So I’m studying for my series 7 and 66 right now and have a contingent offer with MetLife but I must start at the beginning of January. They will give me 6 months of salary at $600 a week but then after that commission only. As a single Mom of twins I have to be careful with how much financial risk I take in this career change, especially when I hemorrhage so much money in childcare until they start public school in 2 yrs. Here’s my problem… I’m set up for an incredibly lucrative three months of open enrollment at a great brokerage. 7-10 sales a day with folks waiting in line, and with the money you help them save on their health insurance you can sell life insurance and supplemental and disability to give them the complete package. Open enrollment ends January 31st, and it’s a great model and if I bust my butt I should make a $100,000 (conservative estimate for a first timer) and create a big book of business and a ton of referrals to start off with. I have no referrals or top 200 currently because I started off with a bad company for 3 months and used those up, and also didn’t have a social life due to working 3 to 4 jobs 7 days a week or being in the hospital for the first three years of my kids lives anyway. So after researching 60 companies & interviewing at 40 I chose to start at this hybrid brokerage/corp model that gives training and support and thanks to open enrollment can help me eliminate all my debt and create my personal emergency fund for when I have a slow month as a financial advisor later on. But if I start with MetLife to become my ultimate goal of a financial advisor I sacrifice a lot of money during that last month of open enrollment and they say I must sever my contract with my current company and then will lose a lot of residuals. I’d also lose opportunity to at least re-enroll all the same people next open enrollment & maintain their other policies AND then offer the retirement and investment planning to boot as a financial advisor at my new company. Bye bye book of business.
I am passionate about becoming a full fledged financial advisor because I lost everything due to poor financial planning(though having twins that had $2.5 million in medical bills and a husband that bailed out in tough times didn’t help!). So my question is really this : are there some independent financial advisor firms in the Dallas area that would let me keep my residuals and book of business and contract with my current company as I build business with them too? Perhaps Raymond James if I could get on with them, because I know as a newbie I’ll need some company support and all my interviews & research leads me to trust the integrity of an independent model that doesn’t sell a proprietary product anyway. As much and I really like who I met at MetLife I still worry I won’t be learning the right way and will be a salesperson more than a true financial advisor, and I don’t want to ever hurt clients like the handful of people I did it my first company simply because I didn’t know better. My current company has no conflict as long as I don’t use the leads they provide at my other company. My backup plan is to get my series 7 & 66 but not start with Met Life at the last minute, then I will at least have 2 yrs to get my commission picked up by someone else so I don’t lose them. Then in the off season I’m already approved to go back to my overnight armed guard jobs in secure locked buildings where I have internet connectivity and basically get paid to study 40-60 hrs a week, and I’ll pursue my CFP and my Masters from The American College. That will pay the bills and I can keep building business part time with my brokerage. I’ll do the next open enrollment then as I’m finishing my Masters use that remaining year to find the right company and get my commissions picked up, and be debt free with plenty of savings & armed with more knowledge & certifications to make me competetive. I don’t want to make a mistake that takes food off the table for my kids again, but am I kidding myself about non-competes? Is there an indie firm that would hire me and I could keep my residuals & book of business at the other company??? Either this yr without experience or next yr with a CFP and an almost completed Masters…whatever it takes.