change of employment

[crazylegs]

Hey fellas,


New to the site....great to be here with you all.....am currently 35 with a wife and two kids......thinking about getting in to financial planning.....i have a friend who has recruited me to his agency.....i would need to pass the series 6 and 63 and then begin training.....very good reputable company but i would like your input.....i have until the end of june to make up my mind. any ex financial planners out there want to sound off Thanks in advance!

[REWahoo]

Do you know how to play the piano?

[crazy connie]

His Agency? Please say it's not Edward Jones or Ameriprise!

[bubba]

About 100 years ago, I worked as an admin in a couple of different big name brokerage firms. I'd eat ground glass before I would work as a commissioned sales person in the securities business. At that time (and likely still is) the "financial analysts" or whatever they were called were glorified salesmen driven by making commissions. Series 7 was the exam then; I believe the 6 is for mutual funds or annuities only. I'd run, but that's just me. Proceed at your own risk.

[M Paquette]

Uh oh.

Series 6 is the FINRA exam for persons who will be selling only mutual funds and variable annuities. Series 63 is the FINRA exam to sell stocks, bonds, warrants, and such.

If you really want to do financial planning, check carefully. With just these exams, there is a good chance you'll be a commission based salesman in fact if not in name.

Series 65 is the FINRA exam to operate as an Investment Advisor representative. It's the one that covers goodies like the Prudent Person Rule, risk tolerance, and other things that I'd expect an actual investment advisor/financial planner to know about.