Financial Planning is one of the fastest-growing professions across the world and with a huge demand-supply gap in India. The youngsters planning a career in Financial Planning have a bright future and can take advantage of many opportunities coming across in the Financial Services Industry. The Financial Service Industry is still growing and with its growth, the need for financial planners also increases. A career as a Financial Planner can prove both challenging and rewarding.
Most of people need guidance on where to invest, how to save taxes, the best insurance scheme, which fund to invest in, which stock to hold, which one to sell, how to plan children’s college expenses and their own retirement. Financial planners come into help them make better use of their money and achieve financial goals.
Working as a Financial Planner
A career in Financial Planning is the top career choice in the country. Most Financial Planners enjoy relatively low stress, have a high earning potential, and enjoy a high degree of workplace autonomy. It also gives them psychological satisfaction in helping others. A financial planner needs to listen to the problems of their clients, understand them and then come up with a solution to help them. The satisfaction gained from finding client solutions is the satisfaction derived from solid career development.
There are plenty of opportunities as financial planners in banks, Financial Planning outfits, wealth managers, life insurers, accounting firms, and stock brokers are lapping on to people with such expertise. Financial Planning is a good option, even for those who run their own Financial Planning business and are not associated with a bank or investment firm. And especially with the advent of technology and development, there still remain a myriad of companies that are yet to understand the benefits of CRM and maintain a good customer base. Financial Planners offer expert opinions on issues like retirement planning, estate planning (click here to know how taxes can affect your estate plan), financial management of small businesses, trusts, tax, stock broking and investments, and debt and risk management.
For those who want to have a solid, big firm experience, the opportunities are plentiful and growing fast. Firms such as HSBC Bank, Kotak Mahindra, ICICI Prudential, DSP Merrill Lynch, and mutual fund houses are looking at recruiting CFPCM Certificant or those pursuing it. Many staffers are also being encouraged to study for certification while being employed. Many of these firms have even begun to offer attractive incentives, both financial and developmental, to employees who earn CFPCM Certification while on the job, with some waiving the fee for certification.
Expected pay scale
Additionally, individuals with qualifications such as MBA, CA, CFA etc. blended with CFPCM Certification may add 20-25 % to their expected emoluments.
Emerging career opportunities for Financial Planners
Opportunities for Financial Planners are expected to grow faster than average in the future. Newer areas are opening with the changing demands and opportunities for financial planners. From being columnists with publications, talk specialists at seminars and workshops to being featured on television discussing Financial Plans and to writing books; planners are doing everything possible. Some of the opportunities present to them are:
Specialists:
There are few CFPCM Practitioners who are now focusing on being retirement plan specialists and specialists managing only HNI money and so on. You have the choice to do the same. This is a big opportunity because there are lots of areas where specialists can play a specific part including estate planning or trusts and most of these remain unexplored today in India.
Columnists:
Consumers have become more aware of the financial products in which they invest. With so much need for Financial Planning doing the rounds; newspapers, magazines, and television channels are fast adapting to Financial Planners as expert advisors and panelists who write, analyze, and are part of discussions held.
Seminars and Talks:
Planners are seen to be getting more interactive being part of targeted seminars and talks addressing retirement needs for groups and educating investors across various strata. They can speak and present at various seminars and functions and this can stretch across various cities in the country.
Books:
Planners are popular amongst publishers to come up with books on basics of planning, retirement and wealth creation amongst others. One can look at co-authoring or writing books that will have interest among lay people.
Teaching and Training:
There is also the choice of taking up teaching assignments for various entities including corporate. Many corporates have set up in-house training classes to teach their employees. There is a huge demand for training in the area of Financial Planning and experts and people with knowledge are in short supply.