How To Make Six Figures As A Financial AdvisorI wrote this article because I get asked this question (or some variation of it) all the time: “How can I make six figures as a financial advisor?” Here's what we're going to cover in this article:
Let's get started… Six Figures Varies A LOT...Technically, someone who makes $100,000 per year earns six figures, and so does someone who earns $999,999, even though their lifestyles might drastically differ. How To Make $100,000 Per Year As A Financial Advisor...According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median yearly income for a financial advisor is nearly $88,000 — if you’re drop-dead in the middle, you’re already close to six figures. 1. Prospect ConsistentlyOne of the biggest reasons financial advisors fail to earn the amount of money you want is because you don’t prospect enough. ALSO READ: 15 Prospecting Tips for Financial Advisors 2. Follow Up With ProspectsLow-earning financial advisors will usually reach out to a prospect one time and then move on. 3. Have A Sense Of ControlSix-figure earners know they’re the captains of their own ships. This is especially true for financial advisors, because you don’t have a boss in the traditional sense. You make your own hours and set your own vacation schedule. 4. Invest In YourselfThe more I work with financial advisors, the more I realize how true this is. Making Six Figures Comes Down To Knowing Your NumbersIf you’re a financial advisor, you’re in an enviable position. Why? Because once you know a few simple metrics, you can increase (or decrease) your income accordingly. Watch this… As a financial advisor, you’re essentially trying to take someone down this funnel: Lead → Prospect → Client And that process tends to look like this: Outreach → Qualification → Appointment Which means your mission in life should be to figure out the answers to the following questions:
Of course, I’ve simplified the process for this example but once you know the answers to those three questions, you’ll gain a sense of clarity like you’ve never had before. Let’s say you start with 100 leads, and from those leads, only 30 of them are qualified to do business with you. Then, out of those 30 prospects, only 10 of them actually set an appointment with you. Then, once you have those 10 appointments, 3 of them become clients. After that, you just need to figure out your average income per client and then reverse-engineer everything. If you make an average of $2,500 per client (again, keeping things simple) then you need 40 clients. Which means you need 4,000 leads, and your sole focus should be finding those 4,000 people and qualifying them. Seem daunting? It’s not. If you work five days per week and take two weeks off for vacation, it means you work 250 days per year. If you work 250 days per year, it means you need to go through 16 leads per day to reach 4,000 in a year. That’s it. Literally 16 leads… PER DAY. And another cool thing about being a financial advisor is that your income can be recurring, which means as long as you keep your clients, you keep making money. That brings me to my next point… Not Knowing Your Client's Lifetime Value = Huge MistakeI want you to imagine that for every dollar bill you gave me, I gave you $5 in return. How many dollars would you give me? As many as you could, right? ALSO READ: 5 Direct Mail Tips for Financial Advisors Two Secrets To Breeze Past Six Figures...Financial advisors who sail past low six figures and enter high six figures (and sometimes seven figures) have mastered two things: leverage and scale. 1. Leverage Leverage is all about having things work separately from your time. Using your website is a great form of leverage, for example, because it works for you whether you’re working, asleep or on vacation — it’s always talking to prospects. 2. Scale When a business can scale its operations, it means the business can handle its amount of work or sales in a capable, cost-effective manner. For financial advisors, scale means reaching 1,000 prospects just as easily as 10. BONUS: Success Factors of High EarnersThere are many ways to get to six figures as a financial advisor, and I’ve only scratched the surface. After all, there’s only so much I can cover with one article, so I go into much more detail across my products and newsletter. Here are some show highlights: 💡 The “Navy SEAL trait” 91% of millionaires consider an important success factor in their lives. (This will transform your client interactions!) [4:00] 💡 How denying prospects your services can make you rich in the long term. [8:35] 💡 Why a failing marriage can kill your business. [11:20] 💡 The YouTube video that’ll help you become more productive in your sleep. [14:00] 💡 Why you need to train for leadership qualities, even if you have no employees. [18:10] If you want to listen to the episode, click "play" on the audio player below... In the book, there’s a section where millionaires rank what they consider the most important success factors in their lives — this is incredibly valuable information, so I recapped the top 10 for financial advisors. 1. DisciplineYour parents were right, folks — discipline breeds success. In the book, 91% of the millionaires surveyed said being well-disciplined is important or very important to your ability to achieve business success. For financial advisors, that means you can’t take lazy shortcuts for your prospecting and marketing efforts. I’ll even take it a step further: Beyond following up with prospects and clients in a timely fashion, you should have a system in place that nurtures clients and makes them feel heard, respected and seen. There’s no way around this truth: As a financial advisor, you have to constantly improve your juggling act. There are client meetings to set and attend, marketing techniques to create and deploy, portfolios to manage, plus a ton of other responsibilities that have to stay top of mind. It can be overwhelming, but the 🔑 key to navigating it all is discipline. 2. Resilience And PerseveranceI’ve never been a big fan of motivational speakers or gurus who spout basic and broad advice like, “Never give up!” ...but perseverance is pretty darn important. I take that back — it’s extremely important. How can you scale your business if you throw in the towel at the first sign of adversity? With that mindset, imagine how many of your favorite products (or candy like Hershey’s!) wouldn’t exist. Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” is another book that changed my life. In there, he talks about how you must keep going and have dogged persistence with everything you do. And he’s right. 3. HonestyWhen I tell financial advisors to get in gear on my podcast, for example, it’s because I mean it, plus it comes from a good place. While I also speak bluntly because I’m talking to a large audience, I always go out of my way to be more honest with clients — any advisor who wants to be successful should strive to be more transparent, too. Sure, some people might think I’m too brash, but I’d rather give you the truth and help you succeed than pretend to uplift you with lies just because they land better. However, there is a time and a place to share truths with people delicately — that means if you notice a prospect isn't making the right financial decisions, don’t be afraid to be honest in an approach you’re comfortable with. In fact, they’ll respect you for it. Likewise, don’t let a client with $100,000 in the bank and a $20,000 annual salary believe they can retire. You wouldn’t be helping them, right? But when you lead with straightforward honesty, you can give them the dose of reality they need to know when a goal isn’t feasible. If you’re worried about people walking away, look at it this way: A prospect who can’t handle the truth is one you don’t want to work with, anyway. 4. The Ability To Get Along With OthersGetting along with people might be even more important for financial advisors than any other profession. I know that’s a bold statement, but think about how much sensitive information you manage daily. 5. Supportive PartnersIf you don’t have a partner, no biggie; just keep this advice in mind. For advisors who do, always remember that your spouse is just as significant — if not more — than your most important client. It’s no surprise the millionaires surveyed in “The Next Millionaire Next Door” said a supportive partner was an extremely important success factor for them. Plus, if you believe in the mastermind principles Hill shares in “Think and Grow Rich,” consider that one of the greatest masterminds you can ever form in life is with your spouse. After all, they’re the person you’ve committed to spending your life with, not to mention the support system that will be with you and love you even if you lose your book of business. The key idea here is support — whether you have or want a spouse, find someone who’ll hold you up, keep you accountable and help you get through the tough days. 6. Work Hard(er)Unfortunately, working hard just doesn’t cut it anymore — not to hit the six-figure range, at least. To be successful, you have to work harder than your competition, too. Here’s why that’s easier than you think: Many people don’t want to work hard. They want the rewards, but they’d rather take shortcuts than accumulate the sweat equity it takes to earn six figures and beyond. There’s no shame in that, but don’t expect to sow more than what you’ve worked to reap. Just like if you don’t prospect consistently, it doesn’t make sense to assume you’ll see rapid growth in your book of business. 💡 By the way, it’s crucial to work harder, but you also want to work smarter. That’s why in Peak Productivity for Financial Advisors: How You Can Get More Done In Less Time, I walk you through a ton of strategies to help you do just that. 7. Get OrganizedWhy is organization a key to success? Easy: If you’re not well organized, it’s much harder to be productive. In a past issue of my newsletter, I shared personal and professional organization tips, because it amazes me how little financial advisors consider the importance of minor details like having organized paperwork. It’s not uncommon to let papers pile up, or for your computer files to be out of whack. Although it seems harmless to lose a few minutes here and there to disorganization, think about how much that time adds up to — then calculate the amount of money you lose in the process. 8. Love (Or, At Least Enjoy) Your CareerI got duped into believing loving my job means every day would be sunshine and rainbows, but that’s not realistic. You should love most of the work it takes to be a financial advisor, but you don't have to be passionate about every part of your business, whether it’s prospecting, marketing or following up with clients. Some aspects are a given — for example, you should love personal finance, working with people and the niche you target. However, if you realize you enjoy little of what it takes to grow your business, it’s time to reevaluate your career path. I feel lucky that I enjoy my career. I get to work with other amazing advisors who want to make a difference in the world, but they just need a little help. That’s what I’m here for, and I love to do it. Because of that, I always tell people it’s OK to admit when you’re not passionate about your work, because when you are, boy does it make a difference. You’ll put in more work than everyone else and make more of an impact, which is also why you’ll achieve the success most advisors don’t. 9. Be A Strong LeaderI've read many leadership books, taken tons of classes and listened to my fair share of lectures, and here’s what I’ve noticed: They often talk about leading your employees, but they always overlook that you lead your customers, too. Whether you have a team to manage, keep in mind your prospects and clients are also under your leadership. If you don’t see how, think about it: You lead prospects to set an appointment with you, then you lead them to become clients. It’s pivotal to focus on your leadership qualities to manage employees effectively, but don’t forget about the people you lead who aren’t on your payroll. 10. Have A Competitive SpiritThere are thousands of other financial advisors who want to grow their businesses just like you do, so you have to be competitive. However, that doesn’t mean to compete against your peers. You’re your own competition, so focus on competing with yourself. I’ll tell you what I always used to hear in school: Keep your eyes on your own paper. You can peek at other advisor’s techniques, but don’t rip off anyone else’s work. Just aim to be a better advisor than you were yesterday. I Can Give Fish To A Financial Advisor...Or, I can help you learn what to do with the line, hook and bait. But if you’re uncoordinated, there’s only so much I can do. When financial advisors subscribe to my newsletter, for example, I can’t make them succeed if they don’t have at least some of these success factors as traits. I could give that advisor a step-by-step plan to earning six figures, but they’d likely either fail or remain stagnant. Similarly, I can’t teach you all the success factors — like discipline or how to be more honest — but I’ll always encourage you to develop these behaviors by providing the tools you need to succeed. Plus, even if you’re not a financial advisor, know these factors will give you an incredible edge when you apply them to your life. 👉 Keep in mind you don’t need all 10 of these traits. If you have at least five, I would love for you to join my Inner Circle newsletter family. With these traits, you’re primed for success, and this newsletter will be like pouring gasoline on a fire. |
FAQs
How To Make Six Figures As A Financial Advisor? ›
“To become a successful financial advisor with six-figure earnings, you need to have a sense of control,” Croak said. “Six-figure earners know they are the captains of their own ships. This is especially true for financial advisors because you typically don't have a boss in the traditional sense.
Do financial advisors make 6 figures? ›In states like California and New York, the cost of living and the concentration of wealth can lead to higher earnings. For example, six figures are more commonly seen in these competitive markets, driven by both the scale of the business and the affluent clientele.
Can you make 7 figures as a financial advisor? ›Financial advisors who sail past low six figures and enter high six figures (and sometimes seven figures) have mastered two things: leverage and scale. Leverage is all about having things work separately from your time.
How much can a financial advisor make you with 100k? ›This fee can range from 0.5% to 2%. Advisors that charge a percentage usually want to work with clients with a minimum portfolio of about $100,000. This makes it worth their time and will allow them to make about $1,000 to $2,000 a year.
What type of financial advisor makes the most money? ›- Wealth Management. Wealth management is one of the highest-paying financial advisor jobs. ...
- Investment Banking. Investment banking is another high-paying financial advisor job. ...
- Certified Financial Planner. ...
- Insurance Sales Agent. ...
- Brokerage Firms.
Attaining a $300,000 income as a financial advisor is attainable with experience and client growth. Income varies based on location, expertise, services provided, and compensation models. Success in financial advising is built on expanding knowledge and offering tailored services.
How long does it take to make 100k as a financial advisor? ›With only a couple of years' experience, you can expect to earn $100,000+ annually, but there are many ways to grow this revenue. Let's look a little deeper into a financial advisor's role and earnings potential.
Is 1% too high for a financial advisor? ›While 1.5% is on the higher end for financial advisor services, if that's what it takes to get the returns you want, then it's not overpaying, so to speak. Staying around 1% for your fee may be standard, but it certainly isn't the high end. You need to decide what you're willing to pay for what you're receiving.
How many millionaires have a financial advisor? ›The study reveals that 70% of millionaires work with a financial advisor, compared to just 37% of the general population. Moreover, over half (53%) of wealthy individuals consider their financial advisors their most trusted source of financial advice.
Can a financial advisor help me become a millionaire? ›Working with an investment professional is one of the smartest things you can do for your money. In fact, 68% of millionaires said they worked with a financial advisor to help them reach their net worth.
What is the hardest part of being a financial advisor? ›
What is the hardest part about being a financial advisor? The hardest part about being a financial advisor is often the constant need for client prospecting and business development, especially in the early stages of one's career.
What state do financial advisors make the most money? ›The highest salaries for financial planners are in Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. States such as the District of Columbia, Florida and North Carolina offer high salaries for financial advisors because of the large number and high concentration of financial companies in these states.
Is financial advisor a stressful job? ›It takes considerable time and effort to build a client base, and steady attention to meet the regulatory requirements of the field. And it's a high-stress job in the best of times.
What is the top salary for a financial advisor? ›Annual Salary | Monthly Pay | |
---|---|---|
Top Earners | $147,618 | $12,301 |
75th Percentile | $141,200 | $11,766 |
Average | $101,135 | $8,427 |
25th Percentile | $80,800 | $6,733 |
Finance can be a fiercely competitive field. It's a famously high-paying industry known to deal out six or seven figures in salaries and bonuses for those at the top. Even those on the bottom rung can expect to start at a good wage compared with other fields.
At what income is a financial advisor worth it? ›Depending on the net worth advisor you choose, you generally should consider hiring an advisor when you have between $50,000 - $1,000,000, but most prefer to start working with clients when they have between $100,000 - $500,000 in liquid assets.