Getting Started in Financial Consulting (Getting Started In.....) (Paperback)

by Edward J. Stone (Author) "To succeed as an independent financial consultant, you're going to need additional skills and training regardless of whether you're currently a financial professional..." (more)
Key Phrases: new financial consultants, contracts and other legal considerations, financial consulting industry, Deena Katz, Cynthia Meyers, Jeff Mershon (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Comprehensive Coverage
Completely Up-to-date!

A detailed road map for getting started as an independent financial consultant

Each year, thousands of people from all walks of life leave the security of their nine-to-five jobs to pursue careers as independent financial consultants. For a great many of them, the experience is financially and personally rewarding beyond their expectations. If you, too, are thinking about taking the big leap into becoming a financial consultant, but you aren't sure how to go about it, this book is for you.

How can I be sure that financial consulting is right for my personality? What kinds of training and skills do I need to succeed, and how do I get them? What special licenses or certification are required? How do I find clients and build lasting relationships with them? With the help of first-person accounts from successful financial consultants from across the country, expert Edward J. Stone provides complete answers to these and all your questions concerning:
* Acquiring and honing key skills, including the all-important "people" skills
* Organizing and structuring your business
* Indispensable software tools
* Services you can offer clients and why you should specialize
* Marketing your services, targeting clients, and building a solid core clientele
* Why you should become certified and how to go about it
* Profiling clients and drawing up formal financial plans
* Dealing with state and federal regulations
* Contracts and key legal considerations
* Surviving in a down market

From the Back Cover
Comprehensive Coverage
Completely Up-to-date!

A detailed road map for getting started as an independent financial consultant

Each year, thousands of people from all walks of life leave the security of their nine-to-five jobs to pursue careers as independent financial consultants. For a great many of them, the experience is financially and personally rewarding beyond their expectations. If you, too, are thinking about taking the big leap into becoming a financial consultant, but you aren't sure how to go about it, this book is for you.

How can I be sure that financial consulting is right for my personality? What kinds of training and skills do I need to succeed, and how do I get them? What special licenses or certification are required? How do I find clients and build lasting relationships with them? With the help of first-person accounts from successful financial consultants from across the country, expert Edward J. Stone provides complete answers to these and all your questions concerning:
* Acquiring and honing key skills, including the all-important "people" skills
* Organizing and structuring your business
* Indispensable software tools
* Services you can offer clients and why you should specialize
* Marketing your services, targeting clients, and building a solid core clientele
* Why you should become certified and how to go about it
* Profiling clients and drawing up formal financial plans
* Dealing with state and federal regulations
* Contracts and key legal considerations
* Surviving in a down market

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (April 13, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471348147
• ISBN-13: 978-0471348146
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #371,070 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Complete, concise and very helpful to those considering FC., July 29, 2000

By A Customer

Getting Started in Financial Consulting by Edward J. Stone is a well written description of what you need to do for a career in Financial Counseling. It is well organized, complete and provides inside information on what it takes to get started, run a business, and be a successful Finanacial Counselor. The review of the various certification programs is quite extensive. This book can be considered the bible in not only in getting started in Financial Counseling, but in making it a career. It is also helpful for present Financial Counselors to use as a benchmark to measure up to Mr. Stone's high standards that are essentially required in this profession. Follow his guidelines and you will be successful over the long term. A must read if you are considering going into Financial Counseling.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for Newbies, December 19, 2003

By A Customer

As a new person to the world of financial consulting, I was searching for a way to make sense of all the different certifications available, how to go about getting them, which would be the right certification for me, etc. This book gave me 100% of what I was looking for and more. In addition to certification information, the author discusses, in a highly readable manner, other nuts-and-bolts beginner's topics, such as legal/regulatory issues, marketing, and different services one could offer a client. I highly recommend this book to anyone starting out in the field, or to someone just wanting to explore whether financial planning might be for them.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive information to someone in the practice., April 3, 2001

By A Customer

Being a CPA and Financial Consultant in Hong Kong, I still find this book provides a lot of usefull information about the industry in far East. It gave me a more solid theory backup and marketing idea from US in my practice in Asia.