If you're thinking about a career on Wall Street, and you think you might want to manage other people's money for a living, consider going the financial planning route. These days stockbrokers get no love, or money, and their hiring prospects aren't that great. At least that's what you might conclude from a ranking of 200 jobs recently released by CareerCast.com. Whereas financial planner came in at number 15, stockbroker ranked way down the list at #111, just ahead of "forklift operator." The rankings were based on five criteria: environment, income, outlook, stress and physical demands.
The website put the overall financial planner score at 223, income score at 101,164 (which is not the same as the median income you can earn....see the rather complex methodology) and hiring outlook at 3.64. It described the profession thus: Related to careers in portfolio management, the financial planner offers a broad range of services aimed at assisting individuals in managing and planning their financial future. Meanwhile, the income score for stockbrokers was set at 67, 470, while hiring outlook for the profession was set at 4.7. CareerCast gave stockbroker, a professional it described as someone who facilitates the purchase and sale of stocks, bonds, and other securities for individual and institutional clients, an overall score of 548.00. (The lower the overall score, the higher the ranking.)
But the list of 200 jobs is somewhat incomplete. For instance, musical instrument repairer and zoologist are on the list, but investment banker, portfolio manager and money manager are not.