[MRM]

Being a financial planner can be a good career. I have a friend who was asked to office with a credit union in order to provide financial service advise to the credit union members. He did quite well. Getting into that kind of situation is possible, but you have to work at it.

If you are thinking of financial planning as a career, you have to be able to answer a couple of questions correctly before anyone will hire you. First, how are going to get paid - hourly or as a percentage of trades, by commissions on products you sell, or a percentage of the portfolio you manage? Second, what are you giving the person for the money that they can't do themselves or can't get anywhere else. Third, are you getting into financial planning only because your old career isn't working anymore? And finanally the classic question of are you rich? If so, why are you asking to manage someone else's money instead of your own, if not, why should someone trust their money to you?

If you can successfully answer those questions, you enjoy the work, and you have access to clients, you'll do well.