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First Command nowadays?

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Jan 1, 2016 10:50 pm

baronbvp

Joined: 2016-01-01Offline

I am retired military and recently joined First Command Financial Planning as an advisor trainee. I am interested in what others think of this firm and its present-day model. They are a small firm of about 400 advisors, but are nationwide and focused on military customers, though not exclusively.

I am not interested in hearing 10-year-old outdated stories about them, including going back to when they were USPA&IRA. I think they are still overly focused on selling whole life, and I am concerned that I won't get to do as much actual financial planning as I will be expected to sell, sell, sell. They have amore team-oriented model than Edward Jones, which I like.

Thoughts on First Command?

Jan 5, 2016 12:21 am

baronbvp

Joined: 2016-01-01Offline

I should mention I am also in the hiring pipeline for Edward Jones, which looks like an attractive opportunity, but I think First Command is a better fit for me than EDJ even though EDJ’s first year salary is significantly higher.

Also, First Command has no plans to add a fee-only model, probably because they don’t think it earns the same as commissions on permanent insurance - even if it might be better for the client. That troubles me and shows they might be behind the times.

Does anyone have any thoughts about the pros and cons of First Command versus Edward Jones?

Jan 15, 2016 11:25 am

jamiesmoneyadvice

Joined: 2015-11-27Offline
The information provided in the Client Portal is based on data we receive from investment and insurance companies that hold your accounts and policies, First Command Bank, and information you provide to us. While it is our objective to ensure that all data in the Client Portal is complete and accurate, we cannot provide any assurances to this effect. Due to a variety of considerations (including the inherent risks involved in processing information electronically), we may not receive accurate data or updates from our investment and insurance companies in a timely manner. As such, the Client Portal is provided to you for informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the data in the Client Portal or about your investments, insurance policies or First Command Bank accounts, please refer to your account or policy statements or contact your Financial Advisor. The Client Portal should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any investment or security. The insurance coverage information shown in the Client Portal may not reflect the value of term riders or term policies. Please refer to your original insurance policy or contact your Financial Advisor for this information.
Jan 15, 2016 4:09 pm

Fa007

Joined: 2016-01-15Offline

Im currently employed by FC I have been with them almost for a year now. So I hope my insight helps you. As you mentioned at FC you must push whole life insurance. Your first year hurdles you must generate 60,000NMRC which is purely insurance based. I had a very tough time with this for I brought in a very wealthy client with over a million dollars in investments and none of the investment counted towards my hurdles. This was tough to deal with to say the least. After this I had to switch my mind set and focus towards insurance which was very hard since im not passionate about insurance as management was. Depending on your DA(District Advisor) they will help you develop the necessary skills to push and sell insurance. Which luckily my DA helped me gain more confidence in selling insurance, and this has helped me makes sales that actually counted towards my hurdles. My words of advise if you decide to go with FC learn about insurance as much as possible learn the benefits of whole life and use a cash value calculator to show clients how it will benefit them if a death occurred. Because insurance is all that applies to hurdles which is why I am looking to move to another firm such as Merrill or Raymond which will allow me to apply investment towards my hurdles. I could transition to an Independent Contractor that will allow me to apply investments towards my hurdles but will also have to begin paying office expenses which range from $20,000-$36,000. Feel free to ask me more questions.