Some client-facing financial professionals can’t seem to decide if they are happy or not.
Sixty-nine percent say they do not regret the professional path they have taken, and yet 44 percent say they would select a different career if they had their lives to do over.
Craig Taucher, head of Schwab Independent Branch Services, says the apparent conundrum may be caused by advisors satisfaction in helping their clients versus their desire for more independence.
“A lot of issues revolve around advisors wanting to be more entrepreneurial and not getting the support they want from their firms,” Taucher said.
According to the survey, most advisors (79 percent) would like more independence and 58 percent would like to run their own business.
However, 86 percent of those surveyed say they feel successful and 61 percent say their work is the most important thing they do, according to the survey by Schwab Independent Branch Services. The survey included 994 financial professionals who face clients at least once a week and have been in the profession for at least seven years.
In addition to the group that would switch careers, 26 percent say they fear they have to compromise their personal values for their careers and 38 percent feel stuck in their jobs.
Another 71 percent wonder what life would be like if they had chosen a different professional path, 41 percent say they have had negative experiences at work that keep them up at night and 26 percent say they have been promised things at work that they have not received.
Despite the complaints, 77 percent would recommend their field to a recent graduate. The profession is heading in the right direction, according to 82 percent, and 80 percent are optimistic about the future of the profession.