I chose the investments industry as a career more than 40 years ago. I did so because I listened to the advice of experienced people, who had many years of success, but were now aging. That situation exists today, but on a much more favorable level for young people entering the investments industry.

There is a critical shortage of young people in a very high income profession. There are several reasons why this shortage exists. It's the election campaign season and one of the prime targets of candidates is Wall Street. Also, many millennials believe robo-advisors will replace the human investment advisors. There is no question that Wall Street has had more than it's share of bad actors. But that number in comparison to good, high quality Wall Street professionals, is very small. And robo-advisors are many, many years (if not decades) away from replacing human advisors.

Nearly half of the Investment Advisors in the U.S. are nearing retirement. A federal law that was passed one month ago entitled DOL Fiduciary, is expected to increase the retirement of many older advisors because of it's complexity. Only 5% of Investment Advisors are 30 years old or younger. The investments industry is a $40 trillion industry. It is estimated that of that $40 trillion, $50 billion is earmarked to robo-advisors. The rest is with traditional, human advisors. There is a CRITICAL SHORTAGE of young people in an industry where the average advisor took in just under $50 thousand per month in 2014.

What exactly, does an Investment Advisor do?

That's a great question and could involve multiple duties. You may join a company that needs nothing more than a go-fer (someone that runs around doing trite jobs for the senior advisors). That's ok. You're working your way up in the company. I made 2 large containers of coffee in my office every morning at 7:30 am for years for the advisors and customers. That was one of my jobs as I worked my way up the latter of success. But in today's advisory industry, that's probably not going to be your main position.  As half of Investment Advisors are nearing retirement, they want and need a succession plan for their customers, similar to an aging parent preparing his children to continue his legacy.

Aging Investment Advisors are seeking someone much younger that they can mentor and train to service their existing clients and be assured the clients continue to receive the best service and advice. While you are being mentored, you also are studying to pass the regulatory exams that are required. Once you have passed the required written regulatory exams, you are then an Investment Advisor. In most cases clients pay a quarterly fee to their Investment Advisors. They do so because they rely on the advisor's experience and knowledge.

If you become a mentor of an aging advisor, you will be setting yourself up to one day take over the position of the aging advisor, servicing the clients and receiving the quarterly fees for you efforts. This is a very HIGH INCOME profession that needs young people, especially YOUNG FEMALES, as only 7.9% of Investment Advisors of all ages are females.

What educational requirements are necessary to become an Investment Advisor? The Regulatory agencies have no minimum educational requirements. However, many larger firms require a 4 year college degree. Does your college degree require a business or finance major to become an Investment Advisor? If you have a 4 year college or university diploma, what your major was has no bearing on becoming an Investment Advisor. What if you don't have a college degree, can you still become an Investment Advisor? You can become an Investment Advisor regardless of your educational background. Without a college degree it becomes more difficult to obtain employment, but it is still possible to become an Investment Advisor. 

I am currently teaching a course on the instructional platform called UDEMY. UDEMY currently has millions of students and offers many different courses on a wide variety of topics. My course is titled "Investment Advisory: Career Opportunity for Millennials". (Use code: 2409 and save $20.00) It is located under Business: Finance.  The course was just added to the Udemy site in June, 2016, and will be updated regularly.