Financial Services – is increasingly seen as a great industry to be in for building wealth. Not too long ago, the financial services were seen as a kind of stodgy, boring industry for math whizzes. Today, there’s a stampede into the industry. Silicon Valley startups are entering the space right alongside thousands of individual sales men and women. There are solid reasons behind this surge in popularity; find out why financial services is the top vertical to become a millionaire in today’s economy.
There Is Room For You To Grow
One of the key factors affecting your earnings potential in financial services is the size of the market. There’s no doubt that much of the opportunity stems from the natural life-cycle of the Baby Boomer generation. The people of this generation are retiring at a rapid pace. This demographic stampede has created a huge demand for financial services including:
- Medicare insurance products
- Investment advising
- Life insurance
- Tax and estate advising
Not only are there millions of Americans in need of these services, the personal nature of them means that consumers want to work with an agent or salesperson they trust. There is plenty of room for new entrants to this market; even the emerging presence of tech-forward startups will not eliminate the need for reputable and hard-working people.
Start Up Costs Are Low And Hard Work Is Rewarded
Compared to many businesses, financial services have some of the lowest startup costs around. For instance, unlike a career in engineering, you don’t need a college degree to excel in financial services. You don’t have to form a corporation and invest in a multitude of capital equipment up-front to start in this industry.
All you need is the required licensing, liability insurance, and work ethic. This is especially true on the insurance side of the industry. Licensing is very affordable and so is liability insurance. You will obviously need to spend money on marketing, but you can start with very local and targeted markets. Online advertising allows you to hyper-focus your messaging. You can start to gain clients on an advertising budget in the hundreds of dollars per month.
So much of financial services is follow-up and persistence; your hard work directly impacts your bottom line. There’s no corporate ladder-climbing in this industry; there is the least amount of “office politics” at play in any major industry. You don’t need to get promotions or raises; your work effort primarily affects your pay. You can become a millionaire without having to please anyone but your clients.
Financial Services Pay Residual Income
While there has been some movement in fee-based compensation for financial advisors selling mutual fund type products, financial services tend to pay compensation on commission. These commissions are typically paid for as long as your clients remain with you. This creates the opportunity for large passive income. The insurance industry in particular is based on an agency model, so as you grow in success, you’ll have the opportunity to recruit other sales people to your organization. You’ll earn commissions on their commissions, too, which can help you reach millionaire status. Scaling a business in this vertical is almost effortless once you start to build an organization with people selling for you.
Another important factor making this a profitable industry is that the need for financial services naturally overlaps niches; people who need health insurance often need life insurance, too. Successful agents are able to capitalize on this, and build wealth through cross-selling. Many financial services millionaires gain initial clients in relatively low-paying areas like term life insurance, but as they continue in relationships with their clients, they’re able to offer employee benefits, investment advisory, and other products. All of which pay recurring commissions. As their clients do better financially, advisors do, too.
Reputation is huge in financial services, and for those people who work hard, work smart, and put their client’s first, becoming a millionaire is readily within reach. The hardest things to do are to get started, find a capable mentor, and stick with it during the early years. Once you start to see success, more and more success is likely around the corner.