Oftentimes, financial advisors require minimum investment thresholds so that 1% fee can cover their costs to manage your money. After all, 1% of a $100,000 minimum means they only earn $1,000 in a year from your account.
It is not uncommon for advisors with 20+ years of experience to make well over $500k per year. I personally know of several who make $1+ million. That kind of personal income is across the board: wirehouse or independent. Many times this can be more when managing a team of advisors.
Entry-level financial advisor salaries typically start between $40,000 to $60,000 per year. With several years of experience, salaries commonly range from $75,000 to $150,000. Top earners can make over $200,000, especially those managing high-net-worth clients.
Financial Advisors made a median salary of $99,580 in 2023. The best-paid 25% made $169,910 that year, while the lowest-paid 25% made $65,320.
Around 60%, or the majority, of financial advisors with more than five years of experience will earn over $100,000 annually and up to $300,000. At the higher end, $300,000, puts the advisor in the top 10% of household income in the United States, which is not bad at all.
Total salary range for Edward Jones Financial Advisor
The estimated total pay range for a Financial Advisor at Edward Jones is $133K–$247K per year, which includes base salary and additional pay. The average Financial Advisor base salary at Edward Jones is $89K per year.
Achieving a seven-figure income as a financial advisor is possible but not typical. Adhering to industry regulations and ethics is crucial while striving for high income.
Merrill pay FAQs
The salary trajectory of a Financial Advisor ranges between locations and employers. The salary starts at $97,090 per year (estimate) and goes up to $305,213 per year (estimate) for the highest level of seniority.
Your financial advisor generally receives between 36% and 40% of the revenue Edward Jones receives from asset- based fees, transactional revenue, ongoing 12b-1 fees, trail commissions, and revenue from premiums generated by activity in your accounts.
Financial service providers regard a HNW client as someone with at least $1 million in liquid – or investable – financial assets. Clients with assets between $5 and $30 million are considered VHNW, while UHNW clients have assets greater than $30 million.
In addition, millionaires are much more likely to work with a financial advisor (69%), more than double the amount of the general population (33%).
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for personal financial advisors was $94,170 in May 2021. It means half of the financial advisors earned more than that, and half earned less. One in ten earned less than $47,570, while one in ten made more than $208,000.
While a 1% annual fee may seem like a small price to pay for professional investment guidance and financial planning, it can significantly erode portfolio returns over long time horizons. Even seemingly minor differences in fees add up in a big way when compounded year after year for decades.
For this reason, the success rate here is probably 20-30%, and that includes those lucky enough to inherit assets. Furthermore, the company does not offer a 401k match to financial advisors, instead offering partnership bonuses to those who reach profitability (typically 3-6 years in).
According to InvestmentNews data, Merrill Lynch had a net drop of 1,043 financial advisors in 2021, the year after Covid-19 brought most broker movement to a standstill. That fell to a net decline of 703 financial advisors in 2022 and, last year, to a drop of 445, or less than half the amount seen two years earlier.
Like other brokerage firms, Merrill uses a compensation grid that determines advisor pay based on how much revenue each individual or team generates. For its 2024 comp plan, the company eliminated a policy that had reduced potential pay associated with brokerage transactions and it added two bonuses.
In our professional experience, achieving an annual income of $300,000 is a realistic target for financial advisors, particularly when leveraging a combination of fee structures, effective AUM growth strategies, and commission-based earnings.
Commissions. In this type of fee arrangement, a financial advisor makes their money from commissions. Advisors earn these fees when they recommend and sell specific financial products, such as mutual funds or annuities, to a client. These are often payable in addition to the above client fees.
The estimated total pay for a Financial Advisor Owner is $145,069 per year, with an average salary of $76,588 per year. These numbers represent the median, which is the midpoint of the ranges from our proprietary Total Pay Estimate model and based on salaries collected from our users.
One common method is for advisors to charge a percentage of the assets they manage on your behalf. This rate often ranges from about 0.5% to 2% per year.
They will first need to earn a bachelor's degree in accounting, business management, finance or a closely related field. Applicants looking to further enhance their qualifications should consider a master's degree in accounting, attainable online.
It also takes considerable time and effort to build a clientele and is considered a high-stress job by many, even in the best of times.