The reasons why I want to be a financial consultant

[Sammyboy RSS Feed]

An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

The reasons why I want to be a financial consultant

1. Family as my main motivation
It's gonna get a bit more personal here.

Poverty is probably too strong a word to describe the financial state of my family because we don't really starve. However, ever since my dad collapsed into depression in 2004 and lost his job for months, my parents lived life so tough they could never imagine. I was in secondary 2, a 14-year-old girl and the eldest daughter in the house with 2 siblings. Sales, telemarketing, waitressing, tutoring and doing surveys were my sources of allowance while I battled the books full time in school. To be honest, I didn't feel very stressed up or burdened because I knew that it was my responsibility then to learn to be self-sufficient and independent. I guess I accepted my fate to have to work hard for the rest of my life then.

My mother took up a cashiering job at Macdonald's as it was hard for her to find a better-paying job after being a housewife for 14 years. Seeing her struggle with immense fatigue from only having 2 hours of sleep every night hurt me so bad. I told myself there was no way of turning back and I will earn for my own expenses from then on. This is how I attained my 8 years of tutoring experience.

That was only and just the onset. Horror struck me with a heartbreaking blow when my younger sister attempted suicide when I was 18. She was admitted into Institute of Mental Health's in-patient Child Guidance Clinic after the psychiatrist diagnosed that she was suffering from depression and slight schizophrenia. My mum went into another frenzy yet again, having to juggle her factory job, follow-up consultations and hospital visits all at one time. I was too busy with A levels to offer my time and presence as her support and I'm ashamed of how immature I was to think that nothing was more important than studies. There were times I wished I was less independent and more reliant on my parents so that I could have a closer relationship with them then. Subsequently, I got myself enrolled into NUS FASS and did Psychology as my major, in hope of learning relevant knowledge which I could apply at home to help my family members.

The years flashed by and I entered adulthood, thinking that the all bad times have passed. The collective goal of my family members was to keep my brother as normal as possible by providing him a supportive family environment and hoping to prevent the hereditary genes of psychological illness from striking the youngest member of the family. I even painstakingly found some time amidst my sardine-packed tuition schedule to tutor him, attempting to guide him to walk my path. The worst nightmare my mother and I had unraveled in reality when the "baby brother" of the family set foot into his adolescent years. He displayed clinical symptoms of addiction which I learnt about from my abnormal psychology textbook, juvenile truancy and signs of anxiety disorder. I was told that it's a normal sign of adolescence, yet the thought of him being more and more rebellious still hurt me. I'm acted like half his mother whenever I try to discipline him and talk some sense into him. That's how much I love him. Since what's done cannot be undone, all we could do was to stay united and strong as a family to provide him with a supportive environment.

Through these years of mental torment and struggle with the chronic family issues, I never once blamed my parents for not being highly educated or rich. Yet, I know that a huge bulk of my family problems arise from financial difficulties. After meeting P and J, my mind was set to settle for this meaningful job that would allow me to learn about wealth management and financial planning in order to safeguard my family from further problems, as well as to raise awareness among fellow Singaporeans about the dire importance of financial planning. It can directly improve the cohesiveness among family members and therefore protect the family from attaining scars derived from financial problems. It's really important.


2. Meaningful job
Being a fresh graduate who holds an average arts degree from a reputable institution, I expected myself to settle on a stable government job. The only job which is most closely related to my degree and my family background is to be a social worker. There is a relatively high likelihood of it giving me a relatively solid rice bowl because there's a demand for fresh graduates in that sector. It felt as though I was exactly and totally cut out for that job since I could possibly empathize better with those whom I'd be helping. However, I gave it further thoughts. Becoming a social worker would also mean that I have to slog hard to improve other people's families for a standard pay of $2,700-$3,200 per month for the next few years instead of helping my family directly. I got offered a job in this industry in the end, but I turned it down. It just does not make sense to me if I had to spend bulk of my time helping others when all I wanted to do with my degree was to help my family.

I received the letters from my university and the bank that reminded me about the outstanding loans I borrowed to fund my school fees. It is approximately $30,000 and is impossible to be fully paid off in the shortest time if I have entered the government sector to be a social worker. My parents never brought it up, but I feel the pressure of having to shoulder the financial needs of the family, as well as my school fees loan, once I enter the workforce. It was my first time experiencing the stress of job-hunting as a university fresh graduate.

Weeks later, I began meeting and talking to a few friends and managers who were already in this line of financial planning and I began to feel enticed by the idea of becoming a financial consultant. I made comparisons between the "altruistic" jobs and the financial planning job and realised that the latter is as meaningful but much more holistic than the former. Which one of the following do you think requires financial planning more - a rich family or a poor family? The answer is the latter but the fact is both of them require financial planning and wealth management.

I love my job for being so family-oriented and I believe in my job scope and duty to make people richer and happier. As much as there are objections and obstacles around me, I will stick to my very own mission of restoring smiles on the faces of financially-burdened people. There is hope for all because if money is a problem, it will eventually cease to be a problem with financial planning. At least, it's one huge reason I've decided to do it as a career.


3. Job nature

Everyone has their unique personality and those who prefer stability and consistency would not dive into this career. As for me, I'm usually seen by my friends as a sociable and sincere extrovert who is achievement-oriented.

The job nature of a financial consultant is very flexible, energetic and people-oriented. Given my horrendous experience with my ex-boss when I was a telemarketer, I had never ever expected myself to set foot on this career path. Yet, after giving it a serious consideration, no other job is as suitable for me as this one that I have chosen. My life philosophy is to stay sincere and continue to work hard and this job is requires exactly these two qualities to succeed. I love to always be on the go no matter how draining and tiring it is. It keeps me alive. I admit that I have seen unethical financial consultants out there who work purely for the commission and production and such black sheep disappoint and disgust me greatly. A financial consultant will usually be bonded to one person for life and if one picked wrong one, that's it. One's finances should be entrusted to a reliable financial consultant.


4. Being fortunate
Finally, I am thankful for the chance to have met N who referred me to J and P. It was very touching to hear about the life philosophies of my big boss because so much empathizing was involved when there're so many similarities. I was so inspired by my big boss that I went to the National Library to borrow and read the 4 of the 22 books which he had written.

Initially, I was first referred to another agency by a close friend. After talking to a few managers, I decided to go with my current boss now because of his working style. I enjoy being given an optimal amount of stress especially from an understanding superior to achieve my work tasks. He is reasonable in his expectation of me and most importantly, he is very dedicated to impart me his skills and knowledge which had led him to his current successful state. Thank you J! :)

I have to be grateful to fate for treating me so well. :)


To end off, I feel that it'd be meaningful to record my insights and journey as a financial consultant down from inception till I'm too old and feeble to work. I know that this road is going to be tough and I'm going to face many rejections and objections to my mission to help. Nonetheless, I strive to be the most dedicated financial consultant who will give the most appropriate financial advice and will serve all my clients with 100% sincerity and understanding. That's where I want to see myself at throughout my career. I'm sure you will see it too. :)


For those who are reading, thank you for being my important witnesses of my growth.

Yours,
Z

Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com.