r/FinancialAdvisorTips

I’m a 23-year-old assistant moving into a junior advisor role at a small wealth management firm in a LCOL area, and I’m looking for some perspective from other advisors/firm owners on how they structure compensation for junior advisors. 

I’ve been with the firm for almost 2 years working as an assistant, I got my SIE early but we went through a broker-dealer change with the acquisition of another firm so the rest of licensing got put on hold. We’re currently around $185M AUM, ~475 households, and ~$700k in gross annual revenue. With the firm there is the main advisor/owner, 2 older advisors (they were the acquisition), a secretary, and me. One of the older advisors is expected to be rolling off in Q1 2027, while the other is likely 3–5 years out. A significant portion of the book was purchased from these two advisors, who historically took upfront compensation rather than building recurring trail revenue. A major part of my role going forward will be helping transition that business toward recurring/trail-based revenue and helping take over client relationships as those advisors roll off.

I’m currently making $13.50/hour plus roughly $1–2k/year in bonuses. I’ve just recently passed my Series 7, studying for 66 at the moment. I’m developing into a more advisor-focused role, and the firm is discussing a longer-term partner track with me. Here is what was offered:

- $23/hour base compensation (after passing my Series 66)
- 30% of net revenue from qualifying business I independently originate
- A profit-sharing component beginning at 1% of adjusted firm profit
- Potential to earn an additional 1% of profit share each year, up to 10%, based on a performance scorecard (The profit share is not equity/ownership)
- There may be an opportunity to buy into the firm/equity down the road, but that would be a separate agreement

The long-term philosophy is that as I become more productive and senior, more of my compensation would come from variable compensation rather than guaranteed salary.

The firm would be providing the infrastructure/overhead, including office, technology, compliance, marketing, etc.

For those who have experience with this, I'm curious:
- Does this seem like a competitive structure for a junior advisor in a LCOL market?
- How would you view the 30% net revenue payout on self-originated business?
- Is the 1% → 10% profit-sharing earn-in reasonable for someone on a potential partner track?
- What would you want clarified or changed before signing something like this?

I am a CPA (getting my CFP by YE) — with experience in UHNW Family Office, Public Accounting, and now Financial Industry.

I recently took a position as a planning analyst at a $1bn firm under Northwestern Mutual, the firm leads with planning — we do estate, business, and risk planning.

They offer me the opportunity to go full-time advisor with a $100k base salary and approximately $75k in bonuses (internal financing). Overtime, the projection is for me to pay my internal debt with my production and recurring revenue while substantially increasing my take-home pay.

I am highly confident in my ability to help people in the financial industry and as a CPA, I have a marketing point that many advisors don’t have — my struggle is that I am not 100% sure that NWM is the firm I want to do it under due to its limitations. Is this a genuine concern or does it look like a great opportunity?

Hi,

I’m looking at careers right now, and I’m drawn to financial advice, however I’m not sure if I have the right kind of personality for the role, and I’m also a bit concerned about the evolving role of AI, and whether that will swallow all the first jobs I could have had a few years ago. I’m wondering whether it is more of a sales kind of personality that fits it, or more empathetic and financially savvy people, who can do well in the industry. Appreciate any advice in this front!

Hey all — I’m 22, currently a Financial Solutions Advisor at Merrill Lynch, about two months in. Long-term goal is to become a private wealth advisor, and I’m looking to make a move to JP Morgan’s Private Client Advisor role sooner rather than later realistically within the next year, maybe sooner if the opportunity’s right.

I know that’s early, but I’d rather plan the move deliberately than wait and figure it out later. Would love insight from anyone who’s done this or knows the space:

Is under a year at Merrill enough tenure to make this jump, or does it usually take longer to be considered competitive for PCA?

How does comp compare early on, PCA vs FSA?

Are production goals more attainable at JPM vs Merrill?

What does the timeline to becoming a full on private wealth advisor at JPMC from this role?

Trying to be strategic about the timing rather than just jumping ship. Appreciate any real talk, especially from people who’ve made this exact move or been on the hiring side.

Conventional wisdom says hire an ops person/assistant but given the digital ease of on-boarding, I'm thinking a young planner looking to be an FA would be similar in cost but able to take a lot more off my plate.

I'd love feedback.

Hi! I wanted to share an interesting opportunity with you—becoming a Tata AIA Insurance Advisor.
The best part is that you can leverage the network and relationships you already have and gradually build your own business. There is significant earning potential for those who are committed and consistent.

For perspective, my leader Annapurna Madam earned around ₹4 crore last year. Her success story has been a huge inspiration to many of us.

If this sounds interesting, let me know. I’d be happy to share more details.

as we get closer to the transition, how many of those who are left are thinking of jumping? our group finally decided and will be moving on in October to IFP

[supprimé]

Hi, I'm a recruiter for financial advisors. Been doing this a while and wanted to get a general pulse on what advisors actually like seeing versus what they say they like seeing.

Listen, I will send messages and cold outreach regardless, but I would prefer to try and trend in a more acceptable manner. Once someone says NO. I leave them alone till they reach back out. I won't be the guy who pesters people.

I'll be upfront, I love the platform I recruit for. Wouldn't be here if I didn't think the offering was genuinely great. But that's exactly why I want honest feedback, because loving what you sell doesn't mean you're selling it the right way.

I won't pitch the firm here, but happy to share who we are in DMs if anyone's curious. Broad strokes: we're a BD/RIA that traditionally brings in advisors with $30M to $200M AUM who are fiercely independent and want to own their book for life. No strings attached ownership, real autonomy, built by and for long term advisors. There's a lot to it, more than I can fit in a Reddit post.

I run LinkedIn, email, and text/call campaigns. Still doing them. Had one go out today, actually.

Here's what's bugging me lately: LinkedIn feels dead. Response rates have tanked over the last year. My guess is every advisor's inbox is getting hit by ten other recruiters a week, so everyone's just tuning it out.

So my real question: what makes you respond to outreach from a BD/RIA platform? What's an instant "heck no"? And is cold calling just background noise at this point, or does it still land?

Genuinely trying to get better at reaching people the right way.

Edit. New question. As an advisor if you had to choose how to be reached in cold contact. What contact do you prefer?

Email
Phone
LinkedIn

I've got an old 401k with about 50 grand sitting in it. I've thought about rolling it over into my new 401k, but I don't get an employer match...

I've also considered rolling it over into a Rollover IRA or into my Roth IRA. I genuinely don't know what the best course of action is.

If it's helpful I live in NYC, and my taxes are egregious because of that. Any thoughts?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and honestly can’t decide.
On one hand you’ve got rental properties. On the other, starting some kind of business. Both seem like the classic “build wealth / create cash flow” moves people talk about, but I’m curious what the actual experience is like in the beginning.
Do either of them actually put money in your pocket early on, or do they both just eat cash for a while?
Would love to hear from people who’ve done one (or both):
• How long did it take before you saw real cash flow?
• What surprised you the most?
• If you had to pick which would you choose and why?

Just looking for real experiences and opinions. What’s your take?

I’ve never had a father or a mentor. I’m not suggesting that will come of this, but I would appreciate any and all guidance any of you wish to provide.

Going to give some context and background, then give the ask.

I’m pushing in to mid-life. Not quite there, but closer than not. I grew up poor in middle of nowhere Arkansas. Single mother, I spent most of my 19th year of life homeless.

I never had a father. Never was taught life lessons I feel others my age had. I have always been 3 - 5 years behind my peers in terms of “stage if life”, and I can only conclude it js because i didn’t have guidance to teach me some core life lessons early on. I had to reinvent the wheel and learn them myself.

Fast forward to now. I have a bachelors, my MBA in Finance and Global Strategy, spent 5 years in the US Army as a combat medic, and 6 years in corporate working as a cog to pay off $130,000 in student loans.

Loans paid off, own a nice performing rental, married, and we will be starting a family soon in a major southern US metro.

I’ve spent the last 10 years filling the gap in my knowledge around finance, personal finance, portfolio theory, and securities analysis. And now that we are financially stable, I’m pursuing my dream of becoming an FA.

I’m starting at a full service firm that everyone here will know. You all know better than me that there are pros and cons to each path into the business and building a practice. Suffice it to say that, after interviewed acquaintances at almost every type of firm, including 2 that have their own RIA, I’ve chosen the correct path for me. I’ll just say it isn’t an insurance firm ([insert name here] mutual) but an actual advising firm.

I want break the cycle my whole life has been in and hit the ground running instead of having to figure out the rules of the game for myself. I don’t mind putting in the hard work and the grind. Can’t be as grueling as a combat medic constantly forcing grunts to keep water in their canteens instead of spike energy drink. The grind here is for my family and I’m incredibly motivated.

Here is the ask: Help an incredibly motivated new entrant get ahead of the game.

Early on I understand this is as much sales as it is advising.

Where have you found the most success in client acquisition while building your book, and what “typical” path to client acquisition have you found isn’t worth the effort even if it is commonly recommended?

What tactics did you find were reliable in getting past the “no” and getting further down the conversation to build the trust?

What type of segmentation did you find appropriate across client types, and how did you structure your prospect sourcing, approach, and close for each?

Did you focus purely on one or two segment of clients? Or did you look to diversify your book across lower, mid, and higher asset clients?

What major pitfalls did you experience that slowed you down that I can learn from?

I’m not sitting here trying to be greedy and spend my entire day looking for a few multi-millionaires to service. I’m sure I need to build some more experience and knowledge before I can adequately service those with more sophisticated needs. And I actually want to build a sustainable practice where I can spend some time helping mid and lower end clients. But the practice has to be profitable without killing myself.

Landing a few higher (if not ultra high) net worth clients accelerates the path to profitability and gives me time to curate my book better.

What guidance can you give to someone from my background to source, approach, close, and service higher end clients with great client satisfaction?

I understand clients have to have enough investable assets to support the work involved, but how have you found ways, if any, to also give back to those from my background who could use some level of guidance even if they can’t afford to pay for it?

What do I not know that I don’t know.

Thank you again to anyone who takes the time to read this admittedly long post and pass along some knowledge to a budding, well-intentioned soon-to-be advisor. I cannot tell you via text how much I appreciate any and all guidance here.

God bless.

Up front so nobody wastes their time: I work in marketing for Console & Associates, P.C. We work on data breach claims. I am posting because the details here are relevant to this sub and I would rather say who I am than not. Mods, remove if this crosses the line.

The basics:

Kovack Financial LLC, the Fort Lauderdale parent of Kovack Securities and Kovack Advisors, filed breach notifications on 8/10/26. An unauthorized party had access to the network from 8/8/25 through 8/27/25 and it was discovered on 8/28/25.

That is roughly eleven and a half months between discovery and notification.

Exposed data listed in the filings includes Social Security numbers, driver's license and government ID numbers, and credit, debit and financial account information.

Confirmed counts so far are 1,713 Massachusetts residents and 243 Vermont residents. California received a filing but has not published a number. There is no national total available. Maine's AG breach database, which used to be the easiest place to find one, went offline in June 2026.

Why this matters to this sub specifically:

Kovack supports around 400 independent practices. If you are a Kovack rep, the firm holds your onboarding paperwork, your SSN, your licensing records, and in a lot of cases your banking details for commission deposits. Rep data tends to get overlooked in these notifications because the focus stays on client counts.

The other issue is name recognition. Almost nobody who got a letter banks under the Kovack name. Their statements say the name of their local practice. So you may have clients who received a notice, did not connect it to you, and threw it out.

What I am actually asking:

Nothing, if you do not want to engage. If you are a Kovack rep and you got a notice, I would be interested to know what the letter said about credit monitoring terms and whether reps were notified separately from clients. Those details are hard to get from the AG filings.

Happy to answer questions in the comments.

I am 66, retired and I am thinking of looking for a new Investment Management planner I have been with Raymond Jamesa little over 2 years.
Currently my portfolio with RJ is a bit over $460,000.00. I am realizing after 2 years (I know smack me now!!)  that my "fees" (1.5%) & I feel are too much for the service I feel I get from RJ with my brokerage accounts and one IRA.
I dont feel commfortable making trades, and trying to manage my funds myself ( doing self management) because IF I panic sell, or make mistakes or buy the wrong stocks I could possibly make a mess of it.
At my age 66 & retired having a comprehensive wealth management planner I feel would be best for my situation. I Will be calling Raymond James this week to discuss fees & see IF I can negotiate my current fees from 1.5% to under 1% I am hoping to get my fees down to (.85% to .090%)<< as I am finding a few fiduciary advisors that have gotten back to me this week are quoting me what they charge & by looking at my statements they feel the fees RJ is charging >1.50 % is a bit steep.
I do use for "self management" >> schwab & Fidelity. I have about $120,000 in Schwab & fidelity combined BUT all in bonds, CD's, schwab smart portfolio, or low risk stocks. so those funds are "self managed" but in no risk products with little or no fees.
All total I manage about 18-20% of my total wealth & am ok with that but to get the most out of the 80% I feel I need help I do not want to risk doing it myself.
I am wondering IF anyone here has used any of the financial management companies I have isted below as I am looking at each one to compare I also realize there are a TON of others, I do not want to get over my head with getting too many quotes then start getting calls then getting more confused because I am calling many fiduciary advisors. Below is a list of who I contacted this week, I already heard back from Retirable today, and will hear from Fidleity, Schwab & Vangaurd all by the end of next week. I have sent my recent statements to all of them. I am not sure what do to I will feel TERRIBLE to leave RJ because my FA there is a great person, considerate of my needs & always calls me back & meets with me 4x a year & more if needed. He is knowledgble,and he is very upfront. it is me that needed to wake up read my statements, learn & now that I have a better understanding, I realize that IF he wont lower my fees? I may need to look elsewhere. Below are the FA's I have contacted
Fidelity investments
Schwab
Retirable
Facet
Vanguard
Has anyone used any of these I mentioned? Today I got a proposal and 45 min video call from Retirable with .90 fees no higher and not a seller of comission based products. I like what I heard but with my linited knowledge I do not want to make a mistake. IF I move from RJ I want it to be my last move
FYI>>> retirable looked at my RJ statements and said it looks like a decent plan but with high fees & they feel I can do better with other products. That was good to hear that it looks like RJ was NOT dong "bad things" just high fees & perhaps there could have been better products to put into my brokerage account.
They also said they can discuss the $150,000 that I have soon coming due in a 5 year annuity ( 2029) and that 150,000.00 that will be a big "help" to even better outcomes than expected.
One thing about retirable, is the FA is what? 30 years old?? that concerns me? should it????? I like the FA's that are 15-20 years or more into their career.
So, should that as well as being a "virtual FA" be a concern?? MY FA now at RJ is 5 miles away & always welcomes a call or visit & he has been a FA for over 15 years, I hate to leave but these fees??????????
I appreciate you reading my posts.

Would love to see if anyone has any opinions on regions I saw a posting from Cetera I heard from a friend you inherit a book

I am currently 20 years old. I have my sie and series 66. I go to a top 10 business school in the country. I am planning on taking a gap year and was thinking about sitting for the cfp. I want to pass the exam and then go back to school and graduate and get a nice internship after junior summer. Is this the only path to get a good job as a FA? I just finished up a private wealth management internship at a middle sized ria specifically working with UHNW clients. I am wondering if this is a solid way to go and what the best places to recruit are. I am planning on the gap year just to get my cfp and stack some money. I like to invest a lot. Kinda lost though. I want to go to a top firm because I believe in myself and think that getting my cfp at 21 would really set me apart. Let me know if this is crazy

Hello everyone, first time posting here looking for some general advice. I received my first offer from an RIA to be a Wealth Advisor. Once I got the employment offer, I was a bit taken aback by a 12 month non compete on the contract based on any investment/securities related role within the city and its outer bounds. I know non solicits or even non acceptance clauses are quite normal, but a non compete that impedes me on working in the industry as a whole seemed very excessive.

Is this more normal than I am reacting to, or is this something I should negotiate them on?

Thanks!

I’m 22 just graduated college and work at Merrill as an FSA. Been in the role for about a 6 weeks don’t plan to stay long term this was more of a stepping stone. I’m fully licensed (sie, 7, 66) and have CRPC. Goal is to be a private wealth advisor long term wondering what the next best role I should look for is & what type of firms. Thanks.

I’m 23 years old working at a small to medium ‘boutique firm’ that wants me to get my CFP this year and then by January of 2028 become a full on advisor and start building my own book. I would have full ownership of the relationships that I would build. The split with the firm regarding revenue would be about 50/50 until I start making enough to cover my own overhead then I would get about 70%.

One thing to keep in mind is they would give me about $2 million AUM with fees I can’t change and relationships I don’t own. This could potentially cause me to work more for little to no profit from this book. So it could be good or bad I’m not sure.

I am thinking about the opportunity cost of me just starting out now and building my own book and the potential clients I could have in year.

I am fully licensed. Should I go it alone or stay for a year?

I will take all the advice I can get :/ (sorry english is not my first language)

I (30M) recently made a career shift from auditing local governments for 2.5 years to wealth management as a Client Service Advisor at a boutique independent RIA. After a while, I became pretty miserable with the repetitive nature of auditing; sitting in a small room doing nonstop testing, then moving on to another client (city) every few weeks and repeating the same process.

I’m a very social person, so I wanted a career where I could actually work directly with people, build relationships, and help them with their needs. Even though we technically had “clients” in auditing, I never really felt like I was making much of an impact on anyone’s life, which was a big reason I decided to make the switch.

The first few months at the RIA have definitely been a learning curve, but it’s been refreshing to actually talk with people and help them day to day. The advisor has also taught me a lot about investing, risk management, custodians, and the business in general.

That said, the workflow is extremely unorganized.

All client documents (bank statements, investment accounts, onboarding paperwork, applications, etc) are basically stored in one folder thats shared with the team. Quarterly reports are sent manually to 200+ households with very specific instructions on who gets what, making the process heavily dependent on the advisor’s memory. The CRM also has a lot of outdated information and errors that we’re correcting one client at a time.

Coming from auditing, this stresses me out because our electronic files were organized almost perfectly. Even if I didn’t know exactly where something was, the folder structure made it easy to find. It seems like the business operations make sense to him, but only because he’s been running them this way for years. If the firm is going to grow into what he wants it to become, I think there needs to be more standardization, documented procedures, and processes that someone else can easily follow.

I don’t want to give up on the firm because my employer is good at what he does, and I enjoy the client facing side of the job. I just think the operational side could be much more organized and scalable.

Before I start making suggestions, I’d love to hear from other RIAs or operations people: How is your firm’s workflow set up? How do you organize client files, manage your CRM, handle recurring tasks, and make sure processes aren’t dependent on one person’s memory?

TL;DR: I left auditing for wealth management because I wanted more client interaction and meaningful work. I enjoy the people side of my new RIA role, but the firm’s operations are extremely disorganized and seem to make sense only to the owner. I’m looking for insight on how other RIAs standardize files, CRM workflows, recurring tasks, and procedures so the business can scale.