Start here to become a financial advisor

Build your roadmap

Every number cites an official source like BLS or FINRA, with its year.

Advisor Roadmap is a free set of guides and tools for becoming a financial advisor, written for people coming from another career.

Every number on it comes from an official or primary source, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), FINRA (the self-regulatory body that oversees brokerage firms) or a state securities regulator, and shows its year. The guides cover the licensing exams and their order, state registration, fees and timelines, the jobs inside an advisory firm, and government job and pay data by state and city. A roadmap builder puts the steps in order for you. It is not exam prep or coaching for advisors already in practice, and it offers no courses or memberships.

You can start without a finance background and before you leave your current job. BLS lists the typical entry education for the job as "Bachelor's degree"1 and related work experience as "None"2. Your first exam needs no employer. On the brokerage route it is the SIE, FINRA's Securities Industry Essentials exam, and if you only want to give investment advice for a fee it is the Series 65. To do the work you then need a firm to take you on, and passing an exam does not mean one will. Once your exams are done, the firm registers you with FINRA, your state or both.

DataMay 2025 OEWS, 2025 to 2035 projections, FINRA and NASAA exam fees and rules as read October 2026. Data updated

How we made this page

Quick facts

Advisor jobs, 2025
299,4001 counting the self-employed, who make up 9.7%3 of them. The May 2025 wage survey, which leaves the self-employed out, counts 266,8004.
Projected growth, 2025 to 2035
1%1 for advisors against 3.5%3 for all occupations, which BLS calls slower than average. About 17,1001 openings a year, mostly to replace people who retire or change careers. Some sites still show older, higher projections.
Pay, all employers, May 2025
BLS median $105,0704. The lowest-paid tenth earned under $50,1904 and the top tenth over $357,0204. Survey figures for advisors on a payroll, not counting the self-employed. Not what any one advisor earns or what you would earn.
SIE, the first FINRA exam
Open to anyone 185 or older, and a pass stays valid for 45 years.
Exam fees, as of October 2026
$6425-7 for the SIE, Series 7 and Series 63 on the brokerage route, or $1878 for the Series 65 alone on the advice route. Registration fees come on top, and fees can change.

Where do I start if I want to become a financial advisor?

The roadmap builder asks about your job, your state and the licenses you hold, then puts your steps in order with exam fees and a timeline.

What do you do now?Question 1 of 1

Which grades do you teach?

Or pick the line that fits you.

Your job now

Your state

What you already hold

The path, step by step

  1. Check the fit

    Is financial advisor a good career covers what the work involves day to day, the outlook and whether AI will replace advisors. Roles covers the jobs inside a firm, including entry roles like paraplanner.

  2. Pass your first exam while you keep your job

    The SIE leads on to the Series 6 or 7 at a brokerage firm. The Series 65 leads to advice work at an investment adviser firm. Free practice exams for both are on Advisor Train, our sister site.

  3. Join a firm

    A broker-dealer, meaning a brokerage firm, must sponsor you for the Series 6 or 7, which means you join the firm and it enrolls you for the exam. An investment adviser firm, or RIA, takes you on so it can register you. No firm has to take you on. The sponsorship guide explains how people find a sponsor, and broker-dealer vs RIA compares the two kinds of firm.

  4. Pass the remaining exams and register

    On the brokerage route that is the Series 63 or 66, exams that FINRA gives for NASAA, the association of state and provincial securities regulators. The firm files your Form U4, the registration application, and FINRA, your state or both register you, depending on the work. Licenses has the order and your state's page has the state steps.

The timeline guide explains what sets the length of each step, and the licensing cost and time tool adds your state's fees to the exam fees.

Everything on the site

  • GuidesThe big questions, from whether the career fits to how long it takes
  • RolesEvery job at an advisory firm and which ones need a license
  • LicensesEach exam and registration, who sponsors what, and the deadlines that set the order
  • From your jobThe path from a specific job, with the skills that carry over
  • StatesRegistration steps and the regulator for each state
  • Metro areasBLS advisor jobs and pay in large metro areas
  • ToolsThe roadmap builder, the licensing cost and time tool and the career map of BLS jobs and pay by role
  • GlossaryTerms like Form U4, CRD and IAR in plain words

Questions people ask

What is a typical career path for a financial advisor?

You can start in a support job such as paraplanner, as a trainee advisor at a broker-dealer that sponsors your Series 7, or by passing the Series 65 on your own and joining an adviser firm for advice work. BLS says new advisors first train under senior advisors, usually for more than a year9, while they learn to build a client network. CFP Board's career-path research names the rungs of the financial planner career ladder as Analyst, Associate Advisor, Service Advisor, Lead Advisor, Partner10, and the roles hub shows where each job leads.

Can I be a financial advisor without CFP® certification?

Yes. CFP® certification is a credential from CFP Board, not a license. BLS says certifications may help an advisor's reputation and bring in clients, but what lets you do the work is registration with FINRA, your state or both, which normally follows passing the right exams. Certification takes longer than the exams, because it requires 6,00011 hours of experience, or 4,00011 hours on the apprenticeship path, and the CFP® certification guide covers the rest of the requirements.

Where do the numbers on this site come from?

From official and primary sources only. Pay and jobs come from the BLS May 2025 wage survey and the 2025 to 2035 Employment Projections, exam rules and fees from FINRA and NASAA, certification rules from CFP Board, skills that carry over from your job from O*NET, local price levels from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and state steps from each state's regulator. A number changes when its source publishes new data, not on a schedule. How we make these pages explains the process and data and sources lists every source.

Sources

BLS FINRA CFP Board NASAA Show sourcesHide sources

BLS

  1. Occupational Outlook Handbook, Personal Financial Advisors, OOH 2025-35 edition (projections released August 27, 2026).bls.gov, accessed October 29, 2026
  2. Occupational Outlook Handbook, Personal Financial Advisors, Quick Facts, OOH page last modified October 29, 2026.bls.gov, accessed October 29, 2026
  3. Employment Projections 2025-35, Table 1.2 Occupational projections and worker characteristics, August 27, 2026 (Employment Projections 2025-2035, USDL-26-1422).bls.gov, accessed October 29, 2026
  4. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, May 15, 2026 (May 2025 estimates, USDL-26-0725).bls.gov, accessed October 29, 2026
  5. Occupational Outlook Handbook, Personal Financial Advisors, How to Become One, Occupational Outlook Handbook, as read October 29, 2026.bls.gov, accessed October 29, 2026

FINRA

  1. Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Exam, FINRA SIE exam page, as read October 29, 2026.finra.org, accessed October 29, 2026
  2. Series 7 exam page, FINRA exam page, as read October 29, 2026.finra.org, accessed October 29, 2026
  3. Series 63 exam page (NASAA exam administered by FINRA), FINRA exam page, as read October 29, 2026.finra.org, accessed October 29, 2026
  4. Series 65 exam page (NASAA exam administered by FINRA), FINRA exam page, as read October 29, 2026.finra.org, accessed October 29, 2026

CFP Board

  1. CFP Board, Financial Planning Career Paths, Building More Sustainable and Successful Businesses (landing page), as read October 29, 2026, no publication date shown on the page.cfp.net, accessed October 29, 2026
  2. CFP Board certification process, Page as read October 29, 2026.cfp.net, accessed October 29, 2026

NASAA

  1. Exam FAQs.nasaa.org, accessed October 29, 2026