Personal Financial Advisors
FinanceO*NET 13-2052.00United States
Advise clients on financial plans using knowledge of tax and investment strategies, securities, insurance, pension plans, and real estate. Duties include assessing clients' assets, liabilities, cash flow, insurance coverage, tax status, and financial objectives.
- Median annual earnings
- $107,921
- Projected change
- +13.6%
- Typical education
- Bachelor's degree
- Employment
- 339.71K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
80.8% of the workforce
Growing to 385.96K by 2035
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These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What personal financial advisors do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Analyze financial information obtained from clients to determine strategies for meeting clients' financial objectives.
- Interview clients to determine their current income, expenses, insurance coverage, tax status, financial objectives, risk tolerance, or other information needed to develop a financial plan.
- Answer clients' questions about the purposes and details of financial plans and strategies.
- Review clients' accounts and plans regularly to determine whether life changes, economic changes, environmental concerns, or financial performance indicate a need for plan reassessment.
- Recommend to clients strategies in cash management, insurance coverage, investment planning, or other areas to help them achieve their financial goals.
- Manage client portfolios, keeping client plans up-to-date.
- Implement financial planning recommendations, or refer clients to someone who can assist them with plan implementation.
- Recommend financial products, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or insurance.
- Contact clients periodically to determine any changes in their financial status.
- Prepare or interpret for clients information, such as investment performance reports, financial document summaries, or income projections.
- Explain to clients the personal financial advisor's responsibilities and the types of services to be provided.
- Investigate available investment opportunities to determine compatibility with client financial plans.
- Guide clients in the gathering of information, such as bank account records, income tax returns, life and disability insurance records, pension plans, or wills.
- Monitor financial market trends to ensure that client plans are responsive.
- Recruit and maintain client bases.
- Meet with clients' other advisors, such as attorneys, accountants, trust officers, or investment bankers, to fully understand clients' financial goals and circumstances.
- Devise debt liquidation plans that include payoff priorities and timelines.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $45,536
- 25th percentile
- $70,303
- 50th percentile
- $107,921
- 75th percentile
- $203,051
- 90th percentile
- $375,381
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $107,921 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+13.6%faster than average
2025339,707 jobs
2035 projected385,960 jobs
46,253 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Bachelor's degree
- 80.8%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 11.5%
- Certificate
- 7.7%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Financial Advisors7,833 postings
- 02Financial Solutions Advisors3,099 postings
- 03Financial Consultants3,040 postings
- 04Private Client Advisors2,960 postings
- 05Financial Counselors2,398 postings
- 06Wealth Advisors1,998 postings
- 07Personal Financial Counselors1,194 postings
- 08Financial Advisors Associate1,102 postings
- 09Financial Planners977 postings
- 10Client Advisors970 postings
- 11Financial Aid Advisors914 postings
- 12Wealth Management Advisors867 postings
- 13Wealth Management Associates811 postings
- 14Investment Consultants742 postings
- 15Financial Investment Advisors698 postings
- 16Financial Aid Counselors665 postings
- 17Wealth Management Financial Advisors625 postings
- 18Financial Aid Specialists613 postings
- 19Patient Financial Counselors593 postings
- 20Financial Professionals590 postings
Top employers
- 01Bank of America4,524 postings
- 02JPMorgan Chase3,865 postings
- 03Edward Jones2,488 postings
- 04Fisher Investments1,481 postings
- 05Fidelity Investments1,479 postings
- 06Northwestern Mutual1,366 postings
- 07Charles Schwab1,222 postings
- 08Cardinal Health1,127 postings
- 09Wealthbridge Financial Group960 postings
- 10PNC941 postings
- 11New York Life819 postings
- 12Bankers Life648 postings
- 13Magellan Health638 postings
- 14Magellan Federal556 postings
- 15Robert Half552 postings
- 16Prudential Financial523 postings
- 17Thrivent523 postings
- 18Alvarez & Marsal490 postings
- 19TD Bank484 postings
- 20TIAA456 postings
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