How To Be a Financial Advisor Without a Degree

Summary

In this video, Dominic addresses the question of whether a college degree is necessary to become a financial adviser. He explains that while a degree isn't required, there are three main scenarios for entering the field: the traditional route with a finance-related degree, starting in the industry without finishing college and gaining experience, and career changers leveraging life experience. Dominic emphasizes the importance of passion over money and suggests building a financial runway and networking before making a career switch.

Takeaways

• 🎓 The traditional route to becoming a financial adviser involves obtaining a college degree, typically in a finance-related field.
• 🏦 Post-graduation, gaining experience is crucial, and a college degree can be leveraged to obtain advanced designations like the CFP.
• 💼 A college degree can provide a financial advantage later in one's career due to higher potential earnings.
• 🔗 The public is more familiar with professionals who hold designations like CFP, which can be beneficial for business growth.
• 👨‍🏫 For those without a college degree, finding a mentor in the financial industry can provide valuable insights and guidance.
• 🏢 Starting in retail banking or selling financial products can be a pathway into the industry without a college degree.
• 💰 Chasing passion and ambition is advised over the pursuit of money, as it can lead to more sustainable career satisfaction.
• 🔄 Career changers are often seen as more genuine and bring a well-rounded perspective to the financial advising industry.
• 🛠️ For career changers, it's recommended to volunteer or shadow professionals to gain experience before fully transitioning.
• 👥 Networking is essential for those starting from scratch, as it helps build connections in a new industry.

Q & A

Does one need a college degree to become a financial adviser?

No, a college degree is not a strict requirement to become a financial adviser.

What is the traditional route to becoming a financial adviser?

The traditional route involves obtaining a bachelor's degree in a finance-related field, such as finance, economics, business management, marketing, or accounting, and then gaining experience in the field.

What advantages does having a college degree offer in the financial advising field?

A college degree allows individuals to pursue advanced designations like the CFP, which requires an education requirement, and can lead to higher compensation later in one's career.

What is the significance of the CFP designation in the financial advising industry?

The CFP designation is well-recognized by the public due to strategic marketing by the CFP Board of Standards, which can help financial advisers build their business.

What alternative paths can someone take if they don't want to follow the traditional route to become a financial adviser?

Alternative paths include finding a mentor in the industry, starting in a money center or regional bank, or selling financial products and moving up through the industry.

What is the recommended approach for someone who is on the fence about finishing college to enter the financial advising field?

It's recommended to get a mentor, gain experience through internships or entry-level positions, and consider moving through banking or product sales roles within the industry.

What advice is given to career changers who want to become financial advisers?

Career changers should stay in their current career while gaining experience in the financial advising field through volunteering or shadowing, and build a network before making a full transition.

Why are career changers with more life experience often valued in the financial advising industry?

Career changers bring a well-rounded perspective and a comprehensive approach to financial advising, which can be beneficial when dealing with clients and their diverse financial needs.

What is the importance of having a financial runway when transitioning into a new career like financial advising?

A financial runway provides the necessary financial stability and time to gain experience and build a client base without the immediate pressure of needing an income.

What is the potential downside of entering the financial advising field without a strong foundation or mentor?

Entering without a strong foundation or mentor can lead to a slippery slope where one might start selling products or services they don't believe in, solely for financial gain, which can be detrimental to one's career in the long run.

Outlines

00:00

🎓 Becoming a Financial Advisor Without a College Degree

In this video, Dominic addresses the question of whether a college degree is necessary to become a financial advisor. He asserts that while a degree is not a strict requirement, there are various paths one can take to achieve this career goal. He outlines three scenarios: the traditional route through college with a business or finance-related degree, which can lead to advanced designations like the Certified Financial Planner (CFP); a non-traditional route for those who start college but do not finish, suggesting gaining experience through mentorship or entry-level positions in financial institutions; and a path for career changers, emphasizing the value of life experience and the importance of building a network and gaining relevant experience before fully transitioning into the financial advisory field.

05:00

🛠️ Alternative Paths for Aspiring Financial Advisors

Dominic discusses alternative routes to becoming a financial advisor for those without a college degree or who are considering a career change. He advises against chasing money at the expense of passion, as authenticity and belief in the services offered are crucial for long-term success. For those entering the field with no college education, he suggests starting with product sales or relationship roles in banks and emphasizes the importance of mentorship and gaining industry experience. For career changers, he recommends maintaining a stable income while gaining experience through volunteering or shadowing professionals in the field. Dominic also highlights the value that banks and financial institutions place on the diverse perspectives and life experiences that career changers bring to the table.

Keywords

💡Financial Adviser

A financial adviser is a professional who provides financial planning and advice to individuals and businesses. In the context of the video, the role is central to the discussion as the speaker explores various pathways to becoming a financial adviser without a college degree. The video aims to demystify the profession and make it accessible to those considering alternative educational routes.

💡College Degree

A college degree typically refers to an academic degree awarded by a college or university after completing a prescribed program of study. The video script challenges the necessity of a college degree for becoming a financial adviser, suggesting that there are alternative routes to entering the profession, thus broadening the audience who might consider this career path.

💡Traditional Route

The traditional route in the video refers to the conventional educational path that involves obtaining a college degree in a finance-related field before entering a profession. This route is often perceived as the standard way to prepare for a career in finance, but the video suggests that it is not the only way.

💡CFP (Certified Financial Planner)

CFP stands for Certified Financial Planner, a professional designation given to financial advisers who have met certain education, examination, experience, and ethics requirements. The video mentions that traditionally, having a college degree is necessary to qualify for the CFP exam, highlighting the interplay between formal education and professional certification.

💡Mentor

A mentor in the video is an experienced professional who guides and advises those new to the financial advising field. The script suggests finding a mentor as a crucial step for those who choose not to follow the traditional educational path, emphasizing the importance of practical experience and guidance over formal education.

💡Money Center Banks

Money center banks are large financial institutions that offer a wide range of services and are typically headquartered in major financial centers. The video suggests that starting a career in financial advising at a money center bank can be a viable alternative for those without a college degree, as these institutions often have structured training programs.

💡Career Changer

A career changer, as discussed in the video, is someone who transitions from one profession to another, often later in their career. The video speaks positively about career changers in financial advising, noting their life experience and perspective as valuable assets, and encourages them to leverage their unique backgrounds.

💡Retail Banking

Retail banking refers to the services provided by banks to individual consumers rather than businesses. The video mentions that starting in retail banking can be a stepping stone for those without a college degree to gain experience and eventually move into financial advising roles.

💡Ambition

Ambition in the video is discussed in the context of pursuing one's passion and interests rather than solely focusing on financial gain. The speaker cautions against entering the financial advising field for the wrong reasons, emphasizing the importance of genuine interest and commitment to the profession.

💡Networking

Networking is the process of building and maintaining relationships with others, particularly to advance one's career. The video underscores the importance of networking for those entering financial advising without a traditional background, as it can help in gaining experience, finding mentors, and transitioning into the industry.

Highlights

Dominic discusses the possibility of becoming a financial adviser without a college degree.

The answer to needing a college degree to become a financial adviser is a clear no.

Three scenarios are presented for becoming a financial adviser with or without a college degree.

Scenario one is the traditional route, which involves obtaining a bachelor's degree in a finance-related field.

Having a college degree can lead to advanced designations like the CFP.

The traditional route can set you up for higher compensation later in your career.

The public is familiar with the CFP designation due to strategic marketing.

Dominic encourages those on the traditional path to capitalize on the momentum of the CFP.

Scenario two is for those who start college but don't finish, suggesting finding a mentor in the industry.

Mentorship can lead to opportunities in banks or selling financial products.

Chasing passion and ambition in financial services is advised over chasing money alone.

Scenario three focuses on career changers moving into financial advising.

Career changers are often seen as more genuine and passionate in the financial advising field.

Dominic recommends career changers to volunteer or shadow to gain experience before fully committing.

Career changers bring a well-rounded perspective that some financial institutions value.

Dominic invites viewers to share which scenario they identify with in the comments.

Transcripts

hey everybody this is Dominic I got this

question a few months ago and I decided

it deserved a video to discuss it at

length to give you the skinny on all the

different ways to become a financial

adviser without a college degree get the

pen and paper out

thanks Roosevelt for the question I

think it's a great one I think the real

question we're dealing with here is do

you need a college degree to become a

financial adviser and the answer is

unequivocally and simply no good night

everyone we'll see you later

that's it although it's a simple answer

or an easy answer the path to get there

is not simple right there's a way to get

there and I want to talk about maybe

three scenarios under which you may

become a financial adviser with or

without a college degree because there

are some people out there that are

watching that have gone through college

or almost gonna be finished and I don't

want to exclude you either so let's look

at from both angles with these three

scenarios all right scenario one is the

what I call the traditional route right

so traditionally you will go to school

have some type of business background or

business degree that you're studying for

whether that be finance economics

business management marketing accounting

whatever you can take that background

and go ahead and finish school cuz why

not you're almost all the way there

you're already there you're not going to

want to look up four or five or ten

years down the route down the road and

say oh man I wish I would have checked

the box of college go ahead and finish

that there's nothing wrong with the

traditional route there are plenty of

people I would say a large portion of

financial professionals come through the

traditional route so this is an okay

thing to do so the traditional route

would mean just for clarity that you

would do four years at a school or two

years at a junior college and then maybe

two more at a four-year university and

earn your bachelor's degree in some type

of finance related field I would say

first of all get a job start getting

some experience and the reason that

you're gonna have the advantage with the

college degree is the college degree is

gonna allow you to parlay that into

advanced designations for instance the

CFP currently does not allow you to sit

for that exam without the education

requirement being filled which is going

to be a

for your degree so this is a real good

way to parlay your college going down

the traditional route into something

like a CFP now you'll want to get your

experience you want to do all those

things but it does set you up for being

able to have more money in your pocket

later down in career because of the

background and you know just the way

that that the that path is usually

walked is that you are set up later in

your life to be compensated more so

that's the traditional route and I'll

add one more thing the CFP Planning

Board of standards has put a lot of

money into the marketing of this degree

the awareness around it and so the

public is very familiar with this as

opposed to other designations or people

without the designation what the what

you want to always consider is not

necessarily the fact that the the three

letters behind the name is going to help

you build a business not necessarily it

does relate to that or it does correlate

to that but at the end of the day what

you have to realize is the public

perception of somebody that has those

three letters behind their name has been

very strategic with all these different

involved parties including the CFP Board

that has put that image in that idea in

the public's mind so you want to you

know capture that momentum and that's

the beauty about going the traditional

route if you go the traditional route

you're going to capture a lot of that

momentum and you know practicing in the

next five to ten years that's gonna be

something that's really really huge but

I do have something for you guys that

don't want to go the traditional route

but if you want to go the traditional

route make sure you check out the video

up in the cars that I've done on the

pathway to the CFP to get more

information about that let's move on to

scenario two all right scenario two

would be let's say you start at college

but you didn't finish or you just you're

on the fence right now about going

you're like I really don't want to do it

maybe you've had a taste of the

financial services industry through you

know somebody you know a mentor a

relative and you're like I want to go

ahead and try that without the college

and what I would say is the best route

to do this is to get a mentor have a

mentor that already is in the business

can maybe you're interning with them or

you have a job in their office or

something like that that's exposing you

to it you want to kind of get your feet

wet before you you know go whole hog

into this

this the service career in started you

know doing a college degree and maybe

you have to take out loans and you just

don't want to build that route and

that's okay

so I understand that and what I would

say is if you have a mentor that has

experience in the field that can start

to translate some of that to you

what you may typically find is that you

end up going into a money center banks

or a regional bank and you start on

their retail banking site learning about

the business and then eventually moving

through maybe some type of training or

management program I actually did an

interview with ash Exantus that I'll

link up in the car that talks about his

path that was very similar to that so

what I will say is that a lot of people

go down this path with some or no

college you know they may enter through

that money center a bank relationship

like I just said or they may start off

selling like a product an insurance

product or something like that get

really good at it and just move through

the industry those things can all happen

on a lot of great gals and guys have

went down that path here's my my word of

caution to you you always need to chase

your ambition instead of the money and

what do I mean by that if you chase your

passion and your ambition in what you're

truly about the money will come you

never want to start selling a product or

a service that you don't believe in just

because of the money because that's a

very slippery slope and usually when you

start to slide down the slope it's hard

to get back to the top now scenario 3 is

I have a special soft spot for these

people and these are the people that are

career changers let's say you were an

engineer or you were a teacher and then

you were done that with that career for

whatever reason you burned out you left

that career and you say you know what I

really like helping people with finances

and I really want to look at this

financial coaching or financial adviser

path thing and I applaud you because

first of all it takes a lot of guts to

start over and that's essentially what

you're doing and I think what I find is

people that I talk to that our career

changes like this they're they're

typically more genuine I have to say

they're necessarily better people it's

just that they've lived life they've

experienced things and they seem to be

so more passionate in real about what

they're gonna try to do now maybe

because they get they're getting a

second shot or I don't know what it is

but I my heart goes out to you guys

and I really want to help you here so in

this particular case I don't differ too

much from what I named in scenario 2 as

the path I would HIGHLY highly wait the

ability to stay in your current career

path hopefully you haven't already

burned out and moved away but stay there

and then maybe volunteer find you a

mentors that you can get some experience

get your feet wet to see exactly what

road you want to go down and while

you're building up that financial runway

for when you make the switchover it

won't be so hard because it can be

really hard when you have no experience

no background no finance background

you're just trying to start this from

scratch and you have no runway or no

income you don't have a sponsor like my

wife says you know someone that is maybe

working in the family or whatnot so it

can be really difficult so I would say

the real thing to do is to maybe try to

volunteer or you know shadows some type

of person that is already doing this so

you can try to get some experience and

try to see where you're going to where

you're going to go with this and build

up your network because your again

you're starting from scratch you have

nothing here all your contacts are in

your previous industry so that would be

I think very similar to scenario 2 but

in this particular case waiting your

time and your energy spent on trying to

volunteer first before you go full-time

into this industry what I do say you

have going for you is that because

you've had you know usually you know

five to ten or maybe even 15 years to

evaluate your own money habits the

lifestyles of your friends and family

you come into this industry as a career

changer with so much more perspective

and to be honest a lot of programs money

center banks

I won't name any names here make sure

you DM me for those they are looking for

those career changes with that more

well-rounded perspective instead of

somebody that just came fresh out of

college they're looking for those people

to but they really are looking for

career changes that have a wider

perspective that can go into a situation

with a more comprehensive approach

because they've experienced more life at

that point so you have a lot going for

you

so don't be discouraged thanks again

Roosevelt for the question it was such a

great one I'm curious to know which one

do you find yourself in are you scenario

one two or three let me know down in the

comments and I would love to speak with

you talk to you soon bye-bye