What should i combine Finance with? (1 Viewer)

[wrong_turn]

What about if I want to go into financial planning? I heard it would be good to have marketing skills :/

Also, a lot of websites and videos says to get a Bachelors degree (4 years), does this mean a 3 year Bachelor of Commerce degree would be frowned upon?

I worked as a Financial Planner for 18 months, and this area there are a lot of opportunities than before, but it is a very tough gig and ask of a graduate to go straight into this area.
And what the hell do you need marketing skills for in Financial Planning? Perhaps a gift of the gab and knowing how to talk to gain rapport and details efficiently, but very hard to imagine marketing plays a factor if at all.

you spoke about investment advisory. Please expand on this as this does not mean very much. At this point either an RG146 or the pre-reqs to gain entry into an accounting post-grad program like CPA or CA, and, if you are game, CFA.

 

[RishBonjour99]

Would Quantitative Business Analysis go well with finance? Because that's what i'm considering doing.

QBUS (stats) is not for everyone (they market it to students that way as well). It goes really well with finance though, particularly if you want to get into trading - apparently it shows you are more analytical etc etc. Do you like maths? If you do, you will love this. Very interesting.

did economics and it sucked ass. Wasted a whole year doing it, ended up transferring to accounting. way too theoretical and the further you delve into it the less applicable it is to real life. not to mention I'd rather know how to write a financial report than tell someone about how you think economic growth is created in an economy. accountting also gives you a fall back. no jobs in eco plenty in accounting. Each to their own though

There are jobs in economics - just not in the same volume as accounting. There are also plenty of smart people doing B.Econ and genuinely like it. There are also plenty of people in B.Econ with the hopes of transferring into Comm - generally the bitter ones.

 

[Validity]

I worked as a Financial Planner for 18 months, and this area there are a lot of opportunities than before, but it is a very tough gig and ask of a graduate to go straight into this area.
And what the hell do you need marketing skills for in Financial Planning? Perhaps a gift of the gab and knowing how to talk to gain rapport and details efficiently, but very hard to imagine marketing plays a factor if at all.

you spoke about investment advisory. Please expand on this as this does not mean very much. At this point either an RG146 or the pre-reqs to gain entry into an accounting post-grad program like CPA or CA, and, if you are game, CFA.

Hey, what did you do in your role? :O
I only considered marketing because I think I will do better at that than accounting and possibly lead to a higher wam? unless the benefits of studying something related outweighs the cost of studying something that will boost your WAM.
So is it recommended to start of in accounting and get your CPA and then transition to financial planning since its hard to get straight into the area?
Cheers

 

[wrong_turn]

Hey, what did you do in your role? :O
I only considered marketing because I think I will do better at that than accounting and possibly lead to a higher wam? unless the benefits of studying something related outweighs the cost of studying something that will boost your WAM.
So is it recommended to start of in accounting and get your CPA and then transition to financial planning since its hard to get straight into the area?
Cheers

I would say it is hard to get into true accounting (i.e. not book-keeping) and perhaps even harder to find a graduate role in financial planning (if we look at only graduate opportunities). It is a tough gig and ask of a graduate because remember who you are trying to build rapport with? These are clients who are potentially looking at retirement in 10-15 years. What is the likelihood that you will have ability to build the trust required with these aged clients? If we remove the off-chance you prove your worth and they want advice from you because you actually sound like you know what you are talking about, then it is very tough to battle it out to do well. Financial Planning is a 1 on 1 meeting and you support yourself with limited guidance when you are in front of a client. That is financial planning in a nutshell for a fresh grad. financial planning is perhaps 80% admin for your compliance, perhaps 10-15% acquiring new business (i.e. cold calling books of clients or first interviews) and the rest of the time have productive conversations with your clients before they can't want to get out of there to get on with their life.

Getting a CPA or CA does not mean a transition into financial planning. You will find current financial planners do not have these qualifications. I can only think of one large organisation that does financial advice and tax advice - Count Financial. It is rare to have both an RG146 and a CA/CPA.

Do something that you can get a qualification other than your degree and then WAM should be your second priority unless you just want to get into a grad program and just any of them.