# Advice on working as a financial planner?



## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

Is anyone here a CFP? I'm interested in your opinion on pursuing a career in this field; pitfalls, difficulty getting started and building clients, ridiculous amounts of complicated paperwork to track for years, etc. I've seen postings for Investors Group looking for trainees and I've been considering a change. I know a bit about the coursework and exam process, but I'm curious as to personal thoughts on the work. Flexible hours? Time off when you want it (within reason)? Feel like you're helping people? Clearly there is a good living to be made if one is diligent, but I'm more keen on quality of life surrounding the workload. BTW, I'm in Vancouver, possibly with a move to the Okanagan within five years. My background is in the bar industry.

Thanks!


----------



## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

CFP isn't a profession; it's a designation. 

There are many ways to work in the financial services industry, from commissioned IG salesperson to bank teller to MF salesperson at a bank to IIROC-licensed advisor as an employee at a bank or an independent firm. And then there's the life insurance side. 

Each one of those roles (save bank teller) requires licensing, whether for mutual funds, life insurance, or equities. 

The CFP designation is (for better or worse) considered to be a relatively senior designation. It's probably not your entry point to the industry.


----------



## Gunstar (Nov 8, 2011)

You may also be interested in the CFA designation, noted here: (https://www.cfainstitute.org/). I have ran into a couple advisors for corporations that persued their designations and all have had fairly good things to say about it.


----------



## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

@ Moneygal- thank you for the clarification. My assumption was that you needed to become a CFP to sell those products. I would of course be entering as an entry level sales consultant.

@gunstar-- thanks for the link!


----------



## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

I've seen on a couple of forums that entry-level consultants with companies such as Investor's Group have to pay something to work for the firm- anyone know what this is about? Is it similar to a real estate agent paying a fee to the brokerage to use their resources?


----------



## GreenAvenue (Dec 28, 2011)

I worked for Sun for a while and when I was approached by Freedom. Sun and Freedom both pay their consultants in the beginning, IG is the only one as far as I know that charges their own consultants fee's (which are considerably high by the way). I loved working for Freedom '55. Freedom also charges you for use of office space and cubicle's but when you're really making some money those fee's are not the worst thing that could happen to you.


----------



## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

What is up with the use of the word "consultant" here? Is this intended to be a nice way of saying commissioned salesperson?


----------



## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

MoneyGal said:


> What is up with the use of the word "consultant" here? Is this intended to be a nice way of saying commissioned salesperson?


Yes. Your title doesn't seem to look as good on the business card.


----------



## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

indexxx said:


> I've seen on a couple of forums that entry-level consultants with companies such as Investor's Group have to pay something to work for the firm- anyone know what this is about? Is it similar to a real estate agent paying a fee to the brokerage to use their resources?


You need to get it out of your head that you would work for Investors Group. You work for yourself and hopefully, eventually a whole whack of clients. Being a self employed business person, you will need to spend money to make money. Whether you are profitable at this, will be up to you.

You may not agree with it, but I believe IG charges their advisors for technology services and perhaps a few other things. Admittedly, you will require access to state of the art technology. Not only email, but financial planning software, a platform so your clients can go online and review their accounts, and secure electronic trade processing and whatever else the future throws at you.

That is probably what they are talking about. As for a mutual fund salesperson. The CFP will suit you better. You really do not need a tremendous amount of portfolio experience to do that job. What you need are sales skills. This you will find out very quickly. Once you acquire the CFP, the CFA will also be useful, but not necessary. Good luck.


----------



## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

OptsyEagle said:


> You need to get it out of your head that you would work for Investors Group. You work for yourself and hopefully, eventually a whole whack of clients. * Being a self employed business person*, you will need to spend money to make money. Whether you are profitable at this, will be up to you.


Commissioned salespeople are not self-employed. 

Working as a commissioned salesperson for IG means selling their funds (and only their funds), and your cheque comes from IG. 

I don't think you can truthfully or honestly compare working as an IG rep to either "working for your clients" or self-employment. You are a commissioned salesperson, captive to a specific set of products, and you earn a commission when you sell those products to other people. 

Here's a career guide by company for what it's worth: 

http://www.advocis.ca/forum/fmarchives11/fm-may11/company-career-guide_may2011.pdf


----------



## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

MoneyGal said:


> Commissioned salespeople are not self-employed.


Some are and some are not.


----------



## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

OK, let me re-phrase. IG salespeople are not self-employed.


----------



## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

MoneyGal said:


> OK, let me re-phrase. IG salespeople are not self-employed.


Yes, they are.


----------



## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

OK, I just went and reviewed the CRA guides. CRA draws a distinction between "self-employment" and "commissioned sales" but they also use the phrase "self-employed commission salesperson." 

The rules about deductibility of losses are quite different for commissioned salespersons and the self-employed (I don't know how to phrase that - the genuinely self-employed?). There are also variances in what expenses can be claimed (i.e., capital expenses on equipment). 

From a legal and tax perspective, there are differences between how the income of a commissioned salesperson and the income of someone who is self-employed but not earning commissions is treated. Personally I read this as drawing a distinction between these two types of employment which excludes commissioned salespersons from legitimately thinking of themselves as "self-employed," but that is just my opinion.


----------



## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

When I checked into working with an insurance company, the 'mentor' said that as commissioned salespeople, we were eligible to claim car, clothing, gas, cellphone, printing, advertising, etc etc.

Also, it's my understanding that IG now offers a large variety of third-party products, not just their own mutual funds. I'm sure they encourage their sales force to sell IG funds for obvious reasons, (and no doubt the commission is higher also) but a good consultant should do what is in the best interest of the client.

I've been thinking about getting out of the bar business and thought that an internship/training with a financial company might be an easier transition than first going to school (with no income) and then hoping to find a job.
I mean, if I felt confident enough in my knowledge, I'd love to do fee-only advising as an independent, but it would take me a long time to get to that point knowledge-wise anyway; I thought that swallowing the IG hook could get me off the ground.

Clearly everyone on here (including myself) directs their own investing for the large part, and we love avoiding those commissions and MERs... but there are many people who don't care to spend the time or lack the desire to learn a little about personal finance and watch their own money, and feel it's a fair tradeoff to pay someone else to do it. This, of course, is me justifying my desire to earn those commissions...


----------



## brocko (Apr 20, 2009)

The OP indicated his background was in the bar business so I would gather that very few folks say no to the question do you wish a drink? Now compare this to financial products and the rate of refusal rises considerably. Take an aptitude test to see if you are suited to this type of sales. Finding a place to work is the easy thing. the hard part is finding prospects that just might become clients. Success only and I really mean only comes from having a base of folks that have financial needs that you can fill. The retention rate after five years is less than one of five. 
Aside from a sales aptitude you have to a real affinity to be of service to your clients. Competition is fierce and you never work for yourself starting out. You will have to satisfy the fdemands of your direct manager and that person's manager. Despite what the job description is you are not working in a team environment. You succeed or fail on your own ultimately.
In the beginning your hours are going to be long and many of them dedicated to finding someone to talk to so ask yourself how are you with rejection?
The course material while not overly hard does require you to gain sufficient knowledge to pass an exam. Note the many folks selling financial products today and ask yourself what makes me different? If its a job you want no problem but if its a career then be prepared to work hard and long with tremendous pressure from many sources not the least of which is your family from whom you will be separted much of the time in the beginning so get them on board with you. 
Finally you have to be 150% honest in all of your personal and business dealings even if meant losing a sale which translates into losing a pay cheque.


----------



## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

It looks like GlassDoor.com has a bunch of reviews of working at IG by insiders: 

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Investors-Group-Company-Reviews-E224873_P2.htm


----------

