Side hustle: startup financial advising

[familydocPA]

Wondering if anyone else here has considered starting a side hustle as their own financial advising firm; this is something I'm giving some serious thought to. With all the other finance geeks on this forum, I'm guessing the thought has crossed the minds of at least a few of you.

I currently work in one of the lowest paying jobs in the lowest paying specialties (academic FM), but do not complain because this is my choice and there is not another FM job I would prefer. I build great relationships with young doctors and am known as the "go-to" source for finance and employment related issues, a reputation that sticks for years. I commonly talk to past graduates who are looking for advice on career and monetary issues.

While I really enjoy my work, I find the lack of control very frustrating. I have had the entrepreneurial bug for a while, and have a business background. But I don't want to go out on my own in medicine; I find working with other physicians to be my flow state. In my ideal world, I would cut down on my clinical work but still be able to pull in $200k at the end of the day - seems like a reasonable goal. I am recognizing that I will be completely FI by 43-45 years old, but still will probably want to work in some capacity.

Just wondering if anyone else has considered this. I know Hatton took the CFP exam, so clearly she did to some extent. There was a recent POF post about an anesthesiologist who is transitioning to this kind of work as well. I've been reading on Kitces and it seems totally doable, if you are willing to hustle.

[krusebear]

That’s something that’s better in theory than it would be in practice.

[CordMcNally]

I’m a fan of self-learning, self-directed, and low cost (free) financial advice that I’d put myself out of business.

Also, please be on the lookout for my next book, ‘From Broke Physician To Retired: 31 Easy Ways To Win The Lottery’. Should be out by June 2022.

[White.Beard.Doc]

The surgeon Corey Fawcett does financial advice for physicians. He also writes books about financial topics. And there are many docs with blogs regarding financial topics. Many are trying to follow in WCIs footsteps.

[jacoavlu]

ways things could go bad

if plan would be to have colleagues use you for advice and pay you, then market tanks out of your control there could be hard feelings which bleeds over to your day job

be weird to be advising a colleague

[CM]

Investing had been my hobby for years before I burned out and left cardiology 20 years ago. I spent 2 1/2 years studying finance, accounting, and equity valuation while managing my portfolio. I corresponded with a professional investor via email and he invited me to apply for a healthcare equity analyst position. I did that for about 4 years, earned the CFA designation, then left for MBA at Booth with concentrations in finance and accounting.

I had been managing portfolios for colleagues and family while working as an analyst, so after MBA I opened a solo Registered Investment Advisor. I started charging the colleagues and other non-family, but turned away clients that had inappropriate goals/expectations.

Running the RIA was much less fun than anticipated because of all the regulatory hoops to jump through, including annual audits by the state. You might not mind, but it ruined the fun of it for me.

There is another forum member who transitioned from pulmonology to advisor. He seems happy.

I still give advice to family and friends, but have no desire to satisfy the regulatory requirements to run that business again.

[Lithium]

Good advice from CM. There are “advisors” who get around the onerous compliance rules by working as “coaches.” Some of them are the life coaches, and some of them are basically marketing themselves as professional advisors even if they do not have the letters after their name.

You could also look into being a financial counselor, which is someone who mainly helps people with the cash flow side of financial planning. If you are a financial advisor, you’ll have to figure out how to get clients in the door and convince them to pay you thousands of dollars a year for good advice whose value they don’t fully appreciate. This is why so many people go to Edward Jones or just choose an AUM advisor, because the fees are well hidden.

[Nysoz]

There’s definitely a market out there for financial advice. One of my friends paid someone $500/hr for financial planning which can mostly be found online for free. Some people don’t like the DIY approach.

I’ve thought about trying to start something like this or a consulting type of thing for investing/hedge fund but as @cm said there’s a lot of regulatory hoops to jump through. I also have no interest in taking money from other physicians and was just trying to find ways I can write off expenses like meals and trips lol.

[Tim]

Financial advice is so broad. CPA, MBA, CFA, CFP, RIA and MD.

Letters and certifications are simply designations that lead to requirements and regulations.

Just exactly what is that you are selling?
I would like to remind you that it is a service. People only pay you money for “work” the they choose to have you do that they cannot do easily themselves.

Most of the “pipe dreams” side gigs end up not being really scalable as a business. Success comes from the revenue streams you can develop, not necessarily the services you provide. That is the kicker.

I will give you an example. Almost every “business” related to insurance starts out with “family and friends “ as prospects. That ceases as a revenue stream. Take a look at the vendor list. Customers want solutions to issues, not advice. Just exactly what solutions are people going to pay you for?

Can be done. Will it be successful and will you enjoy the work is up to you.

[Hatton]

Wondering if anyone else here has considered starting a side hustle as their own financial advising firm; this is something I'm giving some serious thought to. With all the other finance geeks on this forum, I'm guessing the thought has crossed the minds of at least a few of you.

I currently work in one of the lowest paying jobs in the lowest paying specialties (academic FM), but do not complain because this is my choice and there is not another FM job I would prefer. I build great relationships with young doctors and am known as the "go-to" source for finance and employment related issues, a reputation that sticks for years. I commonly talk to past graduates who are looking for advice on career and monetary issues.

While I really enjoy my work, I find the lack of control very frustrating. I have had the entrepreneurial bug for a while, and have a business background. But I don't want to go out on my own in medicine; I find working with other physicians to be my flow state. In my ideal world, I would cut down on my clinical work but still be able to pull in $200k at the end of the day - seems like a reasonable goal. I am recognizing that I will be completely FI by 43-45 years old, but still will probably want to work in some capacity.

Just wondering if anyone else has considered this. I know Hatton took the CFP exam, so clearly she did to some extent. There was a recent POF post about an anesthesiologist who is transitioning to this kind of work as well. I've been reading on Kitces and it seems totally doable, if you are willing to hustle.

Correction. I have not taken the CFP exam. I did do a healthcare MBA. I thought about taking the course work for a CFP thru Boston College but did not. I owned my practice so taking some business and accounting courses helped me some. As I looked into it I realized I did not have the energy to start another business and market it. If someone started such a business I would love to consult.

[jfoxcpacfp]

Expect a 5-yr path to earning any sort of decent income ($75k - $100k/yr) on your own + working full-time for 2 yrs in a financial planning firm if you want to get your CFP. If you want to earn a decent living without working 50 hours/wk, you’ll almost certainly need to go AUM. True financial planning with no AUM revenue stream is not an easy profession. Gratifying, yes, but not a way to make much money on your own. The fact that you will be FI means the money won’t matter, is that correct?

fwiw, I am nowhere near $500/hr in either CPA or FP firms and I probably have more experience than 90% of advisors. To get there, you have to high many HWN and UHNW connections and/or a finely honed and unique specialty with many years of experience. I’m still learning, 40+ yrs in practice.

That doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t get a whole lot of pleasure from doing this. Very, very gratifying when done well and clients tell you how much they appreciate you. Happy to discuss with you if you want to email me [email protected]

[krusebear]

Terrible idea. Basically to make money you’ll need to do things which aren’t good financially for your clients.

[CordMcNally]

Terrible idea. Basically to make money you’ll need to do things which aren’t good financially for your clients.

Not necessarily. You’ll just have to either have way more clients than you could possibly manage or manage a ridiculous amount of money.

[jacoavlu]

easy work in a bull market. not so much when things turn south. of course the advisor doesn’t lose money. but they have to work to retain the client and keep them from doing dumb ************************

[Dusn]

I feel like there is so much investing advice that’s readily available already and so many doctors who are trying to replicate what’s already been done regarding financial advice.

The area where I think there is still a real need is resources to help new doctors feel comfortable with the business side of medicine (ie advice on how to start and run their own private practices and ancillary services).