adviser (RIA).  I did well there, and learned plenty.  The conflicts of interest were significantly less than the commission houses, but the service that I was able to provide was limited.  The firm was simply focused entirely on the investment process.  The problem is that investments don't happen in a vacuum.  Everything that you do from an investment perspective affects the clients' taxes, estate planning and retirement planning.

Realizing that I wanted to do more, I enrolled in the CFP courses about two years ago.  As I learned all of the things that we should be doing for clients, the more I realized that a focus strictly on the investments is not only incomplete service, but a disservice.  Sadly, this is the way that 90% of the financial advisory business works.  They are totally product based, which means a focus on either investments or insurance.  Sometimes some blend of the two, which oddly makes things even worse.

Back to the job search.  As I neared the end of my CFP courses and was beginning to prepare for the comprehensive exam, my job search became very active.  I was incredibly fortunate to find a firm with stellar credentials, a fairly impressive client list (not celebrities or anything, but smart, wealthy, successful clients).  The owner was looking for someone to become his right hand guy, and would pay a salary instead of commissions.  I had spent the greater part of my career with unpredictable income flows.  The idea of a salary, with profit sharing, sounded glorious.

I had a total of three interviews with the owner and the others in his firm.  They conducted a background search, called my references, dotted their i's, etc.

I accepted their offer, quit my old job and spent the next three or four weeks studying full time for the CFP exam.  Without that extra time, I don't think I would have passed.

In the time that I have been at this new firm, I have learned a tremendous amount.  More importantly, I am seeing what it really means to provide complete, comprehensive financial planning/wealth management.  The taxes, estate planning, retirement planning, charitable planning, cash flow analysis.  It's all critical.  For someone with substantial assets that is.

Not really the case for most of us in the blogosphere.  For most of us in our 20s, 30s, maybe 40s, most of that stuff doesn't come in to play yet.  At this point, most of us should have a good investment plan (you could do a lot worse than low cost index funds or ETFs), and save until it hurts.

Actually, for the 20s-40s among us, things like wills and insurance (life, health, disability, property and casualty) are perhaps even more important.

At any rate, here I am.  New job in hand.  Happy.  Learning plenty.  I appreciate the encouragement to keep blogging that I received on my last post.  I hope to do so.  Like I said, better take it slow there, big fella.

Comments

[Matt]

Congrats on the new job, you sound very excited by it. I know I was when I switched jobs about 9 months ago. Good Luck!

[mapgirl]

Wow. It sounds like you are really going to enjoy this job. Plus with the wedding planning, a steady check will help light the way.

I wish you congratulations on passing your exams, and lots of luck with your new job!

[annglobalenterprise.com]

I'm glad you got the job. Wouldn't it be great if we didn;t nee money? Then the pressure of having to find a job wouldn't be so, well pressureful (is that a word? lol).

[frank]

Sounds like you are in a good spot. Excellent work there LAM, and welcome back again.

[HamiHarri]

Congrats!!! AND welcome back!

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[529pm]

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[Greatwolf13]

Thank you for posting this. I just found your blog and am happy that you write it. I am considering going into Financial Planning but I was scared to think that having the ideals of looking out for the customer and not working on a commission basis was going to leave me broke and standing by myself. Thank you for showing me there is hope out there.

[Sami]

Hello! Just yesterday I looked into becoming a financial planner and decided it would be something I would be good at. I have interviews set up with Met Life and Investment Advisors International. I am not too big into selling products (or insurance, whatever) and really just want to train to offer my services. I am planning on taking the CFP exam by a year from now, but have no experience in financial advising. Where would you suggest starting out? Any information you could give me would be extremely helpful and much appreciated. [email protected]
THANK YOU!

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