r/FinancialAdvisorTips

I’m in my mid 30s with over 10 years in the industry. I joined a mega RIA two years ago and have closed over $150M in assets through referral channels. Realistically, I’ll likely be at $250–300M by the end of next year, translating to roughly $250–300K in annual compensation.

There’s a clear path to managing a larger practice (400–500M) and making $400–500K/year. Making partner in the next year or so would also bring RSUs into the picture.

My hesitation is that I don’t own the clients or the business I’m building. Going independent would mean starting over to some extent and potentially years of grinding to get back to this income level, but I’d be building something I own.

We have solid savings but also a growing family, so the stability and income potential of staying are appealing.

I know this sub generally leans toward independence, but is there a legitimate case for staying at a mega RIA, building a well paying career, and taking advantage of the path in front of me rather than starting over to own a business?

Would especially appreciate perspectives from people who have experienced both sides.

Hi everyone, I’m 55 and recently left my job retired after 31 years working in finance. I’m considering Charles Schwab Wealth Advisory and would really appreciate first-hand experiences from other early retirees.
My portfolio is approximately $1.8 million: $1 million in 401(k)/retirement accounts and $800,000 in taxable accounts.
My plan is to focus on growth for another 4–5 years, then transition toward generating retirement income. My target is around $6,000 per month after fees and taxes. I also plan to live abroad, primarily in Thailand, and Schwab has confirmed that they can continue managing my investments while I’m overseas.
The proposed advisory fee is 0.80% annually — approximately $14,400 per year on $1.8 million, before any underlying fund expenses.
If you’ve used Schwab Wealth Advisory, particularly with a $1 million–$2 million portfolio, was it worth the fee? How has performance compared with appropriate benchmarks after fees? Has the team helped you navigate the move from growth investing to sustainable retirement income? And if you retired in your 50s or now live overseas, how has the experience been?
Would you choose Schwab’s management again, or would you rather hold a simple low-cost ETF portfolio and manage it yourself?
I’m comfortable with the markets, but I want a sustainable income plan, thoughtful tax management, and peace of mind without having to constantly manage my investments. I’d appreciate both positive and negative experiences. Thanks in advance!

Currently working in WM as an advisor, and as the title states, I’m really struggling to get clients.

I just started and I work with a firm as self-employed and I knew it would be difficult, but I honestly don’t know what to do at this point. I’m running out of savings fast, and I just can’t seem to get clients. I’ve called everyone I can possibly think of and more, no one answers.

Once I can get people onto meetings, things seem to go well, but it’s a very slow burn converting them into actual clients (getting all the paperwork done), so have I only a few clients; with a few more pending, but I have absolutely nothing in the pipeline once these new deals start coming through.

I’ve been asking for referrals, calling, leveraging LinkedIn, and I feel like I’m doing everything right, but it’s just very difficult.

I’m at the point where if I don’t start making money, I’m going to be completely out of money by December. I’ve sold pretty much everything I own and I’m cutting down spending even more now.

The biggest problem though is I LOVE my job, but I just can’t get clients… So if anyone has any advice, I’d love to hear it, I know this is a struggle that everyone seems to go through as an Advisor, but no one seems to actually be real about it.

Considering a career in financial planning. Ive often thought it would be fun to do this for a living, as I enjoy giving people advice when they ask. I was an accountant for about 25 years, with a degree in finance and an MBA. Semi retired in 2019 and have been dealing poker for a major casino chain in southern Virginia, but lately have been itching to try financial planning. If I do it I would want to be a fee only financial planner. Any advice from those in the field?

After running my own business for several years where I rubbed shoulders with high-income individuals, I decided I wanted to transition into wealth management and use those prior connections to build my own book. I eventually passed my Series 65 and took a role at a mega-BD primarily to build solid experience within the industry.

After a short time, I realized that this BD isn’t a long-term home, nor is it a place I would feel comfortable bringing my business to. This is a prospective book of business I plan to build out using those past relationships. In my first year, I anticipate being able to bring over roughly 15–20 households with around $4M–$6M in total AUM.I know that in the grand scope of the industry, this is a very small book, but I am trying to weigh my true options.

Corporate RIA Tuck-In: Would a corporate RIA touch someone with a prospective book of this size and allow me to “tuck in” under their umbrella?

Boutique RIA / Paraplanner Role: Does it make more sense to look for a paraplanner or servicing role at a boutique firm while building my book on the side?

While I think the boutique route is a great option, it also comes with the challenge of finding the right firm that is open to that dynamic and having that conversation.Has anyone been in a similar situation, or do you know someone who has, that could shed light on these circumstances? I know there are also a lot of advisors on here who are either looking for servicing advisors or bringing new advisors on board, so I’d love to hear your perspective.

I am interested in working in financial advising. I have an MBA but no licenses. I have applied to both Charles Schwab and Fidelity and have been rejected by both without any phone call or interview. I can understand that the reason why is because I don't possess the FINRA licenses and the AI not just automatically disqualifies me. However, just because I go and get these licenses doesn't guarantee me a job either. And apparently an MBA counts for nada.

Those of you who have these licenses, how did you get an employer to sponsor you? Is it a waste of time for me to get these on my own to become more marketable?

How do I get into the finances field with a general MBA?

Just wondering what people's experiences have been with having a booth at various trade shows and industry conferences to gain clients? I have a few opportunities and the price of the booths ranges a lot. Just wondering if people have had positive experiences and positive ROI with this type of method?

I work in admin/client services for a firm currently with Commonwealth that’s staying with LPL.
We’ve been having biweekly calls with the LPL transition team, but it feels like 80% of the questions we ask don’t have clear answers. We’ve been told that no client signatures are needed for the conversion and that all accounts will transfer tape-to-tape, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions and concerns.
There are also quite a few processes and features that ClientWorks/LPL apparently won’t support on their platform (proportional systematic withdrawals, excluded assets, etc.).
I’ve only ever worked with Commonwealth, and I don’t think I fully appreciated how good we have it until now. With November 13th approaching, I’m starting to get nervous about how this is all going to play out. What initially felt like a transition is starting to feel more like impending doom.
I’d love to hear from other firms going through the transition to LPL. Are you experiencing the same things? How are you feeling about the upcoming conversion?

I’ve been in three different study groups this year, and the shift from seminar-based marketing to automated prospecting keeps coming up. Two people in my group moved their entire budget over in Q2, and both say the results have been more consistent. Curious if this is happening across the industry or just in my corner of it.

Hello, I am looking for a bit of advice on how to into wealth management. I am graduating from college this December with a BA of Sociology.

For the last 6 months I have been working full time at a mutual insurance company as a "Financial Advisor". Frankly I have zero interest in trying to cold call my friends and to sell them insurance. It's a good company but I hate the 100% commissions and the deceptive marketing. Since being here I have really liked the client meetings and actually designing portfolios and it's something I want to do at an actual WM firm.

I currently have my SIE and Im sitting for my 7&66 at the end of the month. I'm located on the west coast but I would really like to move to a few target cities with my girlfriend and find a better WM firm to work for.

I guess I'm just asking for any advice from anyone who is more familiar in the industry on what my next steps should be. I am planning on starting to reach out and apply to firms this month.

25M, about 2 years in the industry. I hold Life/Health, SIE, 6, 7, 63, and 65 and work at a boutique planning firm/hybrid RIA.

My background is heavily sales-focused and I’m strong with clients. My current role is service-heavy, but I’m also actively developing a target market and prospecting strategy with the goal of producing.

Lead advisors have been transitioning mass-affluent households to me to service and retain. I currently manage about $15M, and the book is growing consistently. My goal over the next 12 months is to get to $20M-$25M, including roughly $5M-$10M of self-sourced net new assets rather than just inherited relationships. Most accounts are around a 1.5% advisory fee.

The issue is compensation.

I’m currently salary-only with a discretionary annual bonus. I took the role understanding it was designed for a newer advisor to develop into a lead, but the actual path is fairly undefined. I don’t have clear production benchmarks for becoming a lead, I don’t own relationships I source, and my compensation is essentially the same whether I bring in $0 or several million in new assets.

Coming from sales, I’m finding that I really miss having a direct incentive to produce.

I’m considering proposing a variable compensation structure that keeps my current salary intact but pays additional bonuses only when I generate incremental revenue for the firm.

For example:
•Sell and complete a financial plan: bonus equal to a percentage of the planning fee

•Bring in a rollover/new advisory account: bonus tied to first-year or net new revenue

•Potentially similar incentives for other measurable new business

The percentages are negotiable. The concept is simply that I earn more only when the firm earns more.

My concern is that compensation and firm financials seem fairly close to the chest. I don’t know the salary bands for lead advisors, and while most leads are salary-only, many are also partners, so their economics are obviously different.

For owners or experienced advisors:

Is this a reasonable ask from someone only two years into the industry?

Would you view this positively as a junior advisor showing initiative, or negatively as someone getting ahead of themselves?

And if you were in my position, what kind of salary + production structure would you propose?

I genuinely like my firm and would love to eventually become a partner. My concern is that there’s currently no defined path to equity, no ownership of self-sourced relationships, and no meaningful production incentive.

I got into this industry wanting to build aggressively, so I’m trying to figure out whether I should push for a structure that better aligns incentives or accept that this may simply be a different type of firm than what I ultimately want.

ETA: I have only been with this firm for approx. 6 months. In the industry total 2 years.

Which career is easier?

I’m about 1.5 years into an FA program at a large independent BD. I’ve built around $10M AUM, with probably ~$6M portable if I left.

I’ve been approached by an older advisor who is also a close family friend at a much smaller independent firm with roughly $200M AUM, ~95% fee-based, and about $1.5M in production.

His current payout is roughly 92% before overhead, trading costs, staff, etc. (but it sounds like these expenses are a couple hundred thousand) The firm also manages its own investment models internally, so it’s a much more hands-on investment operation than where I am now.

He already has a younger advisor who has been with him about five years. That advisor really enjoys the portfolio management/investment side but isn’t naturally someone who wants to be out networking and bringing in new business. The senior advisor’s thought is that the two of us would eventually complement each other where he would focus more on portfolio management, while I would focus more on financial planning, client relationships, and business development/rainmaking.

The rough succession plan he’s discussed is that I’d join, work alongside him for about a year, then he’d start taking roughly $750–800k/year for around five years as he transitions out. Eventually the practice would fully transition to the younger advisor and me. I still need a lot more detail around the actual ownership and economics. And I obviously would have terms written out and set before making the jump.

My current situation is good too. I’m at a much larger BD with a ton of planning, investment, lending, and specialist resources. There are also several older advisors in my office, and I’ve already had some clients/accounts handed to me on 50/50 splits because they’re at capacity.

The downside is I’m currently only making roughly 40 bps on AUM, so the long-term economics of building here are very different.

For those who have been through succession deals, what would you want to know before seriously considering something like this? What would you diligence around the buyout, ownership split, client retention, partnership structure, and economics?

Edit: I will not do anything without getting it in writing first

I am a newly licensed professional and realized that many jobs limit personal trading. That's something I don't want to give up. Any suggestions on what roles should I look into that doesn't limit personal trading? Thanks

I used to be at LPL and left due to a job opportunity that i thought would be great and turned out to be crap. For me, it was the biggest mistake ever. I left the job and i partnered with a friend at Osaic Wealth. Osaic is ok. However, their technology compared to LPL is like 10 years behind and very slow. Clients have told me to go back to LPL.

Now, my business partner and i are looking at Prudential and also, LPL Financial.

Prudential is partnered with LPL. However, i feel that i could have better independence at LPL.

For those at Prudential, what are your thoughts? And those were at Prudential and left. Why did you leave?

Has anyone left Prudential to go to LPL? If so, why?

Anyone start this role with experience in industry as an associate/service rep for the advisor/ I have a cfp/ never owned own book or relationship.

What is the training like?

What should a base salary be for mid size metropolitan area

How is bonus/commission structured- monthly? Quarterly?

Are they strict with KPI with new advisors wihh to no experience?

If branch had no leads- do they expect you to “door knock”/ cold call random people? Or are there branch clients that are not assigned to an advisor that the rep calls.

I would be interested in any information/resources about finding reputable flat fee/hourly financial advisors in Memphis. Thanks in advance for any information!