Financial Planning Careers: Top 10 Things You Need to Know

We know life can be busy, so here’s a quick overview of the 10 things you need to know when considering a career in financial planning.

1. Experienced financial planners who have 5-10 years of experience make $108,000 to $210,000 per year.¹
2. Financial planning is a fast-growing field with growing demand. Employment is projected to grow 13% from 2022-2032,² and 38% of financial planners are expected to retire by 2029, creating many career opportunities.³
3. Financial planners help individuals and families make sound financial and investment decisions to maximize their chances of achieving critical life goals; 92% of those working with a CFP® professional are very or extremely satisfied with their advisor’s integrity.⁴
4. Financial planning careers have many benefits, including personal fulfillment from helping others and the flexibility to build a healthy work life-balance.
5. Satisfaction with financial planning careers is high: 87% are satisfied with their career choice.⁵
6. A wide variety of companies employ financial planners, from large financial services firms with multiple lines of business to small companies where financial planning is the primary service.
7. If you don’t want to always work for someone else, you have the freedom to someday strike out on your own and build your own financial planning practice.
8. Depending on your employer, you may be able to specialize in a certain component of the financial planning process or your employer’s business operations. These include relationship support (focused on client interactions), technical support (focused on research and analysis), management and business development.
9. Specific licenses and/or professional certifications may be required or recommended by your employer. Most companies will guide you through this process and provide financial or other support to obtain the needed credentials.
10. Those aspiring to become financial planners are encouraged to pursue CFP® certification. Financial planning companies actively seek and support candidates pursuing CFP® certification because it’s the standard for financial planners.