Vocational Index

Career

Personal financial advisors

Help families plan their money: saving, investing and retirement.

$105,070
Median pay
+1.4%
Job growth, 2025–35
17,100
Openings a year
Bachelor's degree
Typical education
4 years
Typical time after high school

Here's what you actually need to know.

The work

What people in this job do

  • 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.
  • Analyze financial information obtained from clients to determine strategies for meeting clients' financial objectives.
  • 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.
  • Manage client portfolios, keeping client plans up-to-date.

The outlook

How the forecast changed this year

2024–34 edition+9.6%2025–35 edition+1.4%
Projected 10-year growth in last year's and this year's BLS projections. 24,100 → 17,100 openings a year.

The deeper question

What kind of person does this path ask you to become?

What this work centers on

Persuasion & leadership
5.8
Information & systems
5.6
People & care
4.1
Ideas & analysis
3.3
Creation & expression
1.7
Objects & tools
1.0

O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.

The work

Do you want most of your days spent on persuasion & leadership, then information & systems?

Responsibility

Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?

“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.”

Development

What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?

Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Writing.

Trade-offs

What does it ask of you in exchange?

4 years of education after high school (bachelor's degree), for a median of $105,070 a year and 17,100 openings nationally each year.

Paths in

Degrees that lead here

  • FinanceSee the degree →
  • Family Resource Management Studies, GeneralCIP 19.0401
  • Finance, GeneralCIP 52.0801
  • Financial Planning and ServicesCIP 52.0804

Paths across

Careers that use similar skills

Ask anything about this career.

“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.

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Sources

  1. BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  2. BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  3. O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  4. CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.