Independent Financial Adviser (IFA)

You tell your clients to invest for the long term. Do you follow the same advice when it comes to your career?

At this company there's no validation to earn bonus and you get 10% on all your ongoing.

Not bad when you'll inherit £90,000 - £105,000 of ongoing in year one. Plus your salary (£45,000), plus car allowance (£3,600) and company profit share (£1,800).

Put simply, before writing any new business, year-one earnings should be around £60,000 once salary, car allowance, profit share and inherited ongoing income are included. Any new business sits on top and pays at 15%, again with no validation.

As for new business, this is a firm with realistic expectations. They have a £20,000pa "target" but you still earn bonus on everything up to £20,000. And given the client book you'll inherit it won't be a problem for you to write a lot more than that (c£60,000 the year before last). 

The salary is a starting point, not a ceiling. The firm has introduced a career journey plan giving you a clear overview of what you need to do to rise through the ranks.

And as you grow so will your salary. And it's as transparent and accountable as you can get. 

They've got a great handle on support too. 

You'll have someone on hand to sort valuations and schedule meetings/reviews. And they have someone on hand for all queries relating to their client system...