Thanks Icecold! That was very helpful! When you said that the payout on a fee based structure is quarterly but they are billed up front, are you saying the client is billed up front in one lump sum, and you are paid out quarterly - or is it the opposite?

Thanks Ice!  I value the many informative responses that you and several others have posted.     Very new guy here! 

Another thanks here, Ice! You put a lot of time into this e-mail and are helping many here just getting started.  Much appreciated.

I’m new to the board and the profession lingo… so if people could help explain some of the following terms to me, I’d appreciate it!

“new/new”
“trail”
“joint work”
“spiff”
“RIA - or was it IAR”
“grid”

I understand AUM - anyone have any idea what the average is for this industry?

- I assume “production” is what you are bringing in between commissions and fees on a yearly basis?
- Payout is then a percentage of that production, correct?
- Fee based, is this a yearly percentage of AUM - when is it assessed?

Sorry if these sound basic, I just don’t want to be making assumptions!

Thanks.

<span =“me”>spiff<span =“homno”>2 <span =“pronset”>     <span =“show_ipapr” style=“display: none;”><span =“prondelim”>/<span =“pron”>spɪf<span =“prondelim”>/ <a =“pron” =“pk = .’/help/luna/IPA_pron_key.’, ‘Pronunciati’,‘height=700,width=560,left=0,top=0,resizable,scrollbars’;ifpkpk.focus;” =“status=’’;return true;” =“status=‘Click for pronunciation key’;return true;” title=“Click for pronunciation key”>Pronunciation Key<span =“pron_toggle” style=“display: inline;”><span =“prondelim”> - <a =“pron” =":show_sp" =“status=’’;return true;” =“status=‘Click to toggle pronunciation’;return true;” title=“Click to show spelled pronunciation”>Show Spelled Pronunciation<span =“show_spellpr” style=“display: inline;”><span =“prondelim”>[<span =“pron”>spif<span =“prondelim”>] <a =“pron” =“pk = .’/help/luna/Spell_pron_key.’, ‘Pronunciati’,‘height=700,width=560,left=0,top=0,resizable,scrollbars’;ifpkpk.focus;” =“status=’’;return true;” =“status=‘Click for pronunciation key’;return true;” title=“Click for pronunciation key”>Pronunciation Key<span =“pron_toggle” style=“display: inline;”><span =“prondelim”> - <a =“pron” =":show_ip" =“status=’’;return true;” =“status=‘Click to toggle pronunciation’;return true;” title=“Click to show IPA pronunciation”>Show IPA Pronunciation <span =“labset”><span =“ital-inline”>Slang. <span =“pg”>–noun <table =“luna-Ent”>

<span =“pg”>–verb (used with object) <table =“luna-Ent”>

You should be thinking about Spaceman Spiff from the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon strip.  BTW, the best cartoon strip ever.  Bill Watterson, the creator, decided he didn’t want to sell out to corporate pressures, so he just stopped drawing.  I haven’t paid any attention to the comics since then. 

LOL