So You Want to Be a Financial Planner: Your Guide to a New Career 4th Edition [Paperback]

Nancy Langdon Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2007

Finally, together in one place, a comprehensive step-by-step career as a financial planner. Here is everything you need to know - from getting the right credentials to getting the right clients. Over the next few decades, billions of dollars will be changing hands as millions of Baby Boomers retire. Learn how you can play an important role in ensuring the financial health of future generations.

So You Want to Be a Financial Planner:
* Tells you what credentials you need
* Shows you where to find the best schools for licensing and registration
* Clearly defines how commission and fee-only planners differ
* Provides a planner's "toolbox" of hardware, software and internet sites
* Cuts through the maze of regulatory red tape
* Gives you proven marketing techniques to jump-start your practice

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If this book had been around when I started in the business, it would have saved me years of hard knocks. This is 'must reading' for those who want to get profitable sooner and have a sound financial planning business. It has the three Es: Essential, Educational and Entertaining." - Katherine Vessenes, JD, CFP, President, Vestment Consulting, and nationally recognized authority on practice management and the legal and ethical issues facing financial advisors. -- Review --This text refers to the Digital edition.

From the Publisher

* Concise, usable career resource.
* CD-ROM with internet references and additional resources.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: AdvisorPress (September 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1603530002
• ISBN-13: 978-1603530002
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,134,288 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading if you're serious about getting into the business, April 15, 2006

By 

Regular Amazon customer (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: So You Want to Be a Financial Planner (Paperback)

This is not a book describing how to do FP. Maybe that's what the other negative reviewers were looking for. It is a comprehensive view of being in the business, and the various ways to be in the business, e.g. as a FP with insurance companies, with broker/dealers, or as an independent. However, it is not just Jones telling us this; she includes first hand accounts from actual folks who went the various routes, and they provide details of their experiences with the particular companies they were employed by (MetLife, American Express, Waddell & Reed, etc.) These contributors give you the good and bad: how much money they made (or didn't make), which companies expect you to be just a salesperson for their products vs an objective financial planner, etc. Thus, this book is an invaluable resource for someone seriously considering changing careers to FP, or for a college grad who has chosen FP as a career. It can be, as another reviewer noted, a bit depressing, but you need to know the reality of the business if you're going to make the leap. Don't do it without reading this unique book first. And if you are looking for a book on how to do FP, this is not the book you're looking for.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Please note - 3rd Edition is available!, June 5, 2006

By 

Mattias V. Bergman "AdvisorPress" (El Dorado Hills, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: So You Want to Be a Financial Planner (Paperback)

*** DISCLAIMER - This review is posted by the publisher! ***

Please note that an updated 3rd edition is now available, in both digital and paperback formats. The 3rd edition has more content plus, of course, updated references.

The 2nd edition has been EOL'd - Amazon has promised to delete this 2nd edition from their listing, but in the meantime we would like to direct you to the 3rd edition.

BTW - Note that Amazon requires us to rate the book in order to post this notice. While we of course feel that this is an excellent book for career advice, we have chosen to use the average of the ratings submitted by users.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beginners Or Career Changers Pay Attention!, September 19, 2003

By 

Craig Ritter (Phoenix, AZ (Currently in Japan)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: So You Want to be a Financial Planner : Your Guide to a New Career, 2nd Edition (Digital)

I am a recent career changer. I have read a number of financial planning related books (Rattiner, Sestina, Stone etc..). Nancy's is tops at offering valuable, practical insight into the financial planning field. She passionately provides "must have" information on a profession that is long overdue--and badly in need of--career-track clarification. In both her book and in her role as moderator on Financial Planning Interactive's "Career Building" online forum, Nancy unselfishly shares her knowledge and acts as a mentor to those looking at this growing profession. A "must read" for beginners or even those just considering a career in financial planning.
An enjoyable read to boot!

--Beginning CFP student