• Personal financial advisors assess the financial needs of individuals and assist them with investments, tax laws, and insurance decisions.
• Advisors help their clients identify and plan for short-term and long-term goals.
• Advisors help clients plan for retirement, education expenses, and general investment choices. Many also provide tax advice or sell insurance.
• Although most planners offer advice on a wide range of topics, some specialize in areas such as retirement and estate planning or risk management.
• Personal financial advisors usually work with many clients and often must find their own customers.
• Many personal financial advisors spend a great deal of their time marketing their services.
• Many advisors meet potential clients by giving seminars or through business and social networking.
• Finding clients and building a customer base is one of the most important aspects of becoming a successful financial advisor.
• Financial advisors begin work with a client by setting up a consultation.
• This is usually an in-person meeting where the advisor obtains as much information as possible about the client's finances and goals.
• The advisor creates a comprehensive financial plan that identifies problem areas, makes recommendations for improvement, and selects appropriate investments compatible with the client's goals, attitude toward risk, and expectation or need for investment returns.
• Advisors sometimes seek advice from financial analysts, accountants, or lawyers.
• Financial advisors usually meet with established clients at least once a year to update them on potential investments and adjust their financial plan to any life changes—such as marriage, disability, or retirement.
• Financial advisors also answer clients' questions regarding changes in benefit plans or the consequences of changing their job.
• Financial planners must educate their clients about risks and possible scenarios so that the clients don't harbour unrealistic expectations.
• Many personal financial advisors are licensed to directly buy and sell financial products, such as stocks, bonds, derivatives, annuities, and insurance products.
• Depending upon the agreement they have with their clients, personal financial advisors may have their clients’ permission to make decisions regarding the buying and selling of stocks and bonds.
• Private bankers or wealth managers are personal financial advisors who work for people who have a lot of money to invest.
• Because they have so much capital, these clients resemble institutional investors and approach investing differently from the general public.
• Private bankers manage portfolios for these individuals using the resources of the bank, including teams of financial analysts, accountants, lawyers, and other professionals.
• Private bankers sell these services to wealthy individuals, generally spending most of their time working with a small number of clients.
• Private bankers normally directly manage their customers' finances.

• Many companies also have replaced traditional pension plans with retirement savings programs, so more individuals are managing their own retirements than in the past, creating jobs for advisors.
• The growing number and assets of very wealthy individuals will help drive growth of private bankers and wealth managers.
• The need for private bankers to explain and manage increasing complexity of financial and investment products will continue to drive growth.
• Personal financial advisors will face keen competition, as relatively low barriers to entry and high wages attract many new entrants.
• Many individuals enter the field by working for a bank or full-service brokerage.
• Because the occupation requires sales, people who have strong selling skills will ultimately be most successful.

Other jobs requiring expertise in finance and investment or in the sale of financial products include Accountants and auditors; Actuaries; Budget analysts; Financial analysts; Financial managers; Insurance sales agents; Insurance underwriters; Real estate brokers and sales agents; Securities, commodities, and financial services sales.

• BA in Finance
• BA in Economics
• BA in Business Administration
• BA in Mathematics
• BA in Law