“How did you become a Wealth Manager?” She was a young woman with her hair in two afro-puffs and worked for Google. She was 22 years old and reminded me of myself at 22 - although every young person that takes a keen interest in anything in my mid-life world reminds me of myself at a younger age.
I thought it was a great question. The average age of wealth managers in America is between 51 and 55 years. While I appreciate the gray hair and the fact that it’s a career that you can age IN to instead of aging OUT of, few young people ask about the profession. What followed was a great conversation between myself and the young woman on the pathway to become an advisor - which I am going to share.
Be YOUNG - I think everyone at mid life can attest at how quickly life goes by. While there are some very successful advisors that start their careers fresh out of college, I entered this field when I was 36. For me, entering the field when I was older made me a better advisor. I’ve held my own jobs, encountered my own troubles and developed over my 15 years of work experience since grad school a healthy respect for what people go through to earn their money.
For someone in their early 20’s, I’d tell them to work and explore. Build your network and connect to others. Some of my first clients during those shaky first years as an advisor came from former colleagues and co-workers - networks I had developed over 15 years. When you’ve gotten a network and work experience, then consider taking the leap to becoming an advisor.
Talk to people doing the work - talk to as many Advisors and Wealth Managers as you can. Ask them about their day, their lives, ask what the average pay is! So many people make a career change only to find themselves deeply disappointed that they’re earning a fraction of what they believed they’d be earning.
My former Advisor was instrumental in assisting me in my career as a Wealth Manager. I asked him directly “how did you become an advisor?” and the gates of information and connections opened to me. I am eternally grateful to him and sometimes the right question to the right person at the right time can open the gates to new opportunities.
Learn about investments and investing. We live in an age of 24/7 knowledge and information. Read several books on investing and investments. Is this something that you’re at least somewhat interested in? While I agree investments and investing represents a part of our job (we often help our clients with so much more including estate planning, taxes, insurance) you have to like and understand the basics to do this career successfully.
After talking for about 30 minutes, the young woman went on her way. I have a goal of replicating myself with women and people of color 10x before I leave the field and conversations like this with current advisors can help steer the next generation towards a wonderful and fulfilling career option.
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