Sort out where money should go
Go over bank statements and debts with a client and ask their goals and comfort with investing risk.
Career profile
Personal Financial Advisor
Personal financial advisors help people turn their income, savings and goals into a money plan.
Connect a person's numbers to the choices they make, then explain how the plan you recommend would change the way they live.
A day in the life
Compare two ways to one goal
In a spreadsheet or planning tool, test saving more against saving longer, and explain what your pick assumes.
Update a plan after goals shift
Check a client's account statements and adjust the saving or investing plan to match their new goals.
Meet a possible new client
Explain what you offer, ask what help the person wants, and try to build a lasting working relationship.
Quick facts
Bachelor's degree typical
United States
$105,070 median
United States · May 2025
1.4% projected growth
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
Bachelor's degree typicalExpect substantial learning on the job after college.
Pay
$105,070 medianAnnual employee wage; equivalent to $50.51 an hour.
Outlook
1.4% projected growthAbout 17,100 openings a year, including replacement needs.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You like asking questions before proposing an answer.
- You enjoy checking numbers and explaining what they mean.
- You are willing to introduce your services to new people.
Things to weigh
- Client meetings can take evenings or weekends.
- In commission-based roles, building the business affects your earnings as well as your workload.
Where AI may help
Automated investment services, often called robo-advisers, can build and manage portfolios from questionnaire answers. Some combine automation with access to a person.
What people still lead
You can ask follow-up questions when an answer leaves out something important, such as debt or another savings account, and explain how that changes the recommendation.
What we can’t predict yet
How much routine advice clients will hand over to artificial intelligence remains uncertain; the balance between automated service and personal conversations may shift.
Pay in context
Earnings
Pay varies widely, so read beyond the median.
The national spread
The median was $105,070 a year, equivalent to $50.51 an hour. The 10th and 90th percentiles were $50,190 and $357,020. These describe the full personal financial advisor occupation, not starting and senior salaries.
Workplace affects the comparison
Annual medians were $120,870 in securities, commodity contracts, and other financial investment activities, and $84,500 in insurance carriers and related activities.
Check what counts as pay
These wages include commissions, incentive pay, and production bonuses, but exclude nonproduction bonuses and self-employed earnings. They are not a guaranteed base salary.
Openings exceed net growth
Employment is projected to grow 1.4% over 2025–2035, with about 17,100 openings annually. Openings include workers leaving the occupation; they are not all newly created jobs.
Getting started
Build a college foundation
- What the route involves
- Earn a bachelor's degree; employers generally do not require one particular major. Study investments, taxes, and risk.
- What it can lead to
- Meet the typical education expectation for entry-level advisor hiring.
Join an employer's paid training route
Paid
- What the route involves
- At Edward Jones, hired trainees study for industry exams, complete insurance licensing requirements, and learn with experienced advisors.
- What it can lead to
- Completing licensing and training prepares you to build a client practice within the firm.
- What to check
- This requires being hired. The firm's route includes the Securities Industry Essentials exam, General Securities Representative exam (Series 7), and Uniform Combined State Law Examination (Series 66); it is not a universal exam list for every advisor job.
Education and employer training often connect. Required licenses and registrations depend on your activities, products, and jurisdiction.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get established
Learn to organize appointments, prioritize client work, and run the office with help from an experienced advisor.
Handle broader plans
Build from individual planning conversations toward comprehensive plans and ongoing client relationships.
Lead a branch
With strong sales and leadership experience, pursue branch management: coach advisors, help hire staff, and oversee office goals.
Where you can work
A financial services branch
In some large branch teams, you work with existing clients, referrals, and walk-ins. Planning colleagues and branch leaders provide support, while a busy appointment flow keeps you moving.
- Indoors
- Office
Clients' workplaces
In employer retirement-plan consulting, you travel to meet employees where they work. Conversations focus on plan participation and moving retirement savings, with some visits based in an on-site office.
- Indoors
- Office
- Travel
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
Invent a client who wants to save $6,000 in two years. Compare saving $250 monthly with extending the deadline to three years, ignoring interest. Write two questions you would ask before recommending either plan. Notice whether you enjoy both the calculation and the conversation.
Stay safe: Use fictional numbers; no account access or real investment is needed.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine. 13-2052.00 — Personal Financial Advisors. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- O*NET OnLine / U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. National Wages: Personal Financial Advisors. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Personal Financial Advisors. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table 1.2 Occupational projections, 2025–35, and worker characteristics, 2025. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Edward Jones. Licensing, Training and Support. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Edward Jones. New Financial Advisor Compensation. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Fidelity Careers. Explore types of financial planning roles at Fidelity. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Investor Bulletin: Robo-Advisers. Accessed 2026-10-03.