Why I Gave Up My Securities Licenses
November 01, 2013One of the things I wrestled with prior to making the decision to join Financial Finesse was the fact that they wanted, no….REQUIRED, that I give up my securities licenses. I had studied HARD to pass the Series 7, 63, 65, 24, 8, and 31 at various points along my path. I had to give serious thought to this particular decision.
I mean, if I stayed at Financial Finesse for 2 years, I was basically telling the rest of the financial services world that I didn’t want to work for them. My licenses would expire. I would be far less than desirable from a hiring standpoint.
And there was NO WAY I was going to gear up and re-take those exams all over again. They were hard enough the first time when I didn’t have kids! Trying to take them again, 20 years later, was more than I might be willing to do.
So, this single issue was the biggest hurdle between my “old life” and my “new life.” Make no mistake. This was by no means an easy choice and anyone who has spent hours of stress working to pass professional licensing exams NEVER wants to give them up or re-take them later in life.
So, what was it that tipped the scales in favor of walking away from my old life and the security blanket of those licenses? I wish I could pinpoint the moment I made the decision and the precise facts that drove me to make the decision to take that leap of faith. But, I can’t. Some days, I have trouble remembering if I’ve eaten lunch or not so not remembering how I reached a decision I made nearly 4 years ago isn’t totally shocking.
What I do remember is that I had accomplished a lot in my old life but there was always a feeling like something was missing. It was the “inner social worker” part of me that wasn’t satisfied by getting a large account to roll from some other firm to my firm for my team to manage. There was an adrenaline rush, but it quickly faded. I was searching for more.
When looking at the growing field of financial education/financial wellness, I saw something that I thought would not give me that “something is missing” feeling at the end of a long day. And…I was right! (My friends and kids would reference a blind squirrel finding an acorn after reading that line.)
The thing that scared me the most, giving up my securities licenses to pursue this career, ended up being the least important part of transitioning from financial planning/financial sales into this new world of unbiased financial education and guidance. Learning the difference between guidance (which is OK) and advice (which isn’t) takes some practice. Our training program is challenging, intense, fun, frustrating, infuriating, humbling and ultimately very effective and rewarding.
There were a few times I thought “I can’t do this” and the next day I’d have a revelation. It’s like playing 17 ½ lousy holes of golf, telling yourself you’re quitting this stupid game after the current round, and then hitting the most beautifully majestic shot out of the sand trap and watching the ball, almost as if guided by God himself, land near the hole, take a few revolutions and make the most spectacularly quiet “clink” noise as it falls gracefully into the cup. Or at least something like that!
After 3 ½ years at Financial Finesse, I can’t believe that the whole concept of walking away from my securities licenses was such a big deal to me. It is something that at one point, I thought and several of my friends shared their thought that I would one day regret the decision. The only thing I regret now is not finding the financial wellness/financial education industry earlier in my career.
For anyone considering a career in this business, this link will take you to a registration link to an upcoming November 6th webcast about this career. I highly encourage you to check it out. (Wait…did I just cross the advice/guidance line???)