Why Financial Planning Is a Great Career Choice

Financial Planning

As a financial planner you will find plenty of employment opportunities and have skills that are recognised in many countries around the world. There are courses available in finance training that will give you the necessary skills to become a part of this exciting and challenging industry. As a financial planner you will help people decide what is the best way to invest their money.

Employment opportunities

As a financial planner you could work for either banks, insurance companies, mutual funds or security firms. It is generally found that more than half of them work for bigger companies in finance or insurance, but there are those who are self employed and operate small investment firms. It is even possible to work from home. You may decide to specialise and end up selling stock to the public, helping instigate mergers or takeovers, or find yourself helping companies decide where to invest their funds. Employment in the industry is expected to rise due to the increase in self funded retirees as the baby boomer's reach retirement age. With the growing number of senior citizens and the life expectancy increasing, people need to be better informed and more organised with their finances.


Tasks of the financial planner

Financial planners liaise between businesses and money lenders, attend meetings, deal with the public, write reports, give talks and make suggestions regarding companies and individuals investments.They will normally be based in an office but some need to travel to visit clients or investors and sometimes have to work evenings or weekends. As a financial planner you may find you have to often work to a deadline and spend a lot of time after hours researching your clients or various firms as during the day your time is taken up with meetings and returning phone calls.

How to become a financial planner

You will find that most financial planners have some sort of degree, either in business, accounting, statistics or finance, or they may even have moved across after completing a law degree. Having skills in maths, computers and problem solving is desirable and also being able to work well with clients, so good people skills are a must. Being organised, having good time management skills and being able to communicate well is vital. Specific education in financial planning is highly desirable and any courses involving training in investments, taxes, risk management and estate planning. Certificates and courses in Financial Planning are available and everybody willing to get into the industry should take advantage of this education.

Job prospects

Job opportunities in financial planning are considered very good and the potential earnings is above average. To be successful as a financial planner it is important to build up a client base and encourage clients to refer you to other people. You can find new clients by giving seminars or lectures, by networking at social or business functions or even by cold calling potential clients.