Statewide occupation search

Sort your search results or select and compare details of two occupations. Find out if an occupation is in demand or not in demand in your local area, at Learn about an occupation.

Statewide occupation search

Personal Financial Advisors

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Advise clients on financial plans using knowledge of tax and investment strategies, securities, insurance, pension plans, and real estate. Duties include assessing clients' assets, liabilities, cash flow, insurance coverage, tax status, and financial objectives. May also buy and sell financial assets for clients.

Related: Credit Counselors Financial & Investment Analysts Financial Risk Specialists Investment Fund Managers Securities, Commodities, & Financial Services Sales Agents

Industries: Finance & Insurance

Summary
Details

Guide clients in the gathering of information, such as bank account records, income tax returns, life and disability insurance records, pension plans, or wills.
Devise debt liquidation plans that include payoff priorities and timelines.
Prepare or interpret for clients information, such as investment performance reports, financial document summaries, or income projections.
Recommend environmentally responsible investments, such as cleantech, alternative energy, or conservation technologies, companies, or funds.
Explain to clients the personal financial advisor's responsibilities and the types of services to be provided.
Recommend to clients strategies in cash management, insurance coverage, investment planning, or other areas to help them achieve their financial goals.
Monitor financial market trends to ensure that client plans are responsive.
Implement financial planning recommendations, or refer clients to someone who can assist them with plan implementation.
Manage client portfolios, keeping client plans up-to-date.
Interview clients to determine their current income, expenses, insurance coverage, tax status, financial objectives, risk tolerance, or other information needed to develop a financial plan.
Inform clients about tax benefits, government rebates, or other financial benefits of alternative-fuel vehicle purchases or energy-efficient home construction, improvements, or remodeling.
Prepare or interpret for clients information, such as investment performance reports, financial document summaries, or income projections.
Analyze financial information obtained from clients to determine strategies for meeting clients' financial objectives.
Investigate available investment opportunities to determine compatibility with client financial plans.
Conduct seminars or workshops on financial planning topics, such as retirement planning, estate planning, or the evaluation of severance packages.
Recommend financial products, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or insurance.
Meet with clients' other advisors, such as attorneys, accountants, trust officers, or investment bankers, to fully understand clients' financial goals and circumstances.
Answer clients' questions about the purposes and details of financial plans and strategies.
Review clients' accounts and plans regularly to determine whether life changes, economic changes, environmental concerns, or financial performance indicate a need for plan reassessment.
Open accounts for clients, and disburse funds from accounts to creditors as agent for clients.
Contact clients periodically to determine any changes in their financial status.
Recruit and maintain client bases.

Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.

Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Education

Bachelor's degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

More than 1 year on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

112020/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

53.86/hr

Currently Employed

7,090

Yearly Projected Openings

670

Enterprising: People interested in this work like activities that include leading, making decisions, and business. They do well at jobs that need:

Integrity
Attention to Detail
Analytical Thinking
Dependability
Concern for Others
Initiative

Desktop calculator
Desktop computers
Notebook computers
Personal computers
Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers
Tablet computers

Accounting software
Analytical or scientific software
Calendar and scheduling software
Communications server software
Compliance software
Customer relationship management CRM software
Data base user interface and query software
Development environment software
Document management software
Electronic mail software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Financial analysis software
Internet browser software
Object or component oriented development software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Project management software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Find Personal Financial Advisors jobs Education and Training for Personal Financial Advisors

Statewide occupation search

Statewide occupation search

Personal Financial Advisors

Work Activities

Skills

Abilities

Knowledge

Education

Pay

Washington Employment Trends

Personality

Tools

Technology

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES