How to become a financial advisor, step by step

BLS describes the work as meeting clients to talk about their financial goals, explaining to potential clients the services the advisor offers, and answering questions about investment options and their risks.

Advisors recommend investments or choose them for clients, help clients plan for goals such as education or retirement, check accounts to see whether changes are needed, and research investments. BLS adds that many advisors spend a lot of time marketing their services.

The hours matter if you are planning a switch. Most advisors work full time in an office, some work more than 40¹⁰ hours a week, and BLS says advisors may meet current or prospective clients on evenings and weekends.

The requirements regulators set are passing the exams for your route, being at least 18² for the SIE, a sponsoring firm for the Series 6 or 7, and registration on Form U4, the form a firm files to register you, with fingerprints and state approval.

Advisor Train lays out the securities licenses in order with practice for each exam. The roadmap builder puts these steps in order for your job, state and timeline.

These are exam fees only. Registration fees come on top and are covered under registration below. The licensing cost and time tool adds everything up for your state.

Passing the SIE or the Series 65 does not mean a firm will hire or sponsor you, and both passes expire if no firm registers you in time.

Two of these shape the order. The SIE clock means passing it years before you look for a sponsored role can waste it. The state two-year rule means a Series 65 taken alone needs a firm, or an adviser firm of your own, before it runs out.

How quickly can you become a financial advisor?

No rule sets a minimum time. The fixed pieces are the 120¹⁵-day window to sit each exam once enrolled, a firm's sponsorship before the Series 7, the firm's Form U4 filing and state approval, and supervised training that BLS says usually lasts more than a year²⁰. The step with no set length is getting a firm to take you on. The full timeline by route is in how long it takes to become a financial advisor.

FINRA says firms file a Form U4 for each person who will do certain kinds of work for the firm, and NASAA adds that states can require an application, a background check, bonding and a fee before granting a license.

FINRA charges the firm $125²¹ per first Form U4, another $155²¹ when the filing includes disclosure, such as a past regulatory or criminal matter, and $33²² per electronic fingerprint submission. States charge their own registration fees on top.

The Form U4 asks about criminal, regulatory, civil, customer complaint, job termination and financial history. All felony convictions and some misdemeanor convictions are a statutory disqualification for 10²³ years from the conviction, though FINRA can allow a disqualified person to register through eligibility proceedings.

What can stop a registration is in Form U4 and background checks. State fees and rules are in the state guides.

"Financial advisor" is a job title, not a license.

What you may do depends on the registrations you hold, and BLS notes that advisors who buy or sell securities or insurance, or give specific investment advice, may need a mix of licenses that depends on the products.

One person can hold more than one of these.

The exams are the shorter part.

After they are hired, BLS says, new advisors work under senior advisors and learn how to build a client network, and this training usually lasts more than a year²⁰. Building that network means finding potential clients, meeting them and explaining what you offer, and BLS notes that some advisors teach evening seminars or go to networking events to attract clients. BLS lists five important qualities for the job, analytical, interpersonal, math, sales and speaking skills, and is direct about sales. To expand their base of clients, advisors "must be convincing and persistent in selling their services."

The path above is the same at any age. A few things differ when you come from another job.

• You can start the exams before you quit. The SIE and the Series 65 need no firm, so you can take them while still employed. A pass does not get you hired, and the clocks in the deadlines table keep running.
• Some credentials shorten the path. NASAA says most states accept designations such as CFP® certification or the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation from CFA Institute in place of the Series 65 exam, though a CPA license alone does not count. CFP Board's Accelerated Path lets CPAs skip most of the coursework for CFP® certification.
• Keeping another job means telling your firm. Once you are registered, FINRA Rule 3270 requires prior written notice to the member firm²⁴ before you take on outside work such as another job or a paid side business, and the firm can limit or bar it. From October 25, 2027²⁵, Rule 3290 narrows the notice to investment-related activity, which it defines to include banking, real estate and insurance.

Deeper guides cover becoming an advisor as a second career, whether it is too late to start in midlife or later, and moves from specific jobs such as teacher to financial advisor. All job paths are on the from your job hub.

Are financial advisors in demand?

BLS counted 299,400⁸ personal financial advisor jobs in 2025 and projects 1%⁸ growth by 2035, slower than the average for all occupations, with about 17,100⁸ openings a year. Most of those openings come from replacing advisors who retire or move to other jobs, not from new jobs.

Some pages still quote the 2024 to 2034 release, which showed 9.6%²⁶ growth and about 24,100²⁶ openings a year, or the 2023 to 2033 release at 17.1%²⁷. BLS has replaced both.

Two different BLS counts circulate, and they measure different people. The 299,400⁸ figure includes the self-employed, who were 9.7%²⁸ of advisors in 2025. The wage survey counted 266,800⁹ in May 2025 because it leaves the self-employed out.

How much do financial advisors make?

The May 2025 median annual wage was $105,070⁹. The lowest-paid tenth earned under $50,190⁹ and the highest-paid tenth over $357,020⁹. These are survey figures across all employers, they leave out the self-employed, and they are not what any one person or firm pays. The career map shows the same survey by state and metro.

Will AI replace financial advisors?

BLS says AI tools for financial advice may moderate demand for advisors, and that many consumers are expected to keep relying on human advisors for more complex and specialized investment advice. BLS gives this alongside its projection of slower than average growth. Whether the career fits you is covered in is financial advisor a good career.

• Keeping your registration. FINRA requires every registered person to complete the Regulatory Element of continuing education each year under FINRA Rule 1240, and states that adopted NASAA's model rule add yearly continuing education for IARs. If you leave, FINRA's Maintaining Qualifications Program can keep your FINRA representative exams valid for up to 5²⁹ years, if you held the registration for at least 1²⁹ year right before leaving, enroll within two years and complete its yearly continuing education.
• CFP® certification. CFP Board requires coursework through a registered program plus a bachelor's degree in any field, the CFP® exam (170³⁰ questions over 6¹³ hours), 6,000¹³ hours of experience or 4,000¹³ hours on the apprenticeship pathway, and a signed ethics declaration with a background check. Details are in CFP® certification requirements.
• A different channel. Broker-dealers, investment advisers and firms registered as both work differently for the advisor. See broker-dealer vs registered investment adviser careers and employee vs independent advisors.