What do you do for a living?

I am a Financial Advisor at a local finance group.

How would you describe what you do?

We work with individuals and business’ to create and or maintain wealth and financial independence

What does a typical work week look like?

This job doesn’t have a typical schedule, I am at the office everyday from 8-5.  Some days I have to be here at 6:45 and don’t leave until 7.  You have to be very flexible in this business, because clients can’t always meet you between 8-5.

How did you get started in this career?

I got started my senior year of college and enjoyed it, so I decided to pursue a full time career in this field.

What do you like about what you do?

The best part of my job is getting to meet new people and hear their life stories.  It is amazing to me the many different ways my clients have built their wealth.

What do you dislike?

The overreaching regulations and compliance due to a few unethical and unscrupulous individuals.

How do you make money or how are you compensated as a financial advisor?

I am compensated by a percentage of the assets that I manage.  I get 1% of the total assets I manage.

How much money do you make as a financial advisor?

The money I make can vary from year to year.  You start out making $0, but the sky is the limit.  Young advisors are doing very well to make $50,000 in the first few years.  I’making about $60,000 right now.

What education or skills are needed to do this?

You need a college degree and your Series 7 and Series 66.  These allow you to buy individual stocks, mutual funds, bonds, REITS.

What is most rewarding about what you do?

The most rewarding part of this industry is when you get a referral from a current client.  It means they truly appreciate what you have done for them.

What is most challenging about what you do?

It is a tough industry and it has its ups and downs.  It takes perseverance and a lot of TIME to build a book of business.

How much time off do you get or take?

Two Weeks on average.

What is a common misconception about what you do?

That is it easy to make a ton of money being a financial advisor.

What are your goals and dreams for the future in this career?

My goals are to keep growing my business by staying on the cutting edge of the financial industry.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

I would like to people to know that it is a very rewarding job, but it is not a walk in the park.

What do you do for a living?

Financial Representative with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network.

How would you describe what you do?

I meet people and  find out their financial goals on 7 issues:

1. How important is it to provide for you children’s education?
2. How important is funding a comfortable retirement?
3. How important is it to protect loved ones in the event of a premature death?
4.  How important is it to have an income if you were sick or disabled?
5.  How important is it for you to address long term care needs?
6.  How important is it to evaluate your investment portfolio?
7.  And how important is it to address estate tax issues?

Then I drill down to what they need to do and which was most important and offer the most tax efficient solutions with world class companies with proven track records.  Lastly, I stay in touch with my clients to address their ever changing needs.

What does your job entail?

Creating Personal Needs Analysis and client specific presentations in both risk management and investments tailored to my prospects needs and risk level.  Networking to meet new people, and very frankly being on the phone quite a bit.

What’s a typical work week like?

40 hour week.  Deal with underwriting/rollovers in process/emails first hour of the day.  9 o’clock to 10 just dialing and the rest of the day seeing people or fighting to see people.

How did you get started?

I started when I went to have a beer with a buddy and asked him how his day was.  He said he set up two kids college education investment accounts.  I was about to have to fire 13 people in Buffalo New York, and they didn’t know it yet, with my current employer at the time, so I knew I wanted a career that would have a positive impact on my community.

What do you like about what you do?

I feel good know that probably without me my clients wouldn’t have saved money using the market, or wouldn’t have done as well.  Seeing a 529 college plan build up over the years and seeing that child knowing I will have had an impact on his education is fulfilling.  What is most fulfilling to me is to come in and provide financial relief when families are hurting and need it most.

What do you dislike?

I love that I was able to make it in this business and help so many people.  I know that and have to remember that because here is the bad part.  This career is sales and full of heart ache, chasing people, getting stood up without the courtesy of a phone call,  dialing people who probably don’t know who I am, and don’t want to meet me every day.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

I get paid if I am able to provide benefit to my prospects and clients.  If I am able to sell an annuity, mutual fund, life insurance, disability insurance, long term care insurance, trust services, or group or individual health insurance products whichever company I sell pays me.

How much do you make as a life insurance salesman?

This is a tricky question and I will try and explain it the best I can.  Bare bones…I make 10 grand a month net.  However, I have a 6 figure residual base that continues to increase along with consistent annuity and mutual fund investments and trails that I get paid on every year.  So if I didn’t work at all next year, I would probably make almost 50k because I have completed 8 years of service, but starting out, I had none of that, and guys with 25 years of service walk in the door each year and make 100k before doing a thing.  I also have 2 fully funded retirement plans with Northwestern Mutual.

How much did you make starting out in this career?

I made almost the exact same starting out as I did in my previous job.  I was 24 years old in 2003 and made around 40ish.   Again I earned more money than that on a deferred basis, but that is what I took home.

Are there any perks associated with this career?

You have the freedom to make as much or little as you want by the effort you put in.   I have the support of my team, but don’t have to rely on them.  NML will pay for any additional education like CFP designations for me.  I also win a trip or two every year to an exotic location.

What education and skills are needed to do this?

Skills and education can vary, but I would generalize that a degree is needed.  Prior sales experience helps.  Knowing people in a community so you can introduce yourself helps too, but isn’t a requirement.  The skill set is to care about people even when they don’t care about you, and be persistent, resilient and don’t give up when you are down or had a bad paycheck.

What is most challenging about what you do?

Most Challenging for everybody in my business is to get introduced to more good people and make the calls out to those people.

What is most rewarding?

Easily the most rewarding has been paying benefits to my clients/ delivering the promise.  I have paid disability benefits to a family.  I have paid life insurance proceeds to 3 families.   They used this money to survive and one used it to help fund a nonprofit.  I have paid a long term care claim where my client never wrote a check for the 20 thousand plus they could have been on the hook for.    I talked a guy with 150k given to me not to sell in March 09, so his money is back to where it was, effectively saving him a year of his take home income.

What advice would you give someone considering this career?

I would help them on their training and sales language, but the biggest advice is to know you are doing good, and when someone rejects you, they are making the mistake, not you.

How much time off do you get/take?

I take a couple vacations and now that I have a decent base, maybe more time off than I should.  It is so flexible.  Old guys sometimes take months off at a time and some people can’t afford to take any vacation days.  Sorry to not give a straight answer, but it really is up to the person.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

I think the biggest misconception that people have is that some of the products I sell are rip-offs because of what they heard on the radio or from some other media outlet.  Not only are they dead wrong, it hurts my feelings for someone to call me a crook.

What are your goals and dreams for the future in this career?

This will sound weird because I am not in a corporate environment.  Meaning I am sure many people will want to move up the ladder for a promotion or a job of higher stature.  I aspire to do the exact same job as I do now for the rest of my life.   Most of what I do is out in the field, and because I want to give back to my organization, I do coaching/recruiting/development for new reps as well.  I want to impact more people, make more impact, (meaning bigger sales) and at least double my income in the next 10 years.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

I would like people to know what I do is exactly the opposite of the movie “Boiler Room”   I am committed to help people achieve their goals.  So when someone calls from Northwestern Mutual, they are working, but they care.

What do you do for a living?

I am an assistant branch manager for a bank.

How would you describe what you do?

I am an assistant to the manager but I oversee all the daily operations of the branch. That includes making the weekly schedule, I oversee all the teller daily activities and make sure that they’re performing their tasks and staying within their check cashing limit. I also balance the ATM. I do a lot with customer service, complaints, and  helping people resolve any customer conflict that might arise. I open new accounts. I make sure all the cashier’s checks and money orders are typed up and issued correctly and logged. I do a monthly audit of the branch. I just make sure that the branch operates smoothly. A lot of it is administrative work.

How did you get started at your job?

Well I first graduated from college and I had a few interviews with other companies and the bank just offered me the job. I first started out as a teller and then got involved in the manager training program and then I was promoted to assistant branch manager.

What do you like about your job?

I really enjoy all the people I work with. They make it enjoyable and fun to come to work with every morning. I like that and I like that I get to kind of do things at my own speed.

What do you dislike?

I kind of feel like it’s the same thing every day. I wish that I could get out more maybe and sell the bank instead of being behind the teller line.

How do you make money or how are you compensated?

I’m salary-based. We don’t get commission and recently after I was promoted to assistant manager I got a raise. And then at my yearly review I got a booster raise which is basically a standard raise for employees.

How much money do you make as an assistant branch manager?

$38,000 a year

What education or skills are needed for your job?

A high school education.    The only thing you really need to be is a good people person and be able to understand that the customer is never wrong. You need to be good at resolving conflicts and coming up with ways to make the customer happy. You need to go out of your way to help accommodate their needs. You also need to be computer savvy and know Excel templates for monthly auditing and those kinds of things.

What is the most challenging about your job?

For me the most challenging thing would be to move up in the bank. Basically, it’s challenging trying to prove that I can do more than what I’m doing now. I kind of feel like I’m underused.

What is most rewarding about what you do?

I love my customers and they come to see me so I’ve built good relationships with customers at the bank. And again I’ve enjoyed everybody I’ve worked with.

Is there any advice that you would give someone considering this job?

For an assistant manager you’re ultimately not the one in charge and you need to be respectful and mindful of your authority and not go in there and try and rule the show. But there is always potential to move up. It’s a good learning and stepping stone for anyone to be in management. As an assistant manager you are given authority to manage people and it kind of gives you an idea of what management is like without giving you the absolute, full-blown responsibility of it. What I mean is, I have authority but I don’t make the final call on things.

How much time off do you get and do you take a year?

Well after being there a year you get two weeks of vacation and after five years you get three weeks off and then obviously the more years the more time off you get. It builds over time.

Are there any common misconceptions people have about what you do?

Not that I can think of.

What are your goals or dreams for the future?

Well obviously a goal of mine is to move up the corporate ladder, whether or not that’s in banking I don’t know. When you’re in the management position you tend to start like I did as a teller and then the next step after that is management. I would like to move to the commercial side and see how the lending side of the bank operates.

What do you do for a living?

I am a Certified Public Accountant

How would you describe what you do?

Complex, challenging, interesting, very rewarding.

What does your work entail?

Being a client’s confidant, prepare personal and corporate tax returns, prepare financial statements, provide litigation support to attorneys, assess and value businesses (not an investment advisor however)

Estate planning, to listen to client’s financial concerns and provide them with the best advice I can.

What’s a typical work week like?

During the tax season, twice as busy as a normal day. The rest of the year, 25% visit with clients, 75% do the work for the clients.

How did you get started?

First as CFO of a company. Then joint with 3 attorneys as the in-house CPA and gradually out on my own.

What do you like about what you do?

Takes a lot of mental exercise to do the job and I like that.

What do you dislike?

Procrastination.  This is one thing that really makes my job more difficult.  Clients drop off the taxes April 14 and want it back April 15 and drop off corporate taxes September 15 and want it back the same day. If we don’t get it done, they will pay hundreds in penalty and we are blamed for it.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated as a CPA?

Flat fee of hourly fee depending on the service.

How much money do you make as a CPA?

200-250K/year

How much money did you make starting out as a CPA?

My first month-$180.00

What education or skills are needed to do this?

You need five years of college plus a two year internship.

What is most challenging about what you do?

Understanding new tax laws and accounting rules well enough to apply to the real life. After all, we are practitioners.

What is most rewarding?

Solving complex problems. And there are many.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Be prepared to take a lot of pressure.

How much time off do you get/take?

In the aggregate, one month per year.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

We only do taxes and we all wear prescription glasses and carry a pencil. Not true.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

To have my children take over my practice. This tells you how much I love what I do.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

We do a lot more than taxes. Tax is about 50%. I do a lot of litigation support, business planning and consulting, estate and ,yes, divorce planning, etc.

What do you do for a living?

I am an Accounting Manager for a privately held holding company.

How would you describe what you do?

I manage a team of accountants who are responsible for the financial support of the various businesses we own. This can be something simple like payables and receivables or something challenging like an acquisition or multi-state tax reporting.

What does your work entail as an accounting manager?

Problem solving, employee development, and strategic planning. Since we don’t live in a perfect world there are always problems. As an accounting manager, you will be expected to either have the answer, know who has the answer or be able to figure out the answer. Accounting is a field that many people do not understand so they will come to you for those answers. Managing a team is a rewarding and challenging. Employees are either improving, static or declining. You want to challenge and provide opportunities for those who are improving, push those who are static and either improve the declining employees or get them out. While managing the day to day, you also have to think about the future. This involves partnering with upper management to understand where the company is headed and then being proactive so that when changes occur, the financials are not trying to catch up.

How did you get started?

I started out at as an accountant, doing many of the things I manage today. Having done those things certainly gives me an advantage compared to other task which I haven’t done.

Accounting is like blood in your body. Everybody needs it and no one cares about it until something goes wrong.

What do you like about what you do?

I like being part of the solution and working with other people. Solving problems that prevent success is very rewarding.

What do you dislike?

There are things you have to do that are boring. It’s part of the job. But this is very little of my work so you take the good with the bad.

How do you make money/how are you compensated?

Salary

How much money do you make as an accounting manager?

After more than half a decade in the business I’m making $80,000. Depending on the company and location an accounting manager can make $50,000 to $100,000 plus. It will depend on years of experience, industry, skill set, size of the company, number of staff, etc.

How much money do you make starting out?

In today’s market (2011), mid to upper $30′s is good. If you decided to do public accounting you’ll probably start in the 40′s. However, working in public accounting will probably mean you make less per hour because you will work a lot more hours the first several years. I chose not to go down this path because everyone I knew in public accounting was trying to get out.

What education or skills are needed to be an accounting manager?

I have an accounting degree and a C.P.A. – this isn’t required but it’s preferred. Having a degree or certification does not guarantee that you know everything…..it just creates a base line of knowledge that others can grasp.

What is most rewarding about this job?

The challenge and feeling of accomplishment when it’s overcome.

What is most challenging?

Managing other people who are not like you. It’s hard to think like someone else, know what drives someone else, or know why someone else does something. But you’re responsible for these people so you have to learn to work with them where they are and where they come from.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

It’s a great career with lots of opportunity. Accounting is like blood in your body. Everybody needs it and no one cares about it until something goes wrong. The demand for accounting will only go up because financials are becoming more and more complicated. It’s not for someone who wants attention and needs the spot light…..go into sales if you want that.

How much time off do you get/take?

It’s progressive with years working. I think the first year was 1.5 weeks and after 5 years it ws 4 weeks.

What’s a common misconception people have about what you do?

That accountants do a lot of math. If you can add, subtract, multiply and divide……you can do accounting. We use computers more than anything today so the whole “bean counter” sterotype is out-dated.

What are your goals and dreams for the future?

Continue to work my way up, perhaps be CFO of a company one day.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

Accounting is a great field to be in. It provides a very well rounded understanding of the way businesses operate and in turn is a very transferable skillset.

(This interview was one of two interviews conducted by our contest winner Erin Robertson)

What do you do for a living?

I’m a senior vice president of a bank.

How would you describe what you do for a living – what all does your work entail?

Primarily, my work entails making loans of all varieties and then all the attendant duties connected with collecting and servicing those loans, developing those relationships with the banks customers.

How did you get started in your job?

I was a college student – actually, I’d left college and was working some part-time jobs when the president of the bank called and wanted to know if I would be interested in a very low-level, entry-level job at the bank, and I took that job, thinking I’d work there for six months, and it’s been many, many years since then.

Is there anything that you specifically like about what you do?

I enjoy working with people and helping people achieve success and being able to give them help in difficult times. It’s always good to see people that are able to benefit from financial assistance and take a business and make it successful or take a farm and make it successful, or be able to get out of a crisis – it’s very rewarding.

And so, how important are relationships in what you do?

It’s absolutely crucial. All banks are the same – every bank has the same kind of services and offers the same sorts of things, and the only difference in banks is your ability to establish and maintain a relationship with a customer.

Is there anything that you dislike about what you do?

It can be very, like most jobs it can be stressful. You have deadlines, you have people that always want something, sometimes you aren’t able to give them what they want, sometimes they get emotional, and when things aren’t going well, their whole life is collapsing and sometimes there’s nothing you can do about it…but mostly the day-to-day grind of always answering the telephone, always answering a hundred emails, always having somebody waiting to see you; it can just grind you down from time to time if it’s really busy.

How do you respond to that when it gets really stressful and the grind, as you said, becomes unbearable? Also, how do you deal with people when they become emotional or when you relationship with them becomes challenging?

Well, the best way I’ve learned to do it is just to take control of my time and my circumstances, and not let someone else dictate how I spend my time. So if that means putting my phone on “Do not disturb,” if it means closing my door, if it means going to a back room or to another office, or sometimes it just means saying I’m gone for a few minutes to take a quick walk or a drive around to block to just get away and clear my head. But sometimes you just have to take control of a situation and put some distance between you and all those people.

How is it, through your job, that you make money? – or rather, how are you compensated? What is the process by which you are paid?

I have a set salary – there is a bonus structure based on a variety of different things: certain areas of performance that are met…there’s a bonus in addition to the regular monthly salary. And then there are other compensations: there’s profit-sharing, insurance, there’s a sort of long-term employment package that some of the senior officers in the bank have that, if you stay, if you work there to a certain age, you’re guaranteed a portion of your pay beyond the profit-sharing that you’ve already earned.

How much money do you currently make as a bank Vice President?

I think my base salary is $90,000 a year, and then the bonus depends on – it’s not predictable, it can be a few more thousand, $5-10,000 although it’s rarely that much…Then, in addition to that, the bank makes contributions to a profit-sharing account for me and I have some insurance things that are paid for, the life insurance is paid for.

How does this compare with how much money you made when you were starting out as a banker?

When I first started out I was probably making less than $20,000 a year – I was probably making $18-19,000 a year in 1981 or 1982.

Are there any specific skills or is there any specific education that you need to fulfill this role?

It’s not a requirement, it’s not a mandate, but there is actually a degree in finance that a lot of people have – I don’t have that. But, general business skills, an understanding of how finance works, but really, communication skills are huge and relationship, people skills are probably more important than anything.

You’ve kind of already touched on this, but what are some of the challenges of your job?

One thing that we haven’t talked about is that the challenges sort of ebb and flow as does the economy.  We had a period of time that lasted a few years up until a couple of years ago where it was pretty easy to be a banker: everything worked, it was prosperous, about everything that everybody tried made money, and then that stopped and it was just the opposite. Nothing worked, everybody was in trouble, nobody wanted to borrow money, a lot of people couldn’t repay the money they borrowed…but you don’t have any control over that, so part of the challenges of being involved in the operation and management of a bank is making sure a bank is positioned for those inevitable times that always do come when things aren’t going to be as prosperous. So you have to be prepared for that, and fortunately our bank always has been.

What are some rewards of your job?

It’s pretty financially rewarding, it has pretty good hours, I get four weeks of vacation, the hours are not that difficult, it’s by far a much more mentally stressful job than it is a physically stressful job. It’s one of those things that, you know, it’s certainly possible to lose a job, but as long as you’re doing what you’re doing, as long as you’re taking care of people, you really sort of are, at least in a small community, engrained into the community to the point where you literally become a fixture, which is good.

What advice would you offer somebody coming into the same career?

I’d say the future is going to be challenging. I think our economy locally and nationally and globally is going to change. It won’t be like it’s been in the past 25 or 30 years. So someone coming in should have a better understanding – even if they’re just a local banker – they should have a better understanding of how things work economically on a global scale. The nature of banking is probably going to change too, in that there’s probably going to be much, much more government intervention to the point where I could see it almost being a government entity. So a person should be prepared for that sort of job if they want to work in banking.

Speaking of preparation, are there any common misconceptions that people have of what you do?

They think we go home at three ‘o’ clock in the afternoon, and that we play golf all the time, and we don’t. I send emails at seven ‘o’ clock in the morning and seven ‘o’clock at night, I send emails on the weekends…there’s a lot more to managing and maintaining a relationship with a loan customer than just making a loan and forgetting about it. You have to try to find the time to be somewhat proactive in helping them manage their affairs. You can’t manage their business for them, but sometimes you have to take a more active role in their business or in their life than you’d like to.

Moving on towards the discussion of the future: What are some of your goals or dreams for your career? Not necessarily this career, but just your career in general.

I don’t really have a lot of aspirations in the banking career. I’ve had some opportunities to go to different banks and probably advance a little more in the corporate aspect of banking, and I’ve chosen not to do that because I like to be as independent as I can, and the job I’m in now allows me to have a little bit more independence and a little bit more say so in what I do with my customers. So, I don’t really have any aspirations beyond what I’m already doing now. I think whenever I move out of this career, I want to move into something that’s a little bit more beneficial – less oriented toward making money and more oriented toward doing something that’s more rewarding on less of a financial scale. Whether that be something I do with my hands, or whether it’s something I do to help other people, something that’s a little more grounded in something a little more tangible.

Is there anything else that you would like the general public to know about what you do?

Even though banking has changed a lot in the last 20 years – it’s gotten more regional and global – I’ve always been involved in banking in a small rural community, and have seen several small, rural communities, and it’s always been true that the strength of the community is mirrored by the strength of the local bank. If you have a strong, deeply rooted in the community bank, you’ll have a strong community. If you have a small-minded, conservative bank that’s separated from the community, you’ll have a community that won’t grow much. So, bankers actually do look at that sort of thing and do take an interest in their community. It’s not always about wringing a profit out of everybody. Most bankers I know are generally interested in seeing their communities prosper and do well.

Okay, that’s great. Thank you.

What do you do for a living?

I invest money for people.

How would you describe what you do?

I create either a nest egg for retirement, or an income for them to live off of based on the investable assets that they have. And then I also give them advice in areas that I really don’t have anything to do with such as whether they should do a mortgage on their house, or whether they should spend money for this or that, because ultimately I know what their basis is on their investable assets and so I try to keep them from overspending for something they really can’t afford. Or in some cases I tell them to live life a little better, be a little less conservative because they can afford to. Sometimes it helps to have someone from the outside tell you that, rather than you come up with it on your own.

What does your work entail?

Again, I have to be knowledgeable of the market, of mortgage rates, anything that has to do with your financial health.   So that I’m capable of answering a question from a standpoint “Should I invest this money in XYZ? Well it really depends on what your risk tolerance is. That’s different for different people. It really depends on what your future goals are, that’s different for everyone. And just because one person would say to you “I want my money to make X for me, and another person would say “I want to make Y off my money.”  If somebody expects to make 10% a year on their money, then why put them in investments that would make 30%. Its more risk than they’re willing to take on.

This week I’ve probably put in easily 12 hours a day, six days a week. It probably won’t be half that next week, it varies. A lot of it depends on who needs what for that week, and what the markets doing for that week. Sometimes the best thing you can do in the market is nothing. Sometimes that is the very best decision.

You don’t want to try to make something out of nothing. Probably 90% of the returns in the market are made in 10% to 15% the amount of time through the year.

How did you get started?

I’ve always been good with numbers, I like to read, the market fascinates me, and although I’ve been in it 20 plus years I think if I was in it 50 plus years, every day, almost every day without fail, you learn something new. Therefore it’s always challenging.

What do you like about what you do?

I like what I do, but more than that I like who I do it for. My clients are all very, very close friends. It gives me an opportunity to be involved in their life which I dearly enjoy, and so my life kind of wraps around theirs. I don’t know what I could do for them other than this that I would be this involved with them.

What do you dislike?

The industry that I’m in is very, very heavily regulated. And some of the regulations are so pyramided meaning so many regulations accomplish the same thing, but it’s just that so few people understand the business they create all these levels of regulations that are something you can’t get around. You have to deal with them. Our industry is one that has never moved into the computer age. We still have to keep paper records, and when I say paper records you have to keep some of them for six years, which is archaic, but it’s never changed. So the industry has never gone has never progressed itself to the level that technology has.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

I make money as a percentage of assets that I manage for people. If their account goes up then my salary will go up with it. If their account goes down, I take a pay cut. So as they do well so do I.

How much money do you make?

$150,000/yr

Would you say there are any perks to this career

You make friends in this business that are, you know, they start out as clients, and you can’t spend that much time with people without getting to know them extremely well. And if there is a click there between you and your clients, then you’re enriched with a friendship that you probably wouldn’t have had otherwise. If you played golf once a week, or if you were in the Rotary club together, you’re not going to develop that level of communication that you would through casual contact, and I have that with quite a few people.

What education or skills are need to do this?

A college degree, mine was in finance, but if I had to do it over again I probably would get a degree in English. So a college degree would probably be a starting point, and then you have to have obtained different licenses depending on what field you want to go into in investment. You’ve got to start out with a Series 7, and then there are other series depending on what you’re going to do in the business; 7, 8, 9, 10, 4, 63, 66, it just goes on and on.

What is most challenging about what you do?

Probably the most challenging is curbing people’s greed and expectations. Because in reality in today’s market if you can make 10% on your money you’re doing extremely well, and people think they should make more, and many times they do. But I would say curbing their expectations is probably the biggest challenge, and then making them be honest with themselves. For someone to say they want to make more than 10%, then obviously they’ve got to take risks that would jeopardize their principal. And in reality for most people, I’ve heard it said that Will Rogers said this, “For most people the return of their principal is far more important than the return on their principal.” Because as you get older you have less of a hope of replacing your nest egg, so as long as you keep that intact and it earns a return for you you’ll do well.

What is most rewarding?

Seeing people do well.  I see it before they do, and so it’s almost like being a part of it with them, so that’s definitely the most rewarding

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Probably don’t do it, and the reason I say that, you know I’ve got 20 plus years in it, and so it’s a little late for me to turn around, but it’s like so many fields that you go into where you put a lot of study time and before you get started. Whether you’re a doctor, or whether you’re an investment adviser, or whatever everything is kind of going into a packaged product. And for most people a packaged product is okay. They buy a mutual fund and they are diversified from dollar one to some degree. My generation, which is the generation of baby boomers, you know we’re creeping towards retirement, and so therefore we want to take less risk with our money, so a packaged product is just fine. So it’s hard to differentiate yourself from the other people in your field, and when I think you really do well is when you can do that.

How much time off do you get/take?

Well, everybody needs time away from their job.  Most people should take two weeks away just to refresh themselves. You know I take off when I want to take off, and maybe it does average two weeks a year, maybe it averages five weeks a year, but what I do is work, passion, hobby it’s a lot wrapped up in one for me. I make money at it, but I enjoy what I do so I would probably do it if I didn’t get paid. So for me I’m one of those lucky people that I get to come to work and do something that I enjoy, even more than that I enjoy who I do it for. So I’m not as in need of a break from it as most people would be if they worked on an assembly line.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

That you make a lot of money at it. If I were to put an hourly amount based on time that I spend at it, it would shock people. So that’s probably the biggest misconception.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

Well, I’ll probably do it as long as I’m mentally capable of doing it, certainly as long as I’m healthy enough to do it, because I enjoy it. So I don’t expect next year it to be different from this year. I enjoy what I’m doing so. I’ve reached the age right don’t make long-term plans, you know. I do more long-term planning for my clients than I do for myself. Me personally I don’t buy green bananas. So that tells you a lot about my focus and forecast. And I never tell my clients “Oh you’re in for the long run. Don’t worry about it. It will take care of itself. If people really believe that, then you would be able to tell your banker when your note comes due, “Don’t worry about it. Ill get it to you eventually. You know, your money has to work for you just like you work for it.

What do you do for a living?

I’m in equity research for an investment firm, I’m an associate analyst there.

How would you describe what you do?

Currently, as an associate analyst, I help the more senior analysts do research on different stocks that we follow and help try and determine whether they’re stocks that our clients should buy or sell.

What does your work entail?

There are several different things.

Probably the most rewarding is knowing that if you’re doing a good job, you’re helping people build their financial wealth. Most of our clients are people either building towards retirement or are in retirement, and by helping them invest properly then you’re directly helping them live better.

A lot of my job is helping the senior analyst’s keep that up to date and making sure we’re keeping up on the trends and news about what’s happening with the companies we follow. And there’s all kinds of small projects associated with that. The other part of it is trying to develop my own knowledge so that I can follow my own companies here at some point.

How did you get started?

I started as a financial advisor, so I was doing the actual sales side of it and decided I didn’t want to be doing the sales, I’d rather be analyzing the company, so I moved into our home office and started in the research department.

What do you like about what you do?

I just find what I’m doing interesting. I find it interesting and challenging at the same time because you’re trying to make the right decision on whether a stock’s going to go up or whether it’s going to go down. When you’re right it’s rewarding, so that’s probably why I enjoy it.

What do you dislike?

Oh, at times, it can be a little boring in that you’re doing all this reading; you’re doing a lot on Excel, those types of things. So, maybe a lack of interaction with other people sometimes can be a negative part of the job but it’s not as bad as what some people might think it is. You have plenty of interaction with the other analysts and things like that but I would say that would probably be one downside.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated as a stock analyst?

Currently, the way I’m compensated is mainly through salary and then there are bonuses every trimester that are based partly on my performance and partly on the company’s performance.

How much money do you make as a stock analyst?

About $60,000

Would you say there are any perks to this job?

There’s your normal type benefits; 401k, health benefits, and all those types of things. Then also one of the biggest benefits working for Edward Jones is you have the opportunity of becoming a limited partner in the firm. I became a limited partner last year so now I get to share in the profits.

What education or skills are need to be a stock analyst?

A degree in finance or accounting would be ideal. Typically you’ll need high grade point averages too. Then you’re required at my firm, not at all firms but at my firm, to get your CFA which stands for Chartered Financial Analyst before you can start to cover your own company. You don’t have to have it before starting but you have to have it before you start following your own companies. It’s a series of three tests. Typically, you have to pass at least one or two of them before you have much of a chance of getting hired.

So the biggest thing is, an accounting or a finance background and ability to pass the CFA exam. I’d say, you’ve got to have some analytical skills, you’ve got to be good with numbers. You’re dealing with numbers all day long but then at the same time, you’ve got to be able to communicate your message to our financial advisors, so you’ve also got to have some communication skills.

What is most challenging about what you do?

Just trying to figure out what information is most important. There’s news out there every single day on stocks and you have to figure out whether the news items are something that’s really going to matter over the long-term or not. Then you have to take all the information and make the call you think is right. Nobody’s right every time but it’s nice to be able to be right most of the time.

What is most rewarding?

Probably the most rewarding is knowing that if you’re doing a good job, you’re helping people build their financial wealth. Most of our clients are people either building towards retirement or are in retirement, and by helping them invest properly then you’re directly helping them live better.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

First of all, if they’re a young person coming out of college, they would need to do as well as they could, you know, as far as their GPA, but especially in their business courses. For someone not coming out of college I would say to have as much experience and background in finance or accounting would be the best. And then to really stand a good chance of getting, into our firm anyway, to have one or two levels of the CFA exam finished is a big advantage as well.

How much time off do you get/take?

As far as vacation days, I get eleven vacation days; if you have been at the firm for less than five years. If you’ve been there over five years, then it starts to go up to fifteen, and then twenty, but I get eleven vacation days. I can’t remember how many sick days I get it’s more than I would ever use. And then the hours are very flexible, so if I need to take a half day here or there, come in at 9:00 or leave at 4:00, whatever, I can do that. But as far as policy goes, I get eleven vacation days.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

I think probably the biggest misconception would be most people, when they think of an analyst, they think of some nerdy guy sitting there in a cubicle by himself all day looking at numbers and not interacting with anyone, or anything like that, and I think that’s probably the biggest misconception. Even though you are sitting at your desk and doing a lot of research, you’re also involved in a lot of meetings with the other people on your team and trying to find out what other people are seeing out in the economy, and those types of things. And you’re also interacting with financial advisors, brokers, and things like that. So I’d say that would be the biggest misconception.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

It would be to get to a more senior analyst position, which would mean I’m following my own stocks and making my own recommendations, and then to go beyond that would be more like a, you know, department leader or something like that: the head of research or something like that. But in the fairly near future, it would be more of a senior analyst type of role.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

I think we’ve hit on most of it. I just think for someone that enjoys numbers, analyzing things, enjoys the stock market, those types of things, I think it’s a very rewarding career, and there’s a lot of ways that you can go with it. I mean, there’s firms like mine that focus on individual investors and those types of things; there’s mutual fund companies out there, pension funds, so you can kind of pick where you want to go depending on how hard you want to work.

What do you do for a living?

I’m an investment consultant for TD Ameritrade.

How would you describe what you do?

I would say that my goal is to contact high net worth clients in regards to their investment strategies, and make sure that they’re doing everything they can as far as investment strategy goes to reach their financial goals.  I basically analyze their situation, consult, and I’m not giving specific recommendations per se for stocks, bonds etc., I give them advice advice on channels that our company has available to them, and see if one of those advice channels might be fit their needs. I get them in touch with advisors who can make recommendations, or help them through our market watchers and our portfolio managers to build accounts or customize their portfolios to fit their needs.

What does your work entail?

Typically, I work eight to five Monday through Friday. The schedule is pretty flexible depending on the manager. And being a sales position, they don’t micromanage you too much, so you still kind of have that feeling like you are your own boss in a certain way.  However, being a salary role, you don’t have the complete flexibility as someone who’s a commission-only worker, who can come and go as they please we do have a bonus structure, and those bonuses can be very, very large.  It’s basically what you put into it is what you get out of it.  I’m required on minimum standards to make 50 dials and get in touch with 15 people per day. And we have campaigns and lists and things like that that are given to us weekly, monthly, and quarterly to keep us with activity and new ideas to call on. Right now they’re trying to bump our standards up to about 75 dials and 20 contacts a day. So basically, the whole goal is just maintaining a high level of activity.

What do you like about what you do?

I get to talk finance, current events, and markets with people all over the country all day long. It’s ever changing. You’re talking to someone in New York, and someone in Florida, and someone in California. It’s different accents, different views and feelings on the market.  And just basically, to hear how they feel about things, at different stages in their lives—it could be old people, young people—and it gives me the ability not to come into work every day and do the same mundane tasks. I also get a chance to see different perspectives and learn from people who have been in the market for many more years than I have.

What do you dislike?

The fact that it is still eight to five and I have to be there every single day. Because in past jobs, I had the flexibility to come and go as I please and take a vacation when I want to. I still have that desire to want to travel a lot more and take more days off and see people when I have the ability to, so I think making the change into the 40-hour week is my least favorite thing. I’d kind of like to be my own boss completely and run my own company, but I understand that that takes time to learn so that I can get to the point to be able to do that.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

It starts with a salary of $40K, and after that your bonused quarterly with a lot of annual kickers and incentives that kick in for total production throughout the year. Quarterly bonuses, I would say, can average between $5,000 and $25,000.

How much money do you make?

This year, being my first year, there’s two guaranteed bonuses in the first two quarters of $2,500 each unless you break them. This year I’m probably looking to make between $80,000 and $100,000, depending on how the actual year-end bonuses work out. Potentially, if I work hard and things go well, probably $100,000 in the first year.

What education or skills are needed to do this?

Well, you definitely have to have a high school degree and a Bachelor’s degree, preferably in finance or accounting or some type of business degree with some training in finance. There’s many examinations that are required. Just for my job there’s the Series 7 and then the Series 66. Primarily those are the two main certifications that you needs to have to get into an entry level position.  But also sales experience is a must.  I had a year of experience prior to this job, so that’s kind of one of the reasons why I got this job.  It’s tough to get into a salaried sales role with bonus and incentives without having some kinds of sales experience.

What is most challenging about what you do?

The most challenging is something that  I actually dealt with today, which is dealing with the ebbs and flows of the business cycle and the sales cycle. I started the quarter off tremendously, kicking ass and doing really well, I felt like everything was going my way, but the last couple weeks things have really slowed down. And it’s not that I’m doing anything differently, or I’ve changed my game plan or what not in the past few weeks, it’s just that sales has its cycles, there’s nothing you can do about it. Sometimes you’re on top of the world, and sometimes you feel like you’ve just lost it and you don’t know what’s going on. I think the hardest part is maintaining the consistency to know that you don’t have to change every time something starts not working or not going your way. You do have to change and adapt to different things that are happening and learning new products, but that consistency, working hard, and just putting your head down even when times are tough, I think, is the most challenging part.

What is most rewarding?

The reason that I’m in this business is to—not to say that I’m greedy—but I want to make a lot of money.  The top guy doing the same job I have this year will make $220,000, and we’ll have also people who’ll make their salary and just a few bonuses and not get to $55,000 or $60,000. And so, I think that the best part about it is that you still kind of control your own destiny. There’s an opportunity in your first year to make $100,000 to $150,000, so I think the desire to be wealthy is something that really brings me to this job.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Someone would need to have a real passion for following the market and be able to carry on a conversation with someone who has fifty or sixty million dollars in an account and someone that’s going to put in 500 bucks. Doing those two things is what I enjoy the most. Also, the ability to always be learning and always wanting to be taking higher education and continuing education to be able to keep up with the ever-changing markets.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

The biggest misconception is that we’re stock jockeys and that we are calling clients constantly trying to get them into the next big stock, or trying to push something upon them, or just the typical sales guy.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

This is a great place to meet a lot of great people. Like I said, part of the sales roles is getting advisors—we have a network all over the country. We meet with them periodically throughout the quarter, just getting your name out there and trying to get business thrown their way.  I’m meeting a lot of great people and the connections that I make through that program I feel are something that weren’t given to me at the beginning as far as the job description. I knew I’d be selling and getting clients into advisory products, but the chance to interact with these guys that are CFA’s, that went to Yale, that went to Harvard MBA programs and things of that nature, really touching base with them and getting their business cards…They can see a side of you that they probably wouldn’t be able to see if you just tried to interview with their firm, and really get you a good foothold on arriving to the next step outside of the company.

What do you do for a living?

I own an insurance agency.

How would you describe what you do?

I sell personal insurance mainly; auto, home, and life insurance. It’s eighty percent sales, twenty percent management.

What does your work entail?

It’s pretty much sales. You have to get prospects then figure out if they’re people that need what you have. Then you have to figure out if they’re going to be profitable and that they aren’t going to cause you all kinds of problems because insurance is kind of like a loan. You can’t get people that are not going to pay their bills.

It’s good for somebody that say, went to college, moves back home, doesn’t ever want to move, wife’s happy there, and is like, “I’m going to build a career here that I can have forever and get a lot of free time and go watch my kids play ball.” It’s long-term. It’s a jog, not a sprint.

Pretty much from there it’s just selling the deal and closing the deal, and managing it, keeping customer service for the people that bought from you.

How did you get started?

My family had been it.

What do you like about what you do?

Freedom. I own my own business. I can go do whatever I want to do, work whenever I want to. There’s unlimited potential for income. I might make $40,000 more this year than I made last year and I might make $100,000 less next year? It’s all up to me. One thing that I will say though, one really positive is it’s very stable too. Once you build an agency and you get a renewal base, 90 percent of the people will stay with you, so I could be gone for two weeks and still make the same amount of money.

What do you dislike?

When someone comes in and wants insurance from you and you can’t cover them because they’ve had two claims, or it’s a friend of yours and the accidents were really not their fault but they have two claims and that’s the rule and you can’t cover them.…the insurance company kind of tells you want you can and can’t do with

I can’t set the prices on the policies, I just have to sell what I’ve been given. If you owned your own business where you sold t-shirts, you could decide if you want to sell them for $40 or $6. This isn’t that business. They tell you they’re 38 bucks, they may be twice as much as anybody else but you have to go sell it.

regards to writing policies, and sometimes it makes it hard because it differs from what you would want to do if you owned the place.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

It’s all commission and performance bonuses.

How much money do you make?

About $130,000

What education or skills are needed to do this?

College degree. It doesn’t really matter what their degree is in as long as they have one. They’ve got to be able to work with people really well. That’s the key, communication and working with people. That’s what sales is, you’ve got to have a good personality and be able to deal with a lot of situations and learn how to deal with peoples emotions.

What is most challenging about what you do?

I’d say it’s to take what you’re given and work with it. I can’t set the prices on the policies, I just have to sell what I’ve been given. If you owned your own business where you sold t-shirts, you could decide if you want to sell them for $40 or $6. This isn’t that business. They tell you they’re 38 bucks, they may be twice as much as anybody else but you have to go sell it. Also dealing with the weather and things that are out of your control that can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars. I can get a bonus for Christmas for $60,000 or I can get a bonus for Christmas of $0. And that all depends on how many people filed claims against me. Anytime there’s a damn storm, we’re up in the middle of the night watching it. Trust me, dude, I’m telling you. It’s wild. It can literally, on my income anymore, it can make the difference of $100,000 to $150,000 a year in my pocket. I don’t pay it out of my pocket, but there’s a loss ratio which means they look at how much you take in and how much you pay out. And depending on if your percentage’s in the right place, you get a bonus.

What is most rewarding?

I’d say the most rewarding in this business would be long-term, the renewal base business where you built a business and you worked hard and it gets to a point where it can be put on cruise control. And you see lots State Farm agents and all those guys, they’re always hunting for two weeks, traveling and whatever.

I can get a bonus for Christmas for $60,000 or I can get a bonus for Christmas of $0. And that all depends on how many people filed claims against me. Anytime there’s a damn storm, we’re up in the middle of the night watching it. Trust me, dude, I’m telling you. It’s wild. It can literally, on my income anymore, it can make the difference of $100,000 to $150,000 a year in my pocket.

The most rewarding thing of it is, it’s not like a doctor where you’ve got to be there to see patients. Once you’ve built the business, then you can kind of go and do whatever you want to do.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

I wouldn’t start from scratch. I guess that’s the best way to put it. I would somehow either buy in or get put into an existing agency that already has a book of business. But it’s very long-term…I mean, it’s very hard to go in and just start from nothing. It takes so many years just to get to where you’re even making some money. I’d also, before you sign on, make sure you really do your due diligence on what the company’s telling you about what you’re getting. Sometimes they’ll bullshit that and say “Oh, you’re getting this many clients and you’re getting this and you’re getting that,” and then you get in there and go, “Oh, wait a minute,”.

How much time off do you get/take?

Time off, I guess that would include my other business ventures. If you want to look at it from that standpoint, probably four months. And the typical agent’s not probably going to be able to do that, but easily six to eight weeks. It’s different for everyone. I own my own business. If some guy is an agent for Farm Bureau, that guy actually works for Farm Bureau. He’s like a loan officer at a bank.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

I would say the misconception is that we make more money off things than what they really do. Like what insurance agents do or an insurance company even in general. People think you make so much more money than what you do. People don’t realize that, yes, I took in, $10,000 grand but, as soon as they wreck their car, I pay it right back out.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

Just to build a big agency. My deal’s pretty much to get it where I make $350,000 to $400,000 a year and don’t even have to go by there. That’s my goal. And I mean, mine’s a little different. My whole goal in the long-run is to set it up to have people to sell for me. I’m trying to set up the business and let it run itself.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

It’s a long-term business. It’s a very long-term business. It’s not something you walk in to and in a couple of years you’re going to just boom, all of a sudden you’re making $100,000. It’s good for somebody that say, went to college, moves back home, doesn’t ever want to move, wife’s happy there, and is like, “I’m going to build a career here that I can have forever and get a lot of free time and go watch my kids play ball.” It’s long-term. It’s a jog, not a sprint. It takes so long to develop those relationships with wealthy clients and get lots of money to come in the door, that if you’re moving all the time, you’re going to be starting back over all the time.