Unfortunately you don't have much negotiation room.  They're pretty tight when it comes to New IR salary.  I don't know for sure because I've never been anywhere but Jones, but I'll bet there are more substantial compensation packages out there, however they may not look at someone without a college degree.  And the lending and mortage biz doesn't translate exactly to financial experience. 

You have a decision. First, you can accept the offer knowing that there are going to be some lean months while in training.  Hopefully you have some extra savings you can lean on.  Get your license and work your butt off.

Second if you want to get into this industry you can apply at other firms.  Maybe someone out there can tell you what your chances are at being hired at another firm.  I can't. 

Tough choice, but I don't think you'll have much success negotiating with Jones if you choose to accept the offer.  

[quote=Spaceman Spiff]

 I don’t know for sure because I’ve never been anywhere but Jones…

[quote=Spaceman Spiff]

You have a decision. First, you can accept the offer knowing that there are going to be some lean months while in training.  Hopefully you have some extra savings you can lean on.  Get your license and work your butt off.

[/quote]

If you don't have extra savings (at least 6 months or more of living expenses in an emergency account), I would NOT take the job.  Even if you're a fast starter, you'll still have lean months where you literally take home less than $1000 (remember, you get paid once a month). And, if you're a slow starter...

Thank you for the response thus far...looks like I have some tough decisions to make.  I am also interviewing with Morgan Stanley and their minimum for training is 30k with a max of 50K, with proof of previous income required to substantiate training pay.  I can substantiate that range easily, but I do not like their model (large accounts only, etc.) and their tiers are so much higher for someone starting out.

You got better than I got, but I’m only 22. I got $10.20/hr then drops to $8.90/hr. Salary goes from $25,920 down to 0. I start in January.

Mike, if you do not mind, what is your location/background/education?

What you should be asking yourself is HOW are you going to bring in $5million in your first year?  How will you generate revenue.

Otherwise, you are just prospecting for the brokers who will inherit your book when you get fired.

I am currently serving in the United States Marine Corps, I get out in 10 days, and I have a house about an hour outside St. Louis. I will be opening up shop in the Metro East Illinois area. As far as education goes, I’m just over the halfway mark to getting my Bachelor’s Degree in Business Mangement. Once things settle down with EJ it will take me less than a year to finish my degree. Then a CFP course,  then Masters…I’m wondering how many people my age will be in mytraining class. I’m not sure what the average age of an EJ IR hire is.

You guys got lucky...Jones bumped the offer up since I went through the process.  I declined an offer within the past 6-12 months to go to a major wirehouse.  Jones had offered a lot less, but with a slight supplement through commissions from the Goodknight program.  I had figured my whole training period would average out to like $8/hr. 

Brainy's got the right idea, don't worry so much about your education plans, demographics of training classes, or what you are getting paid, worry about building your book.  Trust me, starting out in this business, it doesn't matter how much money you make because you don't have time to spend it!

[quote=vbrainy]

What you should be asking yourself is HOW are you
going to bring in $5million in your first year?  How will you
generate revenue.

Otherwise, you are just prospecting for the brokers who will inherit your book when you get fired.

I would NEVER have joined Edward Jones as a "new-new." Period. Especially if I were married, as I am, with a family to support. It's just way too difficult and takes much longer to produce a decent income than most people can last on their savings. 

I came to Jones because I was sick of being in law enforcement and didn't want to leave my small, rural town. I didn't know anything about investing but knew my options were very limited if I wanted to have a decent income in a town of 8-10,000 people. I took over an office with about $16 million in assets, and have been fortunate to open a lot of accounts for people with whom I was already acquainted prior to joining Jones.

I honestly feel that this business is for a very small percentage of folks, and the Jones business model whittles that percentage down even further. I hate door-knocking, and I hate trying to sell to people over the phone...especially if I don't know them.

Because I learned to live on such a low salary as a police officer, my family doesn't require much income to live comfortably. Therefore, I'm different from most folks in this business in that I'll be very content to make $60-$70k annually for the rest of my career.

To be very clear, this is a fantastic company that desparately wants each and every broker they employ to succeed. It is in every Jones employees' best interest for every broker hired to "make it." However, this is an extremely tough business, and very, very few people are suited for the type of mental and physical stresses and challenges of the job.

I just returned from a wonderful Jones-sponsored "Diversification Trip" and have no complaints about this firm. Obviously, most other Jones brokers don't either--just look at the Registered Rep rankings.

Wait until you get your tax bill for that trip.  You might think differently.  Jones overvalues those trips a great deal.

When you joined Jones, did they commit to letting you take over that office after your training? 

If you hate door knocking and making phone calls, what do you do all day?  How do you make new clients and service existing ones?

[quote=Borker Boy]

I would NEVER have joined Edward Jones as a "new-new." Period. Especially if I were married, as I am, with a family to support. It's just way too difficult and takes much longer to produce a decent income than most people can last on their savings. 

I came to Jones because I was sick of being in law enforcement and didn't want to leave my small, rural town. I didn't know anything about investing but knew my options were very limited if I wanted to have a decent income in a town of 8-10,000 people. I took over an office with about $16 million in assets, and have been fortunate to open a lot of accounts for people with whom I was already acquainted prior to joining Jones.

I honestly feel that this business is for a very small percentage of folks, and the Jones business model whittles that percentage down even further. I hate door-knocking, and I hate trying to sell to people over the phone...especially if I don't know them.

Because I learned to live on such a low salary as a police officer, my family doesn't require much income to live comfortably. Therefore, I'm different from most folks in this business in that I'll be very content to make $60-$70k annually for the rest of my career.

To be very clear, this is a fantastic company that desparately wants each and every broker they employ to succeed. It is in every Jones employees' best interest for every broker hired to "make it." However, this is an extremely tough business, and very, very few people are suited for the type of mental and physical stresses and challenges of the job.

I just returned from a wonderful Jones-sponsored "Diversification Trip" and have no complaints about this firm. Obviously, most other Jones brokers don't either--just look at the Registered Rep rankings.

[quote=Borker Boy]

Because I learned to live on such a low salary as a police officer, my family doesn't require much income to live comfortably. Therefore, I'm different from most folks in this business in that I'll be very content to make $60-$70k annually for the rest of my career.

[/quote]

If you're netting $60 - $70K and going on trips, I assume you have been with Jones less than 2 years and still have bonus points.  Because, to go on a trip as a vet, you must gross over $107K in 6 months, which equates to netting over $85K/yr.  Also, once you've been with Jones about 4 to 5 years, you have a minimum production goal of $14K/month gross just to stay "meeting" expectations. That equates to about $67K/yr net. 

Also, you mention that you wouldn't join Jones unless you could take over an office. How did you know?  I assume you didn't have your 7 yet, and I've never heard of Jones holding an open office for a non-transfer rep for over 3 months (training timeframe).

Yes, Jones committed to letting me take over the office after I passed the licensing exams and completed my training. A broker left in September 2005, and they held the office for me until my can-sell date of April 2006.

To clarify, I didn't say I hate making phone calls, I said I hate trying to sell to people over the phone--especially those I don't know. To answer your question, I call my clients regularly and know a ton of people from having grown up here, so they do business with me and refer other folks to me.

And, I do hate door-knocking, but I had to do it for several months to meet the quotas. However, I don't do it now, because I find the process of meeting someone on their doorstep, bugging the heck out of them in person and on the phone to develop a "relationship," and then probably not ever turning them into a client, to be brutal.

Also, yes, as you can see, I've only been licensed for a few months and am still getting bonus points. When those decrease/end, I'll work a little harder to keep qualifying for the trips.

Wow, they held a $16 mil office open for seven months for you, or am I reading that wrong? 

Yep…

I think you have been fed a bunch of baloney.  I took over an office that I was told had 15 mil in it.  I met my qualifying goals early, but they would not let me in the office for 3 months.  The office had $3 mil in it (no clients had left BTW) and most of the accounts were garbage accounts.  If they are holding an office for you for 7 months, look out.  I smell something here…

"I think you have been fed a bunch of baloney.  I took over an office that I was told had 15 mil in it.  I met my qualifying goals early, but they would not let me in the office for 3 months.  The office had $3 mil in it (no clients had left BTW) and most of the accounts were garbage accounts.  If they are holding an office for you for 7 months, look out.  I smell something here........."

Nope...I'm sitting in the office right now and almost at $19 mil. in AUM. I've been here since the day I returned from Eval/Grad.

I'll agree with you that things can change after promises are made. This office was supposed to have almost $25 mil. in assets, but the broker that took over another Jones office took a "few" clients with him. (To a tune of about 35% of the assets.  )