Financial advisors are one of the least happy careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, financial advisors rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 10% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy financial advisors are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Account manager | 2.7 | $47k |
| Securities and commodities broker | 2.7 | $63k |
| Financial analyst | 2.7 | $92k |
| Compliance manager | 2.7 | $125k |
| Advertising sales agent | 2.7 | $52k |
| Financial advisor | 2.7 | $94k |
| Cost estimator | 2.7 | $65k |
| Revenue agent | 2.7 | $57k |
| Investment banker | 2.7 | $73k |
| Tax preparer | 2.7 | $46k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are financial advisors happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do financial advisors find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as financial advisors?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are financial advisor’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are financial advisors making the best use of their abilities?
Are financial advisors happy with their salary?
Financial advisors rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most financial advisors having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked financial advisors how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
1043 financial advisors
12% of financial advisors rated their compensation 5 stars
26% of financial advisors rated their compensation 4 stars
26% of financial advisors rated their compensation 3 stars
20% of financial advisors rated their compensation 2 stars
15% of financial advisors rated their compensation 1 stars
Do financial advisors find their jobs meaningful?
On average, financial advisors rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.6/5. While most financial advisors aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked financial advisors how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.6 out of 5 stars
1042 financial advisors
10% of financial advisors rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
17% of financial advisors rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
23% of financial advisors rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
25% of financial advisors rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
25% of financial advisors rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as financial advisors?
Financial advisors rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.5/5. The majority of financial advisors find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked financial advisors how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
1112 financial advisors
21% of financial advisors rated their career fit 5 stars
35% of financial advisors rated their career fit 4 stars
26% of financial advisors rated their career fit 3 stars
13% of financial advisors rated their career fit 2 stars
6% of financial advisors rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a financial advisor’s work environment?
As a whole, financial advisors rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.3/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked financial advisors how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
1111 financial advisors
15% of financial advisors rated their work environment 5 stars
32% of financial advisors rated their work environment 4 stars
28% of financial advisors rated their work environment 3 stars
18% of financial advisors rated their work environment 2 stars
7% of financial advisors rated their work environment 1 stars
Are financial advisors making the best use of their abilities?
Former financial advisors on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.9/5. Financial advisors tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked financial advisors how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
1111 financial advisors
12% of financial advisors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
22% of financial advisors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
25% of financial advisors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
25% of financial advisors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
16% of financial advisors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars