Finance & Wealth Management
How to become a financial advisor
Help people plan, invest and reach financial goals — a licensed, relationship-driven career you can start without industry experience.
13 required steps · Free to start
- $102,140
- Median pay
- 10%
- Projected growth
- 326,000
- People in the role
2024
2024–34
2024
Figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, quoted with their framing. Full context and sources below.
The numbers
What the data actually says
Every figure is quoted with the framing its publisher used. Tap a source chip to see exactly what was measured and when we last checked it.
Median pay
$102,140per year
BLS median annual wage for personal financial advisors (SOC 13-2052) in May 2024 — half earned more, half less. Equivalent to $49.11 an hour.
Projected growth
10%2024–34
BLS projects employment of personal financial advisors to grow 10% between 2024 and 2034, which it classifies as much faster than the average for all occupations.
People in the role
326,000jobs in 2024
BLS counted 326,000 personal financial advisor jobs in 2024, projected to reach 357,200 by 2034 — a change of 31,200.
Openings each year
24,100projected per year
BLS projects about 24,100 openings for personal financial advisors each year, on average, over the 2024–34 decade. Most come from replacing workers who move to other occupations or leave the labour force.
Typical entry-level education
Bachelor's degree
BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education and no prior work experience in a related occupation. It also lists long-term on-the-job training, so employers expect to train you.
The role
What the job actually is
Financial advisors work with individuals and families on investing, retirement, insurance and long-term planning. The work is part technical and part relationship: you need to understand products and regulation, and you need people to trust you with decisions that matter to them. Entry is gated by licensing rather than by a specific degree, which makes the path unusually legible — you can see exactly what stands between you and the role.
Typical entry-level education is a bachelor's degree, and no prior work experience in a related occupation is listed as typical.
Before you commit
The parts people wish they'd known
This is our read on the career, not a research finding — labelled so you can weigh it accordingly.
Reality check
Our recommendationBuilding a client base is part of the job
Advisor roles at most firm types include business development — finding and winning clients, not just serving assigned ones. Compensation is frequently tied to it. This is the single most common reason people leave the career.
Decide now whether that sounds energising or exhausting. Both are valid answers, and one of them should send you toward paraplanner, analyst or operations roles instead.
The path
Every step, in order
13 required steps. Sign in and we'll track which ones you've done — several tick themselves as you study.
- 1
Understand what advisors actually do
Read what the job involves day to day, how advisors are paid, and where the work is genuinely hard.
Most people who drop out of this path do it after discovering the role involves business development. Better to know that in week one than in year one.
- 2
Learn the difference between firm types
Wirehouse, independent broker-dealer, RIA, bank, insurance-affiliated — they differ in pay, autonomy and which license you need.
Which license you should sit depends on where you want to work. Choosing the exam before the firm type is how people end up with the wrong registration.
- 3
Decide your licensing route
Work out whether you are heading for a broker-dealer route (SIE then Series 7), an adviser route (Series 65), or a combined one (Series 66).
The SIE is the common starting point either way, but what comes after it is not the same — and one of the routes does not need an employer at all.
- 4
Learn securities-industry fundamentals
Products, markets, regulators and prohibited practices — the ground the SIE is built on.
The SIE assumes vocabulary most newcomers have never met. Building it first is what makes the practice questions teach rather than punish.
- 5
Prepare for the SIE
Work through the lessons and practice questions until your readiness score says you are there.
The SIE is 75 questions in 1 hour 45 minutes with a passing score of 70, and results stay valid for four years.
- 6
Pass the SIE
Enrol through FINRA, sit the exam, and record the result here.
You do not need an employer to sit it. Passing gives you something concrete to show a firm before you have any industry experience.
- 7
Build relevant experience
Client-facing, sales or financial-services work — or a self-directed project that shows the same skills.
BLS lists no prior related experience as typical for entry, but employers still hire on evidence. Evidence you build yourself counts when a job has not given you any.
- 8
Get your resume advisor-ready
Make sure it says what a hiring manager at a firm is actually looking for — including your SIE.
A passed exam that is not on the resume does no work for you.
- 9
Start networking deliberately · optional
Find people doing the job you want, at firms you would work for, and talk to them.
Advisor hiring runs heavily on referral and relationship. Three real conversations beat fifty applications.
- 10
Identify target employers
Build a shortlist of firms by type, location and whether they run a training program.
Firms that run advisor development programs hire people without experience on purpose. They are a different application than a generic advisor posting.
- 11
Get a sponsoring firm (if your route needs one) · optional
Broker-dealer registration exams need an employer. The Series 65 route does not.
FINRA is explicit that you must be associated with a member firm to take a qualification exam. The Series 65 can be enrolled for directly, which is why it is a real alternative for people without a sponsor.
- 12
Pass your qualification exam
Series 7, Series 65 or Series 66, depending on the route you chose.
Passing this exam satisfies the qualification-examination requirement for the registration that lets you do the job. The SIE on its own does not qualify you to engage in securities business — you are registered only once your firm files the application and it is approved.
- 13
Apply for advisor and wealth-management roles
Analyst, client service associate, advisor development program, junior advisor.
The first title is rarely "Financial Advisor". Knowing the real entry titles doubles the number of jobs you can see.
- 14
Prepare for advisor interviews
Why wealth management, how you build trust, how you would find clients, and explaining a concept simply.
Advisor interviews test communication as much as knowledge. Being right and unclear reads as a no.
- 15
Start your first role
Complete registration, finish firm training, and get through the first year.
Registration and firm onboarding continue after the offer. Knowing that in advance makes the first month less alarming.
- 16
Keep your credentials current · optional
Continuing education and registration upkeep. Coming later on Finance Exam Pro.
Registered people have ongoing regulatory obligations. We do not offer recognized CE credit today.
Worth knowing
Things that change your odds
Licensing tip
OfficialYou can sit the SIE without an employer
FINRA states the SIE is open to anyone aged 18 or older, that association with a firm is not required to take it, and that results are valid for four years.
If you are waiting for a job before you start studying, you do not have to.
Licensing tip
OfficialThe SIE on its own does not let you do the job
FINRA is explicit: passing the SIE alone does not qualify you to register with a member firm or engage in securities business. You also need a qualification exam appropriate to the work — and you must be associated with a member firm to sit one.
Plan the second exam at the same time as the first, because the second one usually needs an employer.
Licensing tip
OfficialThe Series 65 route does not need a sponsor
NASAA's outline says a candidate's firm can file a Form U4, or the individual can open an enrolment window via FINRA and pay the fee directly. The exam is 130 scored questions in 180 minutes and you need at least 92 correct.
If no firm will sponsor you yet, the investment-adviser route is a way to get licensed on your own.
Career stat
OfficialThe field is growing, and most openings are replacements
BLS projects 10% employment growth for personal financial advisors from 2024 to 2034 — much faster than average — and about 24,100 openings a year on average, most of them replacing people who move on rather than newly created roles.
Did you know
OfficialEmployers expect to train you
BLS lists no work experience in a related occupation as typical for entry into this role, and long-term on-the-job training as normal. The bar at the door is licensing and aptitude, not a resume full of finance jobs.
Career edge
Our recommendationYour customer-facing job may be more relevant than you think
Advisor work is built on explaining things clearly, earning trust and following up. Retail, hospitality, service and support roles build exactly those muscles — the gap is usually in how the resume describes them, not in the experience itself.
Rewrite each bullet around what you did for a person and what changed as a result, rather than the task you were assigned.
Resume edge
Our recommendationPut the SIE where a screener will see it
A passed exam buried at the bottom of a resume does no work. Licensing is one of the first things an advisor-role screener looks for, and the SIE tells them you started before anyone asked you to.
Add a short Licensing line near the top: the exam, the month you passed, and that results are valid for four years.
Networking edge
Our recommendationThree conversations beat fifty applications
Advisor hiring leans heavily on referral. A short, specific message to someone doing the job you want is a different act from submitting a form, and it gets answered far more often.
This week: find three people with the title Financial Advisor, Client Service Associate or Advisor Development Program Associate at firms you would actually join, and ask each one what they wish they had known before starting.
Employer insight
Our recommendationThe first title is rarely "Financial Advisor"
Firms usually hire newcomers into support and development roles first — client service associate, advisor development program, paraplanner, analyst. Searching only for "financial advisor" hides most of the jobs you can actually get.
Search those titles instead, and add "advisor development program" — firms that run one are explicitly hiring people without experience.
Interview edge
Our recommendationYou will be asked to explain something simply
Advisor interviews test whether a client would understand you. Expect some version of "explain a financial concept to someone with no background" — and expect the interviewer to be judging clarity, not depth.
Practise explaining a mutual fund, diversification and a Roth IRA out loud in under a minute each, with no jargon.
Turn this into your path
Free account. We track the steps, tell you what's next, and mark off the exam work as you do it.
Transparency
Sources & methodology
Everything quantitative on this page traces to one of these. Where we are giving advice rather than reporting a finding, the card says so.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Outlook Handbook: Personal Financial AdvisorsWage data are 2024 medians for SOC 13-2052. Employment projections cover 2024–34 and come from the BLS Employment Projections program.
- FINRA — Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) ExamFINRA's own description of SIE eligibility, format and fee.
- NASAA — Series 65 Exam Content OutlineNASAA's published outline for the Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination, including format, passing standard and enrollment route.
Disclosures
Finance Exam Pro is an independent study platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by FINRA, NASAA, or any examination sponsor. Licensing and registration requirements vary by role, employer and state, and change over time — confirm current requirements with the relevant regulator before you register. Career progress indicators on this site measure how far through a path you are; they are not predictions of employment. Nothing here is investment, legal, or tax advice.