32 year old re-training advice

sg0102

Hi there

I'm after some advice on the best way to go about re-training..

Some background; I am 32 earning c.£50k in a Corporate based career, which i have grown tired of and dont think it is for me going forward. Additionally, I have an 18month old boy and my wife (a teacher) currently works 4 days a week...

I have always liked the idea of becoming an IFA; and I recognise there are qualifications needed to be gained to pursue this career.

I'd love to hear from anyone that has done anything similar? My biggest concern/quandry is how to manage financially whilst i retrain?

Any general views on cutting your teeth as an IFA would be also welcomed, and what the pitfalls of making such a move may be?

Thanks all in advance
Steve

moneypuddle

Maybe look up local training course before taking the big leap? Its a nice salary to lose if you end up going into something youre not keen on

saintjammyswine

Try Next Step, they offer free career & training advice for all sorts of careers and at different levels, might find something you hadn't thought of.

lincroft1710

sg0102 wrote: »

I am 32 earning c.£50k in a Corporate based career, which i have grown tired of and dont think it is for me going forward.

I think for c.£50K I could put up with such a career, I earned a lot less getting growing more disenchanted with my own job. Before anyone suggests I should have changed jobs, I in fact took early retirement.

If you can try and save £10K or more a year, then you will a) have some money put aside for when you start training and b) know how little or how much money you need to live on, you won't be earning £50K straightaway (if at all) as an IFA.

Annisele

I think you'll struggle. That doesn't mean you won't succeed - but IMO there are easier ways of earning a living.

Some of the stuff on this thread might be some use to you.

Your biggest problem is likely to be that a fair few banks and other large companies have stopped giving financial advice recently - meaning that you'd be competing for jobs with some very experienced advisers. You'd need to have a very good answer for "why should I employ you rather than that guy over there" - your existing career may well give you that answer, but it's a tough market.

gibson123

Part-time or distance learning whilst still working in your job, this way you cover all bases.

Aegis

sg0102 wrote: »

Hi there

I'm after some advice on the best way to go about re-training..

Some background; I am 32 earning c.£50k in a Corporate based career, which i have grown tired of and dont think it is for me going forward. Additionally, I have an 18month old boy and my wife (a teacher) currently works 4 days a week...

I have always liked the idea of becoming an IFA; and I recognise there are qualifications needed to be gained to pursue this career.

Checking out one of the qualification modules might be the easiest way to approach this, as you'll see some of the stuff that you'll be exposed to as an adviser. Perhaps one of the better insights into the industry is the R01 module from the Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. It's not too difficult a module, but it is very tedious and deals with the regulations and ethics of the advisor role, so it will give you a flavour for the type of regulations you're likely to have to deal with on a daily basis if you elect to go down this route.

If you're still interested after that module, you might then proceed on to some of the more challenging modules. I can't speak from experience on any of the other Regulated Diploma modules except R06, which is quite frankly horrible (not because of the depth of knowledge required but because of what the CII think you need to write in various answers to get maximum credit...). I gather the investment module is quite nasty, but the tax, pensions and protection ones seem to be much easier in comparison.

Each one you take will make you marginally more employable, but bear in mind that a firm is still going to have to take a huge gamble on you because you don't have experience in this role, so you can't expect to simply walk in and command even a half decent salary until you prove yourself.

I'd love to hear from anyone that has done anything similar? My biggest concern/quandry is how to manage financially whilst i retrain?

You'll need to find out what you could expect to earn by seeing what vacancies are advertised in your area. Work out the difference between your current take home pay and your projected net earnings, and set aside a fairly large reserve of cash to tide you over during the expected training period.

However, bear in mind that a firm may well ask you to do much more menial tasks while you learn, including administration and very basic letter writing. As you learn more and more about the practical side, you'll perhaps be trusted to write brief recommendations for one of the IFAs at your firm, who will then have to check through to ensure its quality before sending it out.

This process will last until they're satisfied that you can give advice without exposing the firm to undue risk of complaints or regulator issues. How long that takes will depend on you and on the quality of the training at the firm, so its not simply a matter of doing six months of learning and then being unleashed onto a client bank.

Any general views on cutting your teeth as an IFA would be also welcomed, and what the pitfalls of making such a move may be?

As mentioned above, the first pitfalls are going to revolve around the training required. However, arguably the more worrying pitfalls come from the next step: finding clients and doing enough work for them to justify your employment. This can be extremely difficult from a standing start, so again, don't expect to be making too much money in the first few years of building your client bank.

With all this in mind, I'd still say that it's a very worthwhile career path if you choose it for the right reasons.

Just make it absolutely certain that your family supports you on this, as giving up a £50k salary to retrain in something that may not work out is going to put a lot of strain on your relationship if you haven't planned for it together.