Im just about to start an RG146 Diploma in hopes of working for a superannuation company or living the lambo dream off of shitcoins or stocks.
What tips can you give me for getting a leg up in the finance field?
Will i have to go to a university if i have a hope of being employed?
Is this board just NEETs shilling shitcoins or is there real professionals here?
Shit industry to be in mate. Did it for a couple of years out of uni and fucken hated it. You'll just end up shilling whatever company you work for's products and inventing bullshit reasons to invest your clients into it even though you know there are far better products on the market for them because your company won't pay any commission on or count towards your targets products that they don't own. It's even more dishonest of a job than car salesman or real estate agent. It shouldn't be allowed to be called a profession or even called financial planning/advice because that it not what it is about, it should be referred to as a salesman role. If you have no soul and are happy to sap a percentage off of old pensioners and soon to be retirees by needlessly rolling their supers and pensions into your company's product and selling them unnecessary personal insurance all while taking a percentage upfront and an ongoing fee then you can make some fat commissions, but if you have any kind of preconceived notion that you will be able to make a living by actually helping people, then it ain't for you.
To give you an example, a typical client I would see had a super of $300-400k, was about to retire in the next few years. We would roll their super/pension into our bank's fund, maybe set up some salary sacrifice or a transition to retirement and set up Life, TPD and Trauma cover plus maybe an Income Protection policy (all through our bank), charge them an upfront fee of $1,000 to lodge the paperwork which took 5 minutes to do and slap them with a ~1%pa (!!!) adviser fee on top of all the management fees on their actual investments to sit with them once a year for 30 minutes and pat them on the back and tell them how well their low risk investment had gone or calm them down if they had endured losses.
To put it in perspective, they could have just stayed in their industry super and converted it to a pension, started SMSF or gone into a plethora of other super funds that had lower fees and better products, but the bank doesn't pay you or count towards your hefty targets to advise them of that. They pay you and acknowledge only their products. They had to always say that advisers are free to recommend any product on the market but you had to go through a myriad of time draining forms, approvals and questioning from higher ups in order to recommend Super Fund X over the bank's super fund then not got payed or receive anything towards your lofty targets, so how the fuck could you? In addition, their insurance products where incredibly expensive and had far less coverage and options compared with most other personal insurance products out there, but again - no commission and no target recognition.
What he said is pretty true desu. I work for an "independent" firm, but we get our license through AMP. We don't do as quite blatant product shilling tho, so it less soul destroying. The only thing we recommend is their super fund, but desu thats mostly because it makes tracking and making changes to stuff 1000% easier. I wouldn't touch their insurance with a 10 foot pole someone else was holding tho.
Tho one thing that's change since old mate stop is no longer have % based fees, but its more in the $2,000-$3,000 area.
But yeah, if you want easy money job and don't really care, its pretty based.
>Graduated over 2 years
>been working full time over a year
>my day consist of just writing plans
>no contact with clients except for greeting or phone, maybe if other people are busy
>probably spend 2 hours a day reading finance news
>no weekend work
With regards to having to go to uni - I would say if you want to actually be an adviser and not a paraplanner or assistant and you want your peers to take you seriously, then it is absolutely mandatory. Without it, you will very likely get relegated to non-client facing roles and those people are the embodiment of $65k a year depressed losers. I didn't meet any successful planners who hadn't been to uni, but a hell of a lot of bottom feeders, wasting a week working for a thousand dollar insurance policy for writing statements of advice all day out the back. If you want to be a bloodsucking scam artist who makes really good money in this industry, then go to uni for a commerce degree, majoring in finance and financial planning while honing your product knowledge and personal presentation skills, start your CFP study as soon as you hit the industry and get certified as early as possible. In those early years, grind to build a book of high quality near retirees with fat super and middle aged professionals for expensive insurance policies because they are where the money is. The retirees and near retirees are easy money - they just sit there and take their pension checks and copping fees. The middle aged professionals will take out big insurance policies and become retirees later in life. Will take 10-15 years of intense work to get a fat book of clients who trust you and will buy anything you try to sell them but once you do, you're on easy street. Discard any clients that demand too much of your time or put up resistance to your recommendations, by charging them more until their are worth it or they fuck off. Strong referral partners who continually provide good clients are worth their weight in gold. Find them and hold onto them. If someone is sending you shit clients who waste your time and make you no commissions, tell them to fuck off because that is how you waste time and money.
Lol, we used to love when an AMP customer came into the office because their old products had a 4% upfront fee, plus a 4% contribution fee (should be fucking illegal) ontop of some massive ongoing and management fees. MLC's old products were just as bad. It was terrible, but I looked forward to those customers because it was an easy scenario to model on a pc infront of them to show them how much money we would save them and became an easy sale. I also loved them because they were some customers we were actually able to put in a way better situation, even if I knew there were others out there better suited.
That's the way I feel about 90% of AMP's stuff as well. I recently did something for a guy with a 5% contribution fee for an old AMP product. I didn't even know that was a thing. We also try to cancel pretty much any AMP insurance policy we can as well. I wouldn't be surprised if AMP folds in the next couple of years, its a shit storm of incompetence.
Also fuck anyone who wants to LRBA in their SMSF. They need to literally go choke on a pile of dicks.
Fuck me. It's shit like that that drove me out of the industry. It's such a fucken shit show of gauging vulnerable people's life savings with bullshit fees. Contribution fees should be illegal and even on legacy products should be stopped. I have no problem with MERs or ongoing advice fees (if the client is actually getting their fucking ongoing advice, but most don't), but contribution fees and most other fees are total bullshit. If only people weren't so intent on not caring about or understanding their super. It's a fucking awesome system that can really set you up, but people neglect the shit out of it or get preyed on by advisers and get set back fucking years on their retirement goals.
Vicfag here.
If I don't have a soul and don't really care about ripping people off is this a good industry?
I went to tafe a year ago for a BS real estate certification and can't land a job with it and want to do something else.
I can bullshit references on my resume and can get references but what do I need to do in terms of education? Will going to tafe be enough? or will uni set me up better?
Thanks for the detailed answer
When you speak about it like that it does seem pretty shit from a "good person" perspective. I bet neglecting truths about investments is common place. But i have gotten to a point where i am willing to profit from being a piece of shit. My reasoning behind it is that these investments are voluntary and only dumbasses invest in shit they dont look into.
In terms of the actual work, am i going to be stuck working overtime for days on end ruining my family life? You mentioned it was shit because of the stepping on human life but is the work itself actual shit?
Also if i may ask, how much does a proper advisor make 5 or so years into the industry?
See
See my other comments. You can do it without uni, but won't be taken seriously and won't make the big bucks. Do a BA Commerce and major in finance and financial planning, start your CFP right out of uni and you'll make good money if you have the gift of the gab and don't care about ripping people off. It's a grind when you start but once you get a book of clients going, you're set.
What is the difference in salary of someone who has gone to uni vs someone who hasn't? Is someone who went to uni more likely to land a job than someone with just a plain diploma?
If it's only a couple grand difference, I really could be assed going to uni but if it a significant amount, it may be something worth looking at.
>If I don't have a soul and don't really care about ripping people off is this a good industry?
Fucking amazing.
>The rest
No idea man, I went to uni to just be a paraplanner which was apparently way more than I needed to. But I enjoyed uni so I'm fine with that.
Agreed definitively on contribution fees and I'm okay with ongoing advice fees, but I think after if someone is on an ongoing fees should cover all advice. I have real issue with charging someone $3000 a year, him coming in and asking to set up investment and then charging him $2000 for that. What is the ongoing advice fee paying for if not that direct thing?
Also fuck % based investment commissions. And we really need to get to either level commission (no incentive to get someone to move products for that sweet initial commission), or all insurance commissions and have the client paying directly. If that doesn't happen, there will always be a conflict of interest.
>But i have gotten to a point where i am willing to profit from being a piece of shit.
ma nigga.
>In terms of the actual work, am i going to be stuck working overtime for days on end ruining my family life?
Only if you go the full professional route. My boss works 7am to 7pm most days. Go the lazy route, be a paraplanner, do back ground work with no pressure. Its chill
Is that other guy right about paraplanners making 65k? Because thats depressing
daddy needs his big bucks
If you're not making $150k a year within 5 years, you're doing it wrong. Could be making as much as $300k+ if you're especially good and have access to quality referrals and a half decent product. The people earning that much that early are few and far between though. After 10 years, $300-500k would be quite attainable, again this assumes quality referrals and a decent product to work with and that you aren't shit at communicating with people.
The hours depend on who you work for. I've met advisers who worked 3 day weeks and made $150k a year with a decent book. I've also met advisers who make fuck all and work 12 hour days because they waste time with factory workers and nurses. The guys who make the most are those who work really hard in the first 5-10 years to build a quality book, then they can come and go how they please. I worked 10 hour days on average, sometimes more, sometimes less and never did weekends. Clients will want to meet after hours sometimes or on weekends because they work, but fuck them unless they have heaps of money.
Don't underestimate the human side either mate. It's easy to think anyone who takes the deal is a dumbass, but a lot of clients are very good people who might remind you of aunts and uncles or grandparents, they just don't know anything about super, which is fair enough because it is a relatively complex environment. At the end of the day, taking a shitload of their money when you know they don't need what you are selling will take a toll on you unless you are a psychopath. You just need to learn to live with it.
Is it really 65k to be an entry level paraplanner? If so, that's more than enough.
I will investigate this more. I am a piece of shit and don't really give a fuck.
The only thing i'm worried about is my spotty job history and educational background. I cannot be fucked fucking around in uni for 4 years, so I just mail it in, go to tafe, do the paraplanner thing and make my 65k
For the most part. From what I've seen
>1 year - 60k
>5 year+ - 80-100k, maybe up to 150k if you have tons of experience and suck dick when required.
>then head of the paraplanning at a bigger firm - 120k-200k
for me that's way too much hustle.
Any reputable places won't hire you as an inexperienced (def not as no experience) financial adviser unless there is some mitigating circumstance like you are a proven fucking insane salesman machine with a demonstrated knowledge of what the fuck you're talking about without at least a bachelors degree Why would they when there is a fresh bunch of grads every year eager to get into it?
You can do paraplanning or admin work, but that is usually no commission and a pretty poor salary. To advise clients, you really do need the uni background anyway unless you do paraplanning and admin for a few years and you have an awesome boss who takes you under their wing and teaches you, but why would they when they could just hire a grad and only have to teach them the dealing with clients side of things?
Fair enough, I get where you're coming from.
I originally dropped out of uni and was studying engineering. I wasn't failing, but my grades were not the best and it just wasn't for me in the end. After that, I worked shit jobs for a bit, went to tafe, did some BS real estate course, then when I couldn't land a job with it I was a bit pissed.
So I am a bit sceptical about going to uni for some time and then having no luck. I might try to get some admin work and try to study online at the same time through OUA or some shit.
I am not looking to earn millions (not even six figs for that matter), just want something where I earn a humble amount.
And to clarify, paraplanning means you write up the documents and do the paperwork for the adviser. It is basically glorified data entry by someone who has a bit of a clue about what they are actually entering. You sit at a computer all day, inputting the client's info into a program that then generates a Statement of Advice. That document then needs to be adjusted and corrected as the program never gets it entirely correct. After that is presented by the adviser to the client, you fill and submit the applications. It's a mind numbingly boring job most of the time, double checking the fees and client details are correct.
Uni education is not always required for that role, but is still usually very much preferred. You can do that for a couple of years and then move on to actually advising, but it's not common, because at most firms they are not very respected.
Fuck OUA and fuck admin work. Fuck uni altogether. Work with your hands. It is infinitely more rewarding and the pay is awesome because every young person just wants to work a cushy office job these days. There is so little competition for a young construction worker or tradie. Get a white card, do a couple of machine tickets or even an apprenticeship. 90% of the industry is old fucks and in 10 years they will all be gone. I reckon there are 2 people (out of about 100) on the site I'm on at the moment under 30. The work is hard, hours long and early mornings suck dick, but you get used to it pretty quick. It'll keep you fit and toughen you up all while earning $100k pa +. Do it for a few years and buy your own machine or start your own business to make real money as a contractor. It's not for everyone, but fuck me, there are so few young people doing it that the few who are will have the industry to themselves inside of 10-20 years. Also can't be replaced by a computer and miss out on the dreary bullshit politics world of office work.
I hate to sound like I am making excuses, but I tried getting an apprenticeship the day after I dropped out of uni. I called up tradies who wanted me to do a "unpaid trial" for a week, then the second the week was over, "yeah, nah mate I'll call you next week to tell you". I did this 3 times after thinking fuck it, this isn't for me.
Especially now that i'm a little older, getting a proper apprenticeship will be a nightmare.
If you want to do a trade now, you need to start your preapp in year 10 as a vet subject, do VCAL in year 11 and complete your preapp in this year while simultaneously getting mandatory work experience and go full time app in year 12.
I had a mate who dropped out in year 12 to start a mechanic apprenticeship, and the bosses there were telling him he was already behind the 8 ball because there were already 18 year olds who were already on the 3rd year of their apprenticeship. There's just too much BS to jump through with it.
The finance thing is something im considering but mind numbing office work maybe not. Maybe ill just get a diploma for educational purposes to git gud at trading shitcoins.
My family is in the process of purchasing 120 acres of pasture in tassie outside of launceston. I have no clue how profitable agriculture is though but damn do i love managing my hobby farm and bee hives at home. Is it worth perusing as a career or is farming a dead end?
That's cool. You don't need an apprenticeship to work in construction though. I've never done one. Labourers make $100k plus easy on any city building site or any vic roads project. Machine operators even more. Fucken traffic controllers and spotters can make that much and they don't even do anything! There plenty of options out there for a good career with just a one or two day course that takes long hours and early starts with a bit of hard work. People get hung up on being educated as the only way to get a job.
Don't do a job where you rip people off. You MIGHT think you won't care and are probably in a position now where you just want some good income. But it will eat your soul from the inside out in the long run. Doesn't matter if you think you are a cold blood sociopath killer or not. Everyone that worked in a similar type of situation can reaffirm what I said.