I made the poll private since its your personal business, but I was interested in knowing what other people make a year. I was having a conversation with a good friend of mine going thru a divorce and it absolutely floored me how much he makes lol. Exponentially more than i would have guessed. So I'm interested in seeing just how poor I am compared to other people. 

I don't have a salary (straight commission). Assuming you'd be looking for total income then?

posted by BR1986FB

I don't have a salary (straight commission). Assuming you'd be looking for total income then?

Yes. I’m also assuming this is the case for my friend too.  

Teaching/coaching/couple yards right around $74,000 here in southern Ahia

$nunya

Ok, I voted. I’m hoping to jump up a level or two in the next few months. 

I sell drugs 

I sell drugs 

posted by Fletch

I sell drugs 

Go on…

Looks like most of you are poor like me lol. 

So my buddy is a financial advisor and told me the last few years he’s made over 900k a year. And I’m sitting there like … really? To manage peoples money?  I never would have guessed it tbh. 

If anyone checks a milly plus I’m banning you for not contributing a couple hundo a month to the OC beer fund. 

posted by Fletch

I sell drugs 

Probably be worth more to society if you did!

posted by kizer permanente

So my buddy is a financial advisor and told me the last few years he’s made over 900k a year. And I’m sitting there like … really? To manage peoples money?  I never would have guessed it tbh. 

That seems really high unless like NY. Unless he’s an owner/ partner. But shit, kudos to him. 

I can see that. If he is managing rich peoples money, he is making rich people money himself. 

If he is managing normal/middle class...even upper class before extreme wealth kicks in, he would be making around that also. I assume he gets a small salary, plus a percentage. So the more money involved the more money he is going to make.

My wife makes 300% more than me...for being a sales director. She hardly works and its easy. Meanwhile, I work 50+ hrs a week, stress-filled and 24/7 availablity, with specific skills accumulated and studied for...I hate life. All about the amount coming in and product your company makes and way less about your actual abilities as a worker. It sucks.

posted by iclfan2

That seems really high unless like NY. Unless he’s an owner/ partner. But shit, kudos to him. 

That’s what I thought. But me being nosey I looked up his court case on the county court docket and his wife states he’s made over 900k a year on the complaint. 

posted by iclfan2

That seems really high unless like NY. Unless he’s an owner/ partner. But shit, kudos to him.

Some (very few) advisors do earn their money.  Why they don't use that talent to run a hedge fund is beyond me, but if you're good your clients will follow you and pay you 1% (not sure what the going rate actually is, though).  You land one whale, you get referrals.  To get assets of $100M, you'd have probably 15-20 high net worth clients.

Doable, but definitely not the norm.  Industry is littered with talentless hacks that are heavy on sales and very light on research.

I hope that dude's buying bitcoin.

posted by Laley23

I can see that. If he is managing rich peoples money, he is making rich people money himself. 

If he is managing normal/middle class...even upper class before extreme wealth kicks in, he would be making around that also. I assume he gets a small salary, plus a percentage. So the more money involved the more money he is going to make.

My wife makes 300% more than me...for being a sales director. She hardly works and its easy. Meanwhile, I work 50+ hrs a week, stress-filled and 24/7 availablity, with specific skills accumulated and studied for...I hate life. All about the amount coming in and product your company makes and way less about your actual abilities as a worker. It sucks.

Yeah that was my guess. Doing good work and for high end people

posted by gut

Some (very few) advisors do earn their money.  Why they don't use that talent to run a hedge fund is beyond me, but if you're good your clients will follow you and pay you 1% (not sure what the going rate actually is, though).  You land one whale, you get referrals.  To get assets of $100M, you'd have probably 15-20 high net worth clients.

Doable, but definitely not the norm.  Industry is littered with talentless hacks that are heavy on sales and very light on research.

I definitely get how you can make that much, I use an advisor myself, where there are people with way more money than me. Just figured a rando in NE Ohio would be hard pressed to make that much. But like I said, f’n kudos for doing it. 

I voted, but could move up a tier if I wanted less work/ life balance and to deal with the bullshit corporate world again. I’m going to wait until both girls are in actual school before contemplating going back to that grind. Daycare ending will feel like a raise in itself. Also glad my wife makes more than me (but works harder). 

2 people over 200k. NICE!

I want to be there before I'm 40.

Dang, at one point I had a job offer to be a financial advisor with my math degree background…it was $75k plus commission. They told me that the first few years it would be near zero commission because I had to build a client base, then it COULD take off.

Guess this guy got it to take off and is doing really well. 

Maybe I made the wrong decision. 

The 75k would have been a pay cut at the time, but I am not making anywhere NEAR what he is.

My total compensation varies based on a yearly bonus that is never below 10% of my salary but could be as high as 30%. 

Salary is about $140,000, throw in my wife’s $25k and my bonus and I clicked the $150-200k. 

$900k would be nice. 

posted by iclfan2

I definitely get how you can make that much, I use an advisor myself, where there are people with way more money than me. Just figured a rando in NE Ohio would be hard pressed to make that much. But like I said, f’n kudos for doing it.

A lot of small business owners in the Cleveland area worth millions.  And a financial adviser can have clients anywhere in the US, although the rich old farts still want to look you in the eye.  There are some adviser types who operate kind of like a fund manager and might get carry, which might be a better explanation - if you're making them as much as the hedge fund guy charging 2 & 20, then you can get a lot more than just 1%.

Hahaha, reminds me of some the questions people asked while doing their "due diligence".  They really didn't have a clue how to judge/evaluate expertise and competence, so they fall into tropes like "honesty" and "trustworthiness" and other bullshit that has little to do with talent.  Not to mention, if a guy is a con, sitting down to "look him in the eye" is playing right into his hands.

Just look at Madoff.  He was even helped by unwitting professional advisors funneling money and clients to him.  But those professionals' only real talent was raising money, because anyone who actually understood hedge fund strategies saw hordes of red flags with him.

posted by jmog

Dang, at one point I had a job offer to be a financial advisor with my math degree background…it was $75k plus commission. They told me that the first few years it would be near zero commission because I had to build a client base, then it COULD take off.

Guess this guy got it to take off and is doing really well. 

Maybe I made the wrong decision. 

The 75k would have been a pay cut at the time, but I am not making anywhere NEAR what he is.

My total compensation varies based on a yearly bonus that is never below 10% of my salary but could be as high as 30%. 

Salary is about $140,000, throw in my wife’s $25k and my bonus and I clicked the $150-200k. 

$900k would be nice. 

His wife is also a financial advisor and claims to make $150k. So he must do significantly better than her. 

posted by kizer permanente

His wife is also a financial advisor and claims to make $150k. So he must do significantly better than her. 

There's your pay gap. 

posted by jmog

Dang, at one point I had a job offer to be a financial advisor with my math degree background…it was $75k plus commission. They told me that the first few years it would be near zero commission because I had to build a client base

LOL, therein lays the problem - you have to be good at sales, like REALLY good, to even have a chance to make a living in that business...because you will be trying to build a client base as a 20-something cold calling people to give you money while you barely know anything about investing.

And to stay in the business, you'd have to become really good at research and valuation.  Bear markets wash out most because most are complete hacks that just repack/regurgitate sell-side research (also known as stock picking for fools).

posted by gut

LOL, therein lays the problem - you have to be good at sales, like REALLY good, to even have a chance to make a living in that business...because you will be trying to build a client base as a 20-something cold calling people to give you money while you barely know anything about investing.

And to stay in the business, you'd have to become really good at research and valuation.  Bear markets wash out most because most are complete hacks that just repack/regurgitate sell-side research (also known as stock picking for fools).

I will give him that. Throughout college he always had various sales jobs somewhere and was always the top performer and and by a surprisingly wide margin.  I remember he got a job at Verizon in college after leaving another sales job and was right off the bat making 75k a year when everyone else was making like 30k.  He’s a super personable guy but I honestly have no idea how much of its his salesmanship or actually knowing what he’s doing investing.