Financial Planner: Do you Have What it Takes?

A career in finance brings a lot of responsibilities and requires a lot of dedication, now more than ever. There are some elements that you should have in mind that are a fundamental necessity of every financial consultant, and it is a concern of your character. Just because you are maybe good with cash, that doesn’t mean that you have what it takes to be a successful advisor on that matter. In the following article, which we will keep short and informative, you will learn what the basic characteristics of a financial planner are, but also you will get the chance to find out about the latest legal requirements.

Don’t get discouraged, the entire world is currently in the shortage when it comes to high quality financial planners, and this is a field that is always industrious and desirable for every company and every individual as well. So there are many opportunities, and it is just a matter of your determination and endurance.

Do you have what it takes?

In this article on Investopedia you can take a somewhat humorous test to find out is Financial planning right for you. The test suggests that you should be able to sell anything to anyone, with no remorse and no moral questions involved about the final outcome. Not to insult anyone’s work, this article is very amusing, but the reality today is a lot different. This point could be questioned twenty years ago, but after the recession and a hard period that we are still struggling with, we have to be aware that transparency is the key to every future business model. You need your clients to keep coming back, and people simply started to appreciate honesty on every level. You have to be an excellent communicator, and although almost all decisions are based on data today, your analytical thinking skills have to be highly developed and applicable in any given situation. Take a step back and look at your posture. You need to present yourself as a confident, successful individual on every occasion. It is not a popularity contest, but be aware that people will always base their business on emotions, and you need to reach out to them and send a positive message. To aid with your ‘self-marketing’ you may want to set up financial seminars/workshops that you can do through companies such as LeadJig, to help with communicating to your clients as well as providing a stronger base for what you do and how you conduct yourself, it will ultimately show a positive and active approach needed in this sector.

Do you really have what it takes?

We are moving away from your determination and personality and now it is a matter of your qualifications. Believe it or not, some people claim that you don’t need any. As a smart financial planner that you are, please advise them to spare both yours and their time and stop talking nonsense. If you would take any piece of financial advice from a person without certification, your company or investments will go as far as you can throw them. And that is in fact what you would be doing – throwing them away. Of course, some people simply have what it takes, and you might be one of them, but there is a little glitch in the system, and it called the set of regulations. There is a minimum training required for financial planners as it is issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and if you are planning a career in this field you should join one of the accounting courses today. Of course, you should decide on what your exact field is going to be, but this exact Institute even provides opportunities to find a job right after graduation, so very soon you will have the chance to prove yourself. After that, you have to be aware of the ongoing revolution in apps, software tools and the commodity of modern devices. Embrace them, learn them, and continue to inform yourself about their usage, make a monthly habit out of it. Your clients will absolutely respect that.

Now that you know what it actually takes to be a successful financial consultant, there is one more useful piece of advice, in fact, two rules, delivered to you in the words of Warren Buffet himself:

Rule No. 1 : Never lose money. Rule No. 2 : Never forget Rule No. 1.

Try to honor that.