Personal Financial Advisors
Advise clients on financial plans using knowledge of tax and investment strategies, securities, insurance, pension plans, and real estate. Duties include assessing clients' assets, liabilities, cash flow, insurance coverage, tax status, and financial objectives. May also buy and sell financial assets for clients.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Mathematics
- Social Perceptiveness
- Service Orientation
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Economics and Accounting
- English Language
- Mathematics
- Psychology
- Administration and Management
- Sales and Marketing
- Computers and Electronics
What the work involves
- 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.
- 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.
- Implement financial planning recommendations, or refer clients to someone who can assist them with plan implementation.
- Prepare or interpret for clients information, such as investment performance reports, financial document summaries, or income projections.
- Guide clients in the gathering of information, such as bank account records, income tax returns, life and disability insurance records, pension plans, or wills.
- Contact clients periodically to determine any changes in their financial status.
- Meet with clients' other advisors, such as attorneys, accountants, trust officers, or investment bankers, to fully understand clients' financial goals and circumstances.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Enterprising, Conventional, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (57.7% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (34.6%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (46.2%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Personal Financial Advisors is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very low | Lower on contact with others than 80% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “Contact with others most of the time” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 67% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 94% of occupations compared | 29% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 63% of occupations compared | 69% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 64% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 83% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 92% of occupations compared | 76% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Higher on consequence of error than 55% of occupations compared | 33% of surveyed respondents chose “Very serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very low
- Consequence of error: moderate
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 3.85%
- Contact with others about half the time: 23.08%
- Contact with others most of the time: 50%
- Constant contact with others: 23.08%
n = 26, Occupational Expert 08/2024
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 7.69%
- Fairly important: 11.54%
- Important: 7.69%
- Very important: 34.62%
- Extremely important: 38.46%
n = 26, Occupational Expert 08/2024
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 12.5%
- Fairly important: 20.83%
- Important: 16.67%
- Very important: 29.17%
- Extremely important: 20.83%
n = 24, Occupational Expert 08/2024
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 15.38%
- Some freedom: 69.23%
- A lot of freedom: 15.38%
n = 26, Occupational Expert 08/2024
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 3.85%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 34.62%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 50%
- Every day: 11.54%
n = 26, Occupational Expert 08/2024
Conflict situations
- Never: 12%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 48%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 36%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 4%
- Every day: 0%
n = 25, Occupational Expert 08/2024
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 12%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 76%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 12%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 0%
- Every day: 0%
n = 25, Occupational Expert 08/2024
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 12.5%
- Fairly serious: 16.67%
- Serious: 29.17%
- Very serious: 33.33%
- Extremely serious: 8.33%
n = 24, Occupational Expert 08/2024
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O*NET-SOC 13-2052.00 · SOC 13-2052 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8