A financial manager is someone who handles investment advice and financial planning for businesses and individuals. Depending on their titles, the roles of financial advisors vary, from controllers, who direct the preparation of financial reports, to managers of international banking, who develop financial and accounting systems for banking transactions of multinational organizations.

To become a financial manager, you must have 4 years of college or more. Most businesses are now looking for people with masters degrees. In some cases, experience is more important than formal education. This is common for branch managers in banks. You also have to go through very thorough background checks and must be fingerprinted to become a financial manager.

Two of the colleges that specialize in financial management are Tuition

-Bentley College Cost = 43,646

-Carnegie Mellon University Cost = 47,980

Others include Ashland University, Bryant University, Campbell University, and Claremont Graduate University.

The median salary for a financial manager is $43.74 per hour, or $90,970 annual.

-The number of financial managers in 2006 was 506, 000

-It is projected that there will be 138,000 additional employees by 2016

Personality traits best suited for this job are

-Works well with people

-Speaking well

-being able to work with little instruction.

-attention to detail

-must be very motivated

A Financial Manager working at a bank could work 9-3, Monday through Friday. Others have their offices at home and can pick their own hours, but this means that sometimes you will have to work weekends. Our Interviewed Financial Adviser works at home and last month was working 70-75 hour weeks.

There are a lot of businesses that hire financial managers, but the most common are banks and brokerage firms, but it is the individual people that really hire you. If you have a big office at a brokers firm, but no one wants to work with you, you’re in big trouble!

Financial Managers are constantly calculating interest. Their clients will want to know how much of a return they have made on their investments. Financial Managers analyze different investment accounts and most people want to know “How much interest will I make?” The return on their money is usually their biggest concern.

How Much Interest will I Make? (FV) FV returns the future value of an investment. Use Excel to calculate FV FV(rate,nper,pmt)

Rate is the interest rate per period. (such as 12% divided by 12)

Nper is the total number of payment periods per year. (such as 12months in a year)

Pmt is the payment made each period; it cannot change over the life of the investment. (such as $1000 per year)

Type this into excel: =FV(12%/12,12,-1000)

Dear Andy and Riley,Sorry our schedules didn't work for me to come for a visit, I was looking forward to meeting you both.  Even though you have gotten most of your info, I would still like to answer all of the questions just in case I may have something that you can add to your assignment.1)  I went to Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  However, I was not a finance major.  In fact, I was a Physical Education major following in the footsteps of my parents who taught at HHS for over 30 years.    After having trouble finding a career in my field I decided to become licensed as a financial advisor.  This meant acquiring my series 6 and 63 financial licenses, as well as holding my life insurance and health licenses.  This process was very challenging.  I went through a financial school in Philadelphia to take "crash courses" which are highly compacted courses in the financial field.  Once I passed my testing I had to be appointed by the companies for whom I sell.  

Very thorough background checks are necessary and I needed to be finger printed to become approved.  Also, I am required to maintain a high level of current education and need to complete approved credits every year to maintain my license to keep my job.

2)  I feel the employment outlook for this career is excellent.  Saving and investing is such an important part of our culture and nation.  Because of the uncertain economy at times, people today need to save more on their own to insure they can maintain a quality of life they would like now and in retirement.  It is my job and goal to help people develop a sound financial strategy to do this.  

3)  A salary for a financial career really depends upon the type of job you have in this field.  Many advisors work on commission, so it is up to them how hard they work.  A six figure salary is not uncommon for a successful advisor.  But with the advent and popularity of networks like CNBC and MSNBC which are dedicated to finance, it is not unheard of that analysts can have salaries in the millions.  

4)  My job is directly related to the educators in PA. So I am a financial advisor who specializes in the teacher's pension system and guiding them with their finances for college funding, retirement, etc..

5)  Personality traits for this career are important.  Attention to detail is essential.  Also, you must be a relationship type of person.  A client should feel relaxed with you and you must be someone whom they can trust and rely on.    Also, because you may work only on commission you must be very motivated and a go getter.  

6)  Hours vary.  A financial advisor at a bank may have very nice hours like 9-3 , Monday through Friday.  However, I set my own hours and that means my weeks turn into working some weekends and alot of evenings.  Last month I was logging 70 to 75 hour weeks.  But, I also vacation whenever I want  and can get to my daughter's activities without having to check with someone, so there is a trade off.

7)  My office is in my home.  I have a few clients come to my home office, but mostly I travel to their homes or school buildings.  I do alot of phone calling from home to schedule appointments and review my client’s accounts.  So the days I work out of my office I can have shorts or pJs on if I want!  (But rarely wear the pJs in case a client would drop by!)

8)  Banks and Brokerage firms are among many businesses that hire financial advisors, but most importantly it is the individual person who decides if they want to work with you and they are the ones who really "hire" you!  You could have a big office in a broker's firm, but if no one wants to do business with you, you are out of luck!

9) 10) 11).... I'm guessing these are some of the questions you got on your own and because I didn't study finance in college, I will move on...

12)  I am constantly on a daily basis, calculating interest.  And so are my clients.  They want to know how much of a return they have made on their investments.   We look at their deposits and the growth of their money to come up with the interest rate they are receiving.    We analyze different investment accounts based on their objectives and most people ask, "How much interest will I make?"  The return on their money, or the interest, is by far their biggest concern.

I hope you both get an A on your assignment.  If there is anything else I can do for you, don't hesitate to ask.  I'm in your building all the time.  Good luck with your future at HHS!

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