Also called: Financial Advisor, Wealth Advisor
Helps people manage their money: saving, investing, retirement, college and insurance.
You meet a 55-year-old nurse to see if she can retire at 62, run projections, suggest saving more in her 401(k) and rebalance her investments. Later you call a client nervous about a market drop.
Pay depends on clients served; top advisors earn well above the BLS top-code, while new advisors often struggle for a few years.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in finance or any field; CFP certification and FINRA licenses are common.
Ways in: 4-year college, Certification. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Finance, Financial Planning, Economics, Business Administration.
Growing slowly (about 1% over 10 years). BLS projects slower-than-average growth for 2025-35 as robo-advisors and consolidation spread.
Medium risk for 10 years. Robo-advisors and AI handle investing and plan drafts; human advisors who coach families through big life decisions stay in demand.
Classes: Personal finance, AP Statistics, Psychology, Speech.
Official data: O*NET occupation 13-2052.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.